FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER & 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 most 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 ECC, a peak body for multicultural communities, 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 scaled 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.
FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER & TREASURER: 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 former Chief Financial Officer at Opportunity International Australia, Karen played instrumental roles in 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.
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 programs 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.
YAC & SAC MEMBER: 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 Indigenous Youth Climate Network to build a movement of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people standing up for climate justice.
YAC MEMBER & DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: JAHIN TANVIR
Jahin was 2021's Young Canberra Citizen of the Year and a 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalist as well as receiving the 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. An established strategist and youth empowerment specialist, when Jahin is not leading MLI's youth strategies he also works as 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.
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, Aboriginal 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
YOUTH CHAIR: RATAJ ABDULLAH
Rataj is an Eritrean 16 year old and moved to Australia 10 years ago as a refugee. In the past couple of years, she has organised locally and nationally on climate and racial justice campaigns. She is actively involved within the youth climate movement in Australia, primarily organising with School strike 4 climate, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition & Tomorrow Movement. She was involved in building and participating in campaigns such as the ‘Fund Our Future Not Gas’, ‘Don’t NAB Our Future’, and the ‘Climate Jobs Guarantee’ campaigns. As well as politician outreach, national strategy planning, running relevant events, mentoring, and social media and comms. She also is involved with the Youth Action Collective that developed a local initiative - All One Under the Sun. AOUTS is a youth-led anti-racism initiative that uses the arts to promote inclusion & diversity. Within this initiative she was involved in the creation of a documentary, forum theatre & and has written poetry for advertisements. Rataj is based in Coffs Harbour.
STAFF 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. Rathana is based in Sydney.
DIRECTOR OF US & AMERICAS 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. Viv is based in New York City.
DIRECTOR OF ASIA PARTNERSHIPS: SHIN RENN
Shin has spent over 20 years in campaigning and community organising. 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 workplace practices. Shin is an experienced negotiator, having led collective bargaining teams for workers’ rights within the nonprofit sector, as well as leading training in corporate and industry based negotiation. Shin also specialises in operations strategy, 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. Shin is based in Taipei.
YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL (YAC)
SAC MEMBER: RANDA KATTAN
Randa has spent the last 30 years working in community leadership roles, the latter part of this period as CEO of Arab Council Australia. Randa has been the key driver behind the ongoing success of the Arab Council Australia. Taking up its leadership during an immensely tumultuous and complex phase, she has transformed the organisation into a high achieving institution that attracts critical talent and that makes key contributions across the policy dialogue in Australia and abroad. Randa has served on numerous boards and committees. This includes the Premier’s Council for Women, Premier’s Crime Prevention Council, the NSW Anti-Poverty Week Facilitating Group. She also sits on the NSW State Library Cultural and Linguistic Advisory Board, the Western Sydney Community Forum Board and is a Jury Member of the Sydney Peace Prize. Randa was the Founding Chairperson of the Sydney Alliance and in 2014 was awarded as part of the top 25 people in Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 List of the most influential people in Australia’s not-for-profit sector. Randa holds several qualifications including social science, management, leadership, training & executive coaching.
SAC MEMBER: VIOLET ROUMELIOTIS AM
Violet is the CEO of Settlement Services International, a community organisation and social business that supports newcomers and other vulnerable individuals to achieve their full potential. She was awarded as Member of the Order of Australia as well as 2017 Telstra Business Woman of the Year and national winner of the For Purpose and Social Enterprise category, 2018 AFR 100 Women of Influence, 2018 InStyle Women of Style Community Champion. Violet Roumeliotis AM is a social entrepreneur who champions the strengths of our diverse communities and is committed to take a leadership and pioneering role to elevate reconciliation. Through her C-suite and board roles, Violet uses innovation and collective impact to promote social justice and inclusion. During her ten years as CEO, Violet has taken SSI from a Sydney-based organisation with 68 staff to a 900-plus workforce that supports more than 52,000 people nationally each year.
SAC MEMBER: CAT-THAO NGUYEN
Cat-Thao has spent over 20 years working across the Asia Pacific, North America and Europe in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Cultural Intelligence work with various clients from Fortune 500 and ASX listed companies to the Australian and Canadian governments. Having experience as a corporate lawyer, senior executive in private equity, CEO and board member, Cat-Thao brings a depth of private sector executive experience to her inclusion work. Cat-Thao is the co-founder and Board Chair of the Australia Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue, former Managing Head of Ernst & Young Law Vietnam, member of the Australian NGO delegation to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, former Advisory Board Chair Loreto Vietnam education charity. Cat-Thao is the founder of Global-Ready LLC and a Limina Learning Partner. She is also the former UN Youth Ambassador for Australia.
SAC & YAC MEMBER: 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 Indigenous Youth Climate Network to build a movement of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people standing up for climate justice.
SAC MEMBER: JOLE LAZAR
Joel is CEO of the Jewish Climate Network and a long-standing active member of the Melbourne Jewish community. His work driving social change at the community level spans educational program design, youth leadership and facilitation. After a stint on Collins Street as a commercial litigator, Joel was Head of Operations at The Man Cave, an organisation that develops the emotional intelligence and mental health of boys to enable them to become healthy and respectful young men. His commitment to addressing the impacts of our rapidly changing climate has intensified over the last decade, culminating in his joining the Jewish Climate Network as its first CEO in 2020. Through JCN, Joel is driven to unlock the strengths, networks and creativity of the Australian Jewish community, to become a leader in climate solutions and advocacy. His commitment to positive social change in a Jewish context culminated in his receiving the Ron Castan Young Humanitarian Award in 2019, and “Top 36 under the age of 36” Jewish Changemakers in Australia in 2023.
