FOUNDING CHAIR: LOUISE TRAN
Louise has spent over 15 years in the social impact space with a leading profile in the food security, agriculture and broader environmental sustainability sector. She is on the leadership team of OzHarvest, one of Australia’s largest and well known charities. Co-founding VietHarvest in Vietnam in 2022, Louise is well regarded internationally as a champion of food waste reduction and working at the intersection between Social Entrepreneurship and NFP innovation. She is deeply passionate about the social enterprise model where business can create positive change when driven by ethical and social values. Louise has cultivated a solid track record as a specialist in a purpose-driven communications, marketing, brand building, advocacy and media relations. Louise has led strategy, branding and outreach for high recognition campaigns such as R U OK? Day as well as leading global institutions such as the United Nations. Holding degrees in Public Communications and International Studies from UTS, Louise also completed studies at the Télécom SudParis in France, a top tier engineering school producing leaders in economic, social, and environmental fields. Louise is a dedicated leader, supporting her community in Western Sydney through running the multicultural Children’s Festival and other community focused initiatives.
FOUNDING BOARD MEMEBER & CEO: RATHANA CHEA
Rathana has spent over 20 years working internationally strengthening people, building organisations and delivering impactful strategies. He has worked in the areas of environmental sustainability, climate change, human rights and technology. He has served on senior management and executive teams in Europe, Australia, Asia and globally for Greenpeace, Amnesty International, the Sunrise Project and other leading change agents. He has also served on countless boards including as Vice Chair of the peak body for multicultural communities, ECC as well as serving on the board of leading advocacy and campaign training institutes such as, New York based Mobilisation Lab and regionally focused AktivAsia. Rathana has co-founded and successfully scale up numerous social enterprise, not-for-profit and charity startups into fully fledged impact focused organisations across Asia and Australia. Rathana holds several qualifications across multiple disciplines from Oxford University, UNSW, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Technology Sydney where he was awarded the Vice Chancellors’ Human Rights HC Award.
TREASURER & FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER: KAREN KANDUR
Karen is Indian-Australian and has spent over 20 years working in financial and business operations in the charity sector. As COO for Environmental Leadership Australia she has overseen and managed ELA’s exponential growth in the last 12 months. As Chief Operating Officer at ActionAid and Chief Financial Officer at Opportunity International Australia prior Karen has played instrumental roles in the fiscal and organisational compliance as well as marrying agile organisational processes to robust real world impact. Karen was also instrumental in developing Opportunity's volunteer and intern program and performance management system, recognised as one of the best in Australia's non-profit sector. Karen is also board Director and Treasurer at two other Australian nonprofits, Australian Progress and Democracy in Colour. She is a Chartered Accountant and has a Masters in International Development and an Executive Masters in Business Administration. As a first generation Indian-Australian Karen is passionate about creating spaces for climate impacted CALD communities in Australia and abroad.
BOARD MEMBER: CHRIS GAMBIAN
Chris has spent the last 25 years working in organising, campaigning and training social movements focused on working people and environmental protection. His dedication to equality, justice and sustainability through collective action stands out in a career that spans broad subject matter expertise representing working people in the banking and insurance industry, public sector and construction industry. He has worked in multiple senior management and executive roles, including as CEO of Nature Conservation Council. He has served on multiple local and national boards including GetUp!, Bankstown Youth Development Service, Inner Southwest Community Development organisation and the Evatt Foundation. He holds a Master of Labour Law and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
People are at the centre of the Multicultural Leadership Initiative. We recognise that culture eats strategy for breakfast and work hard to build an aligned approach across the organisation on how we approach and deliver our mission, no matter what what our role titles may be. As First Nations people, Migrants, Refugees, Multigenerational Diaspora, People of Colour and CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) people we understand that everyone has a story and that story brings the kind of strength, knowledge and wisdom that can only be derived from lived experience. If you are interested in joining our team, check out our jobs page for when positions come up or our training page to apply to participate in one of our leadership programs.
