Ethnolink's Head of Multicultural Communications, Rachael, grew up in Melbourne, speaking English at home. Throughout her schooling, Rachael learnt French, Italian, Spanish and Chinese to varying levels of proficiency – but French was her first love.

With a Masters of Interpreting and Translation, becoming NAATI Certified in French to English translation, Rachael is responsible for tailoring strategic multicultural solutions to be needs of her clients, ensuring that the cultural and linguistic needs of target communities are considered and met.

Costa Vasili, the visionary founder & CEO of Ethnolink, is a recognised global thought leader on multicultural communications and language technology. Costa's impressive qualifications, including a Bachelor of Business degree from Monash University, underpin his strategic vision and leadership at Ethnolink, Australia's largest multicultural communications agency. Costa sits on several prominent boards, advising on translation and multicultural communication strategies.

Since founding Ethnolink in 2011, Costa has spearheaded the company's growth into Australia's largest provider of multicultural communication and translation services, offering services in over 150 languages. Costa has overseen Ethnolink's growth to almost 50 employees, and with strategic expansion plans, the company is set to double its workforce by 2025.

Costa's strategic direction, influenced by his upbringing in diverse communities, coupled with his commitment to removing language barriers, have seen Ethnolink become a trusted provider for government, not-for-profit and corporate clients across Australia. Recognised as a finalist in the 2022 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards, Costa remains a dedicated advocate for multicultural communications, contributing to society through impactful campaigns and meaningful partnerships.

Dana Mouwad is a published senior leader with an accomplished record in delivering
clinical/corporate health outcomes across a range of cross-sector, health and academic partnerships, projects in primary and secondary care research. She actively engages senior leaders, staff and consumers to drive strategic initiatives.

Dana is a founding member and current Director of the Health Literacy Hub, a research to practice partnership with The University of Sydney Health Literacy Lab, recently adopted as a statewide initiative by NSW Health to improve organisational health literacy, communication and information across the healthcare system.

She passionately leads, cultivates and translates evidence-based initiatives.

Emily is a passionate strategic communications professional with a background in journalism, not-for-profit disability services and government. She has a keen interest in inclusion, accessibility, privacy and tech.

Working at the eSafety Commissioner as Senior Communications Advisor, Communities, Emily's diverse skill set informs the agency's communication strategy and campaigns on a range of key areas including First Nations, LGBTIQ+, disability, older Australians and more.

Her mission is to help protect the voices of diverse individuals and communities who are more at-risk online, and empower everyone to benefit from the full advantages of digital connectivity.

Abdallah is an advisor in a diverse communications team, a central function in NSW Government that sits within the department of customer service. The team provide advice to all NSW Government agencies on their multicultural and Aboriginal communications.

Abdallah organises the multicultural community of practice, a peer network for Government professionals who are interested in working within diverse communications. It highlights best practices, successful case studies and provides a platform for collaboration.

Kathleen has been in the for-purpose sector for 10 years. As the campaign manager for R U OK? Kathleen has been working closely with industries and communities who are at high risk of suicide. Kathleen is passionate about sharing the voices of those with lived experience as a way to connect people and start conversations to increase social support.

Louise Browne is a seasoned professional with expertise in public health, health promotion, and quality assurance. As the Head of Public Health and Education at Jean Hailes Women's Health, she has demonstrated exceptional skills in managing health education programs and projects. With a strong background in not-for-profit and health promotion organisations, Louise has a proven track record of leading and developing initiatives that aim to educate both health professionals and consumers.

Her diverse skill set encompasses professional development for doctors and other health professionals, highlighting her commitment to advancing the capabilities of healthcare practitioners. Louise's extensive experience underscores her dedication to creating impactful resources that empower individuals with the knowledge to make informed health decisions. Her work reflects a commitment to tailored communication strategies that resonate with a broad audience, ensuring that health information is not only accurate but also accessible to diverse communities.

Katy is the Head of Omnicom Media Group’s Diverse Media division as well as lead of OMG’s diversity, equity and inclusion council. Her mission is to help minority audiences in Australia be seen, heard and understood by marketers and advertisers.

