TWO young Subiaco entrepreneurs have been named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Jeffrey Effendi (27) and Angel Chen (26) co-founded DrawHistory, a brand agency focused on telling meaningful stories to deepen empathy and create social change.
They have worked with more than 100 non-government organisations, social enterprises and local initiatives since launching two years ago.
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READ NOWMs Chen said when the pair found out they were semi-finalists in January for the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list, they did not think they would make the eventual list.
“At 6am on March 27, we finished a meeting with a US client; I was scrolling through the Forbes site and saw our faces,” she said.
“It was surreal; so unexpected.”
Mr Effendi said the inspiration behind DrawHistory went back to his childhood.
“I was born in Indonesia, and there were mass race riots [against Chinese-Indonesians] in Jakarta,” he said.
“I hid in the attic with my brother and parents; the family picked us up in a van, we were all crammed in with curtains around us.
“We got to the docks and were ferried from island to island, until eventually we flew to and resettled in Australia.
“When people impose a particular narrative on you, it impacts you a lot; the idea of social justice became ingrained.”
Mr Effendi said DrawHistory changes the narrative and tells stories that empower people and communities.
“We were so surprised to make the Forbes list, but now we get to spotlight social entrepreneurship in Perth,” he said.
The pair are set to travel to Forbes 30 under 30 summits in Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Boston.
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