AFL FOUNDATION head Jason Mifsud has been recognised by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as one of Australia's top 10 emerging leaders, winning from a field including Australian netball champion Liz Ellis and cricketer Michael Clarke.

Mifsud was presented with the sporting category award at Parliament House on Wednesday, for providing opportunities to young men from indigenous and disadvantaged backgrounds through football, education and training programs.

The Next 100 Emerging Leaders were an initiative of The Weekend Australian Magazine to identify Australians doing outstanding work as the leaders of tomorrow.

Winners from 10 categories were selected by a panel comprising Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb, former Olympics swimming champion Lisa Forrest, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations secretary Lisa Paul, demographer Bernard Salt, Australian Industry Group CEO Heather Ridout and cancer researcher and Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer.

The first female AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn and former AFL Chief Operating Officer Ben Buckley, now Football Federation Australia CEO, were also nominated for the sports category.

Mostyn has quietened critics of her appointment in 2005 and last year broadened her role to become chairperson of AFL Sportsready, a body that provides traineeships for young people seeking work in the sports industry and jobs for AFL players post-playing career. She has also been appointed to the federal sports minister's Independent Expert Panel on the Funding of Sport in Australia.

Mifsud said winning the award on behalf of the AFL Foundation highlighted the opportunities for football to bridge the gap between communities, government and the corporate sector.

"We're just in a fortunate position we're involved in a game that we all love and we're delivering outcomes for the broader community, not just the competition," he said.

Mifsud – who was drafted to St Kilda in 1993 before stepping into coaching and development roles – said while he felt humbled to be recognised on behalf of the AFL Foundation, the confirmation that they were on the right track was rewarding.

He said the strength of Foundation programs such as the Flying Boomerangs was that they empowered young people, rather than focusing on disadvantages they may face.

"We focus on the upside, and the opportunity," Mifsud said. "Australian football always talks about the positive engagement of indigenous Australia and highlights the creativity, skill, flair, etc, that the indigenous community brings, especially on the field, but certainly off the field as well, in our employment space."

"That's a lot of the conversation we have with the young people we're engaged with. It's more about what's in front of them, not necessarily what's behind them."

The Flying Boomerangs program was established in 2006 and has seen four teams of indigenous teenagers participate. Mifsud said the holistic approach of the program, which focuses on leadership skills and extended to include a tour to PNG in 2009, had led to employment opportunities for participants.

Schools, parents and elders in Aboriginal communities have praised the program for teaching participants communication skills, a greater sense of identity, decision making and resilience to confronting challenges in their everyday lives.   

Mifsud said engaging broader industry through programs such as the Flying Boomerangs had created a network of around 300 people around Australia. The award emphasised that relationship-building to serve the community was vital to the success of AFL Foundation programs.

He said government support was also a key factor in engaging all sections of the community – not only indigenous – and it was pleasing to acknowledge that support to the Prime Minister himself.

"It was a brief conversation (but) to have the opportunity to personally thank him on behalf of the industry was really satisfying," Mifsud said.