Katy started her career in Media Strategy in New York before evolving into Branded Entertainment and moving to Sydney. She is proudly Chinese-American and is continuing a legacy of DEI passed down from her father, Ken Eng.

Jahin Tanvir is the CEO of the Australian School of Entrepreneurship, Australia's largest innovation provider. Jahin is a 3-time TEDx speaker, board director, and was named on the 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians for 2022, at the age of 21-years-old.

 As an award-winning advocate for young people, and diversity and inclusion, 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. Jahin is a Board Director at the Adolescent Health Association of Australia, a UNICEF Young Ambassador and Movember Ambassador.

Jahin is a regular media commentator and has appeared on ABC News, ABC’s The Drum, Channel 10, and Channel 9.

In the academic field, Jahin has been invited as a Guest Lecturer at the University of Melbourne for young people on mental health and was recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers adolescent health and medicine. He was a founding member of the COVID-19 Youth Reference Group at the Department of Health, and an active research commissioner at the Centre of Research Excellence in Adolescent Health and Murdoch Institute of Children’s Research. Jahin's academic background resides in Optometry.

As a first-generation migrant, Jahin’s vision is to empower people from diverse backgrounds in decision-making and conversations in Australia, representing the multiculturalism of Australia. He is also an Angel Investor and has invested into two companies thus far in electrical energy, and medical technology.

Rebecca Wood is a Marketing Manager at R U OK? – an organisation committed to encouraging and equipping everyone to regularly and meaningfully ask ‘are you OK?’, of anyone who might be struggling with life.

Rebecca is passionate about creating integrated campaigns to educate, empower and inspire meaningful conversations, particularly to targeted and vulnerable population groups. She has over 20 years’ experience across corporate, tertiary education and not-for profit sectors and is a casual lecturer in Marketing at Western Sydney University and Sydney University.

Anthony Lam is the founder and managing director of Punchy Digital Media – Australia’s leading creative video agency.

With significant experience across government, public and private sectors, Anthony has produced in excess of an astonishing 1200 videos since inception.

Anthony is also a member of Entrepreneurs Organisation Melbourne and APAC Bridge Chapter. He is currently serving on the Melbourne board as Accelerator Chair to give back and help entrepreneurs scale and grow their business. 

Nadia Saleh is the Diversity and Inclusion Project Officer with the Australian Services Union, NSW ACT  Services Branch, which represents workers employed throughout metropolitan and regional NSW in  the community and disability services sectors, water, transport, airlines and IT industries. 

Nadia’s dedication to promoting respect for a diverse and inclusive community underpins everything  she does and is the hallmark of her role at the ASU, where she works with others to develop resources  to build strong and sustainable networks of individuals and organisations, particularly in the  community services sector. 

Prior to working with the ASU, Nadia was employed in leadership roles in the community services  sector in western Sydney and served as a councillor and as Deputy Mayor of the Canterbury  Bankstown City Council. 

Nadia is a committed activist and campaigner on issues impacting her community. She has  successfully participated in delegations to federal and state government and corporate Australia on  issues ranging from the need for equal pay for workers in the community services sector and for a  properly funded NDIS to the need for paid family and domestic violence leave.  

Nadia has been formally recognised for skilled advocacy and community campaigning, being awarded  Local Woman of the Year and an Edna Ryan Award for her contribution to her community and to  women workers in the community services sector. 

Nadia is an engaging and inspiring speaker and activist, who is recognised as a leader across diverse  communities. She is keen to share her experience, learn new skills and encourage new networks in  the interests of supporting a more diverse and inclusive Australian community.

Dorian is a Senior Video Strategist at Punchy Digital Media and is responsible for strategy, account management, and nurturing client relationships. 

Dorian has partnered on major communication campaigns with local, state and federal government departments. Working with charities and NGOs such as Beyond Blue, Movember, The Black Dog Institute and Asthma Australia he’s been able to better appreciate the multi-layered social issues within Australian culture. He has also enjoyed overseeing communications campaigns for the NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW SES and Visit Victoria.

