User:DanPRWLEGAL/sandbox

Rafael Niesten was born in Perth Western Australia. Rafael is an Australian entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who among other things founded the first Western Australian youth broadcast - Groove 101.7FM and he also founded Speech Solutions. He co-founded Clinic to Cloud and Bricks + Agent and was the president of Make-A-Wish Foundation (Eastern Sydney Branch) for 5 years. He won the 2003 Western Australian of the Year Awards and was a finalist for Young Australian of The Year in 2004.

Career
Rafael Niesten was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. He earned an undergraduate degree in Marketing and Media from Murdoch University and a Masters in Marketing from the University of Western Australia. He currently resides in Sydney, Australia.

Groove Fm
In 2001, Rafael Niesten set up Groove 101.7FM, a community radio station dedicated to Perth’s youth. The station was broadcasting from Curtin University from 3 p.m to 3 a.m. 7 days a week. Groove FM was playing non-mainstream music and promoting local artists and musicians and was covering important topics such as sexuality, health, youth suicide, homelessness, etc.

In 2003, Groove FM was granted the first permanent community radio license from the Australian Broadcast Community in 15 years.

The station was supported by more than 300 volunteers, mostly 20-year-olds, some of which went on to work at stations like ABC, Channel 9, or Albany community radio.

The success of the station earned Niesten a WA’s Citizen of the Year Youth Award and a nomination for Young Australian of the Year 2004 Awards.

In 2008, Groove FM’s licence was not renewed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Groove FM was a non-profit organisation.

State Library of Western Australia
Rafael Niesten was a board member of the State Library of Western Australia - ministerial appointee between 2004 and 2007.

Media and Entertainment Consultants
Between 2004 and 2015, Niesten worked as a director of Media and Entertainment Consultants.

Speech Solutions
In 2008, Rafael Niesten founded Speech Solutions, a company that created Origin Speech, an innovative product for the medical industry that uses voice recognition software. Niesten successfully exited Speech Solutions in 2016.

Clinic to Cloud
In 2014, Rafael Niesten co-founded Clinic to Cloud, which was the first true cloud application dedicated to the health sector in Australia. Clinic to Cloud has a wide range of innovative features such as a smart scheduler, MIMS integration, built-in voice recognition, patient portal, mobile apps, Medicare integration, etc. Niesten successfully exited Clinic to Cloud in 2016.

Bricks + Agent
In 2016, Rafael Niesten co-founded Bricks + Agent alongside Jon Stul. Bricks + Agent is there to serve both homeowners and service providers in the same space, simply compare quotes and hire the professional to complete your jobs.

CUB
In 2017, Rafael Niesten became a member of the CUB Private Business Club.

Make A Wish
From 2009 to 2014 Rafael was the President of Make-A-Wish Foundation (Eastern Sydney Branch), helping to grant wishes to children, raise funds and co ordinate the volunteers in the branch.

Change Makers Rule Breakers
Rafael is a member of Change Makers Rule Breakers an organisation founded from an idea that great minds and great experiences can together ignite ideas and change with social, environmental and economic impact. Rafael spent 6 days with Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island in May 2017 as part of this organisation.

Miscellaneous
In 2008, Rafael Niesten directed and starred in the short comedy Pens Down. In 2010 Niesten was on the famous game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show), hosted by Eddie McGuire. As a result of answering many questions right but not winning the prize, he was invited back in 2013 on a special episode featuring others in the same situation and on this occasion he won $1000.