SAC MEMBER: DR. KIM LOO
The child of Buddhist parents, GP Dr Kim Loo learned early to tread lightly on the earth. Now, in addition to working with patients in communities in Western Sydney, she actively advocates for a sustainable future through her work on the Council of the AMA (NSW), as Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia (NSW), and her many other involvements. Kim is directing her efforts towards a cohesive, positive narrative which inspires people to reimagine what the future could be, one in which all sections of society can step ahead into the next phase with hope. To achieve this vision, Kim believes we need credible emissions targets and policy that actively supports the transition to a sustainable, clean-energy economy and society. Graduated from Sydney University in 1989. Started General Practice in 1993. Work has always been in Western Sydney. I started actively participating in the climate movement in 2015. Lobbying politicians , corporations and community club since then . Connections with all major parties and independents ( teals as well as others) . I understand the lay of the land at the political level . Kim currently holds the following positions: NSW AMA Council and General Practice Council, NSW Chair Doctors for the Environment Australia, Chair Hills Doctors Association, General Practice Leader Western Sydney Primary Healthcare Network. Board Asian Australians for Climate Action, Member of Hill4Climate Action, Member Australian Parents for Climate Action, Member Climate and Health Alliance ,Member of Healthy Futures .
STRATEGIC ADVISORY COUNCIL (SAC)
SAC MEMBER: MICHELLE LIN
Michelle is a Management Consultant at KPMG and CEO of her family foundation, Vermilion Foundation; a Next Gen led foundation which supports the areas of Diversity and Inclusion, Mental Health and Climate Action. She is very passionate about Next Gen philanthropy and shifting capital towards purpose, and sits on Philanthropy Australia's New Gen committee. A champion for diversity from a gender and cultural lens, she has many passions including multicultural youth empowerment, increasing representation of women of colour in leadership roles and youth mental health.
SAC 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.
DIRECTOR OF COMMINICATIONS: JAHIN TANVIR
Jahin was 2021's Young Canberra Citizen of the Year and a 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalist as well as receiving the 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. An established strategist and youth empowerment specialist, when Jahin is not leading MLI's youth strategies he also works as 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 is based in Sydney.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY: WESA CHAU
Wesa is one of Australia’s most influential thought leaders and advocates of multiculturalism and cultural diversity. Acknowledged through numerous awards including 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards, the Victorian Women's Honour Roll, 2010 Young Victorian of the Year among many others. Wesa has solid track record in policy advocacy that applies an intersectional lenses in areas such as international relations, gender equity, disability services, international education, family violence and more. Having served in a number of board director roles for multicultural community groups, Wesa is passionate about politics and civic engagement. Wesa has dedicated many years in bringing multicultural communities together and creating pathways for individuals from multicultural and culturally diverse backgrounds to find their voice in public life. Wesa holds qualifications across multiple disciplines, including engineering, law, business and politics from the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Swinburne University. Wesa is based in Melbourne.
OPERATIONS LEAD & DIRECTOR OF AFRICA PARTNERSHIPS: YEMI AGBENIYI
Oluwayemisi, or Yemi for short, has a background in business and operations management in the health and social impact sector. As a qualified Pharmacists, Yemi is a detail-oriented leader who approaches her work with a highly analytical and evidence based approach. This mindset led her to become concerned about the connection between human health and climate change. This led her to work for an international consultancy group where she worked on the project management and business operations side of projects for Greenpeace, Rights and Resources Initiative as well as other innovative change-makers. Leaning into growing her strategy skills Yemi's role has been recently expanded to cover scoping for potential partnerships in the African region. Yemi holds qualifications in Pharmacy from Obafemi Awolowo University and in Administration and Management from University of Cape Town, South Africa. Yemi is based in Lagos.
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER: ANGELINA LIZAR
Angelina has a longstanding interest in socio-political issues, being particularly passionate about issues relating to the environment, as well as gender and racially-based inequality. Alongside her studies in communications and political science, she has volunteered with several non-profit groups and organisations, where she has coordinated fundraising initiatives, produced content, and led teams of volunteers. Following her cultural ties to Indonesia, she currently works with Asia Justice and Rights and The Orangutan Project, both of which work extensively in Indonesia and other countries in Asia to alleviate injustice through social programs, community aid, education, and advocacy. With her background in communications, bringing social issues and potential solutions to the foreground of public discourse is a central objective in her work. Angelina is based in Sydney.
USA - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD MEMBER: 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. Rathana is based in Sydney.
BOARD MEMBER: 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. Viv is based in New York City.
BOARD MEMBER: SHIN RENN
Shin has spent over 20 years in campaigning and community organising. 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 workplace practices. Shin is an experienced negotiator, having led collective bargaining teams for workers’ rights within the nonprofit sector, as well as leading training in corporate and industry based negotiation. Shin also specialises in operations strategy, 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. Shin is based in Taipei.
AUSTRALIA - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: ROCELLITA LACSINA
BIO COMING SOON
PROGRAM MANAGER - COMMUNITY ORGANISING: LOSENA FUKO
BIO COMING SOON
PROGRAM MANAGER - COMMUNITY EDUCATION: ANNOUNCING SOON
BIO COMING SOON