Australian Student Leadership Association

Helping deliver the Australian Government’s overseas aid program has given Erin incredible insight into the politics of international development. Alleviating poverty is a responsibility not just for nations, but for individuals.

Erin was motivated to work in development after travelling broadly as a student. After finishing her studies in journalism and politics at UOW, Erin headed to East Java in Indonesia to report on the humanitarian situation facing thousands of victims of the Sidoarjo mudflow. Erin has a professional background in leadership development and has worked for YWCA NSW and the University of Wollongong facilitating youth leadership programs.

Mary Nguyen is a bright young leader, one half of the dynamic duo who is leading Vibewire Youth Inc. into the future

Her commitment to people and community had her complete her law degree at the University of Melbourne.  During that time she was a leader in the Vietnamese scouting group Yet Kieu Sea Scouts in Clayton, Melbourne and received her Queen Scout Award in the year 2000.

She later moved to Sydney to pursue a career in media and is currently completing her Masters in Arts Journalism at the University of Technology Sydney.  Her final thesis will be on the topic of youth media in Australia.  

She saw the opportunity of work at Vibewire as the chance to gain experience in media production and content producing and to work with like-minded young people.  She has progressed from being an intern through several leadership capacities at Vibewire and in her current role as Executive Director she is excited to implement Vibewire's new exploration in the field of youth social entrepreneurship.

Finally, she believes that anything is possible.  

Matt currently works across the broad spectrum of the media and entertainment industry. Recently, Matt produced his first feature-length documentary under his production company Light on a Hill. Ubuntu: The Street Child Story was launched in Brisbane (Feb 2008). The film documents the life of street children in urban Africa. 2008 was an amazing year with Ubuntu winning numerous awards, including Best Documentary and Best of Show and moving audiences around the world from Hollywood to Cairo. In March 2009, Matt was honoured to receive the Accolade Humanitarian Award for his work with street children through the film. Recently a short film he made about chocolate slavery won the Very Short Film Festival.

Angela Saville

Owner/operator of

Angela was recently awarded the 2009 Illawarra Young Business Woman of the Year. She has experience working with some of Australia's leading health and fitness professionals, enabling her to create some of the most innovative and effective fitness programs. Angela, in association with the Australian Institute of Personal Trainers delivers certificate III and IV course in Personal Training.

Jessica developed a passion for business in 2003 when she became the Illawarra’s Young Business Person of the Year through Young Achievement Australia. In 2007 Jessica was elected to the UniCentre Board of Directors and in 2008 became Illawarra President for young professionals development group Junior Chamber International. In December 2008 Jessica was appointed as a Director to the Illawarra Business Chamber. In March she was the runner up for the Illawarra Women in Business Young Business Woman of the Year Award. In mid 2009 Jessica will fly to Geneva to take part in the 2009 JCI Summit on Climate Change at the United Nations.

Damien Quinnell is a passionate environmentalist, and a member of the Australian Conservation Foundation. He recently attended The Climate Project - Australia Asia Pacific Summit, where he was trained by Al Gore and a panel of international experts, on how to deliver an updated version of the slide show from the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth'. The Climate Project (‘TCP’) is a not-for-profit organisation with the mission of increasing public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level throughout the United States and abroad. The ACF is TCP’s Australian partner in the launch and implementation of Al Gore’s Climate Change Leadership Program in Australia.  Professionally Damien is a Senior Project Manager with the Telecommunications company AAPT.

Lying in a hospital bed in China at just 19 years of age, Jessica Sheaffe had no idea that two letters were about to become such a major part of her life. Jessica completed high school in 2006 and was loving her new-found freedom and independence, achieving her long-time goal of working overseas.

In May 2008, Jess was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and suddenly found herself in a world of MRI’s and lumbar punctures. Her new objective: get out of the wheelchair.

Two months later Jess was walking again and after accepting the turn her life had taken, she began to see just how wrongly MS was interpreted in society. Jess set about getting her life back together and started telling whoever would listen about MS, realising that with her diagnosis came a responsibility to educate the community. Through her role as an MS Ambassador, Jess hopes to link a young face with the illness and to dispel the many misconceptions about MS.

Jessica Sheaffe

Melissa Abu-Gazaleh

Managing Director of the Best Catch Foundation

Melissa is active within the local community, currently serving on the Community Relations Commission Regional Advisory Council as a Community Representative, and previously held a position on the TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute Advisory Council as a Student Representative.