BOARD MEMBER: DENISE CAUCHI OAM
Denise has over 20 years’ experience working in the not–for-profit sector in the areas of climate change, multiculturalism, human rights and international development. Currently the Executive Director of Doctors for the Environment Australia, she was previously co-founder and Executive Director of Diaspora Action Australia where she worked with diaspora communities to build leadership, capacity, networks and strategy. As consultant to international development organisations, she has assisted them to develop strategic partnerships with multicultural communities. Denise has served on several boards including the Australian Council for International Development. She was a member of the inaugural Advisory Group on Australia Africa Relations, providing advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs 2015-2018. Denise holds a Master of International Development and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for contribution to human rights and the multicultural community.
ADVISOR: LILLE MADDEN
Lille is a proud Arrernte, Bundjalung and Kalkadoon woman from Gadigal Country in Sydney. She is a passionate conservationist, storyteller, and young climate leader. Lille was the presenter and co-writer for a 3 part documentary produced by ABC Indigenous called Healing Country, where she travels around Australia talking to young Traditional Owners. She is currently a member of the Board of Common Ground, a First Nations-led not-for-profit amplifying knowledge, cultures and stories. Lille has a deep sense of responsibility and love for the protection and preservation of our natural and cultural heritage for a just and sustainable future. Lille has worked across multiple fields in conservation from being a keeper at Taronga Conservation Society on the Australian Fauna Precinct to studying in Conservation and Land Management. For the past 3 years she has volunteered with Seed Indigneous Youth Climate Network to build a movement of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people standing up for climate justice.
ADVISOR: JAHIN TANVIR
Jahin is the CEO of the Australian School of Entrepreneurship. An established media commentator Jahin is a regular on ABC’s The Drum, ABC News and Channel 10 and Channel 9, he also founded Breath., an EdTech social enterprise providing public speaking education and coaching to young people, and marginalised communities around Australia. Breathe. has impacted over 16,000 individuals from diverse communities since its inception and was recently acquired by the ASE Group. Jahin was named the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalist whilst also receiving the 2021 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year in Individual Community Service as well as receiving the Zest Awards Outstanding Youth Leader of the year for 2021 for his work in assisting multicultural communities in Western Sydney.
FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER: CORINNE HODSON
Corinne is a proud Ngunnawal Wiradjuri Aboriginal woman and has spent the last 25 years working in Indigenous Community capacity building, Health and Community practice, Aboriginial Land Rights, Environmental Protection and Government Relations. She is widely recognised for her skills in First Nations community engagement and empowerment, enabling the implementation of countless change processes towards increased public leadership presence of Indigenous peoples. Corinne is the Chair of the Ngiyang Wayama Aboriginal Regional Data Network and on the Board of Directors of Yerin Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Service. An alumni of the Jawun Emerging Leadership cohort and Stories of Female Leadership Network, Corinne has family links to the Riverina region of New South Wales, connection to the Pilbara region of Western Australia and an extensive work history across diverse Aboriginal regions all over Australia. Corinne undertook undergrad studies at the Sydney University and University of Western Sydney, completing further postgraduate studies in Indigenous Trauma and Recovery. Corinne was recently short listed for Pro-Bono Australia’s Impact 25 as one of Australia’s leading influential not-for-profit change agents.
OUR PEOPLE
AUSTRALIA BOARD
YOUTH CHAIR: RATAJ ABDULLAH
Bio coming
TEAM
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: RATHANA CHEA
Rathana has spent over 20 years working internationally strengthening people, building organisations and delivering impactful strategies. He has worked in the areas of environmental sustainability, climate change, human rights and technology. He has served on senior management and executive teams in Europe, Australia, Asia and globally for Greenpeace, Amnesty International, the Sunrise Project and other leading change agents. He has also served on countless boards including as Vice Chair of the peak body for multicultural communities, ECC as well as serving on the board of leading advocacy and campaign training institutes such as, New York based Mobilisation Lab and regionally focused AktivAsia. Rathana has co-founded and successfully scale up numerous social enterprise, not-for-profit and charity startups into fully fledged impact focused organisations across Asia and Australia. Rathana holds several qualifications across multiple disciplines from Oxford University, UNSW, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Technology Sydney where he was awarded the Vice Chancellors’ Human Rights HC Award.
DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION & IMPACT: THUY-LINH NGUYEN
Thuy-Linh has spent over 10 years working to build more diverse constituencies in the Australian climate movement. Thuy Linh was the community organising lead on the Voices for Power Project of the broad-based civil society coalition, the Sydney Alliance. In Voices for Power, she led a team which activated migrant community leaders across Western Sydney to take political action on energy affordability, access to renewables and climate justice, which led to shifts in clean energy policy in the NSW Government. She also led the co-design, implementation and social impact evaluation of an energy literacy train-the-trainer program for culturally and linguistically diverse energy consumers, collaborating with energy businesses across the energy supply chain. Furthermore, she has experience in advocacy in the refugee and human rights sector in Australia, and in international criminal justice. Thuy Linh Nguyen completed a combined Bachelors of International Studies (International Relations) and Law, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact at University of New South Wales.
DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY & PARTNERSHIPS: LINH DO
Linh has spent over 10 years working across advocacy and engagement, media and social enterprise. A Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, Deputy Chair of Climate Action Network Australia and most recently Australia and Pacific lead for The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore’s climate change leadership program as well as the former Director of National Partnerships for Climate Catalyst. Linh has worked with a wide array of individuals from high school students to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Reuters Foundation. She is a co-founder of the technology start-up OurSay, formerly led the community organising program at the Australian Conservation Foundation and has worked with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on communicating policy. In the lead up to the Paris negotiations, she served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Verb. There she worked with a global team to localise and humanise stories from the UN climate change negotiations. Her work has been featured in Al Jazeera, Vogue, the Huffington Post and the Washington Post amongst others.
DIRECTOR OF US & GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS: VIV BENJAMIN
Viv has spent the last 20 years working in international campaigning, advocacy and philanthropy. As experienced facilitator she is also founder of Global & Collective a women and people of colour led international social impact collective. Viv was previously CEO of Oaktree, and has co-created people-powered campaigns with UNICEF, Purpose, MTV, United for Global Mental Health, Tearfund, and more, to mobilise people for social, environmental and economic justice across 20 countries around the world. Viv serves on the Mobilisation Lab Collective Board. Viv trained as a Lawyer and graduated with honours from Monash University before completing college of law at the Australian National University.
CO-DIRECTOR OF ASIA PARTNERSHIPS: SARINA FRIAS
Sarina has spent over 19 years of international experience working in business strategy, crisis management and organisational development across the NGO and corporate sector for leading brands such as Nissan, Expedia and Greenpeace. Sarina is also a psychologist focused on holistic wellness during these turbulent times. Along with being an experienced trainer and facilitator, Sarina is also a well established business and project administrator with a focus on a deep understanding of how people, process and product delivery come together through her expertise in understanding business and organisational needs balanced with workforce well being. Having lived and worked in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe Sarina brings an understanding of cross-cultural dynamics that enriches every project she is part of.
YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL
BOARD MEMBER: SARA LAW
Sara has spent 16 years working in law and climate change. She helps business leaders seeking to embed climate thinking into corporate strategy. Sara uses data, research, and persuasion to make the case for ‘future-proofing’ organisations in the face of natural resource exhaustion. She is known for building international collaborations that unite people, business, philanthropy, and government, like the We Mean Business Coalition, Science Based Targets Initiative, and The Climate Pledge. In 2015, she designed a breakthrough campaign that delivered the first generation of corporate climate targets to the United Nations, as well as widespread business support for the Paris Climate Agreement. Sara has held management roles in the United States, like at CDP, a non-profit that runs the world’s largest environmental disclosure system. Her career began in law in Melbourne, focusing on litigation, government law, and human rights. She holds degrees in law and arts from the University of Queensland and a Master of Environmental and Energy Laws from Georgetown University. Sara’s roots trace back to Brisbane, where her family has contributed to the local community for 30 years.
CO-DIRECTOR OF ASIA PARTNERSHIPS: SHIN RENN
Over 20 years of campaigning and community organising experience. Shin has worked extensively in the global HIV/AIDS, refugee and immigrant rights, LGBTQ justice and climate movements. Shin has worked extensively with grassroots organisers on corporate campaigns advocating for access to essential medicines and equitable and safe work place practices. Shin is an experienced negotiator and has lead collective bargaining teams for workers rights within the nonprofit sector as well as leading trainings in corporate and industry based negotiation. Shin also specialises working with as an operations strategist with extensive experience in organisational and business reporting, policy and compliance. Shin is well versed in in-person and virtual facilitation receiving regular praise from clients and partners. As a trainer Shin is passionate about co-creating justice-centred practices rooted in anti-oppression.