Melissa’s efforts in providing a platform for young men has been fostered through her volunteering activities that she is currently engaged in. Melissa dedicates on average 15 hours a fortnight to the Illawarra community and believes that young males who volunteer are invaluable and are worthy of recognition. The mission of the Best Catch foundation, started by Melissa is to improve the status of young men through the promotion and recognition of positive young male behaviour.

Dr Frank Stootman is Adjunct Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Western Sydney as well as this, he is also Director of L’Abri Fellowship in Australia.

Frank is interested in more things than he has time to explorem, he is a keen Astrophysicist, enjoys research, is good with computers, mathematics and electronics and is interested in the relationship between Science and Christianity and has taught on this extensively.

Frank is married to Heather, who has a PhD in Chemistry, and has three grown children and several grandchildren

“My biggest dream for the world is to see others love one another, and be so moved by their love that actions will follow to help others in need.”

For someone who had until recently never lived away from Sydney or travelled out of Australia, Cory Duker undoubtedly thinks like a global citizen. Aside from a love of sport and the beach, and the occasional episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, he is passionate about spreading the need to act against global poverty and eliminate suffering in the world. Having just graduated from Toongabbie Christian School and now a first year engineering/science student at the University of Sydney, he jumped at the chance to travel to Cambodia with World Vision and learn as much as he could about poverty. He said upon his return that he had come face-to-face with the harsh reality of poverty and explicitly saw the need for the world to help people in need, and so has become inspired to advocate for a fairer world.

Celia Carroll, Global Education Advisor, Caritas Australia. Mother, Educator, Social Justice and Human Rights Advocate. Born in India, migrated to Australia in 1970. Completed primary, secondary and tertiary education at institutions in Victoria and New South Wales. Taught at a variety of primary and secondary schools.
Inspired by the words of Clare of Assisi, “What you hold may you always hold. What you do, may you always do and never abandon”, moved into the direction of my passion and love of Social Justice and Human Rights.

Henry is a retired Senior Lecturer in the School of Accounting and Finance at UOW.  He is a long serving activist and a regular contributor to LBGTQI forums.  He has a commitment to achieving full human rights for our LBGTQI people.

An audience participation forum about the who, what, where, when, why and how we can act (individually and collectively) to counter heterosexism and homophobia in the University ... We ‘ain’t all straight’ ... What must we do to achieve our rightful place in the university?

Marisa has a diverse range of experience and expertise having held senior financial and executive roles for the past 15 years in public and health sectors. Marisa is responsible for driving change and developing new business opportunities that will directly and positively impact the business. Marisa has also executive oversight of the strategic and planning process of the ITC organisation.

Marisa’s professional highlights have lead to include the 2008 EOWA business awards Finalist “Diversity Leader for the Advancement of Women” Award and 2007 Leadership and Management Award, Commonwealth Minister for Ageing’s Excellence Awards. Marisa is passionate about empowering staff and transforming organisations through an inclusive and affirmative culture.

Following studies in Creative Writing and Theatre Studies from Queensland University of Technology, Lauren has had diverse professional experiences ranging from training and facilitation to communications and event management. Managing Director of The Brightest Young Minds Foundation since September 2008, she is passionate about the development of the social innovation landscape in Australia. The Brightest Young Minds Foundation brings 100 young people together each year to develop their own social entrepreneurship initiatives which can continue on and make a positive contribution to society post-Summit.

With many years experience developing and delivering training programs to individuals and corporates alike, Preetha Shekar brings a wealth of knowledge spanning project management, consulting, change management, executive mentoring and relationship coaching. Her experience also includes implementing skills assessment programs to organisations such as KPMG, Veritas, Macquarie Bank and many other well established organisations.

As a Director of Red Giraffe Recruitment and Search, Preetha developed and launched the Red Giraffe Graduate Advantage Program in January 2009. The Graduate Advantage Program is designed to give graduates of all disciplines the necessary skills to improve their success through the entire application process. Since launching this program, Red Giraffe have received 100% positive feedback from all attendees. Last month alone Red Giraffe delivered the Graduate Advantage Program to over 120 tertiary qualified graduates.

Carla is a Torres Strait Island woman who currently works for AIME (the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience), an Indigenous Corporation and not-for-profit charity that uses a unique style of structured education mentoring to link university students in a one-on-one relationship with Indigenous high school students. Carla started as a volunteer mentor in the program in 2006, and this year accepted a full time position within the management team. In her ‘spare time’, Carla is also the Indigenous Officer for the National Union of Students, advocating on behalf of Indigenous university students across the country. In addition, Carla studies part time, currently completing a Bachelor of Primary Education. Carla’s passion for education and equal rights for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples pervades every area of her personal and professional life. She subscribed whole-heartedly to the notion that with belief in our kids, change can happen…