Dr Van Tran gained her 2nd PhD from an ARC-funded project on Vietnamese language maintenance and Vietnamese-English competence. Her 1st PhD was an SFL-based linguistic research on the quality of post-graduate education in Vietnam.

She is also a NAATI-accredited translator. She has been teaching English language and linguistics and translation at University of Wollongong and Western Sydney University.

Her research focusses on home language maintenance, multilingual children’s speech and language acquisition, and discourse analysis. 

Rhianne Jeyakumar is a proud Sri Lankan woman with a strong Tamil identity. She has spent her academic and working career immersing herself in the international and community development sectors, and has nurtured a passion and interest in peace and conflict, and migration. 

Rhianne has worked with diverse communities both in Australia and abroad, and is driven by her deep commitment to people and advocating for their rights and equity. 

Rhianne currently works as a Multicultural Focus Domestic and Family Violence Specialist for the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service.

Mary Ann is a seasoned leader in the not-for-profit sector with a focus on systems thinking and evidence-based policy advocacy in Australia and East/Southeast Asia. As the former Director of Policy for Health and Ageing at FECCA, she championed access and equity for diverse communities during the pandemic, primary healthcare, and aged care reforms. With a decade of experience in the East and Southeast Asian region, she led initiatives on community-based care and women's financial security, co-founding the 'Regional Learning Network on Women’s Financial Security.'

Mary Ann's management expertise includes navigating challenges, implementing sustainable financial strategies, fostering culture change, and developing systems for organisational growth. She has a rich academic background, co-authoring publications on ethnography, bio-psychosocial approaches to ageing, and public health communications. Notably, she co-authored the first cross-country comparative study on the financial security of older women in Southeast Asia.

A Lee Kuan Yew Scholar, Mary Ann earned her master’s degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Leigh Cox serves as the dedicated Director, Language Services Policy at the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. With a robust background as a policy professional, Leigh has amassed valuable experience in both government and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector, focusing on social policy matters, particularly in the realms of multicultural affairs and humanitarian affairs.

His expertise lies in strategic development and policy implementation, where he excels in leveraging his strengths to address complex challenges. Leigh is committed to fostering robust connections with internal and external stakeholders, firmly believing that such collaborations are pivotal in achieving sustainable and impactful results.

As the Director of Migrant English and Language Services, Leigh Cox plays a crucial role in shaping policies and initiatives aimed at supporting migrants through effective language services. His dedication to forming meaningful connections aligns seamlessly with the department's commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for individuals navigating the complexities of immigration and settlement in Australia. Through his strategic leadership, Leigh contributes significantly to the department's overarching goals and reinforces its position as a cornerstone in Australia's multicultural landscape.

Ethnolink's Head of Multicultural Communications, Rachael, grew up in Melbourne, speaking English at home. Throughout her schooling, Rachael learnt French, Italian, Spanish and Chinese to varying levels of proficiency – but French was her first love.

With a Masters of Interpreting and Translation, becoming NAATI Certified in French to English translation, Rachael is responsible for tailoring strategic multicultural solutions to be needs of her clients, ensuring that the cultural and linguistic needs of target communities are considered and met.

Costa Vasili, the visionary founder & CEO of Ethnolink, is a recognised global thought leader on multicultural communications and language technology. Costa's impressive qualifications, including a Bachelor of Business degree from Monash University, underpin his strategic vision and leadership at Ethnolink, Australia's largest multicultural communications agency. Costa sits on several prominent boards, advising on translation and multicultural communication strategies.

Since founding Ethnolink in 2011, Costa has spearheaded the company's growth into Australia's largest provider of multicultural communication and translation services, offering services in over 150 languages. Costa has overseen Ethnolink's growth to almost 50 employees, and with strategic expansion plans, the company is set to double its workforce by 2025.

Costa's strategic direction, influenced by his upbringing in diverse communities, coupled with his commitment to removing language barriers, have seen Ethnolink become a trusted provider for government, not-for-profit and corporate clients across Australia. Recognised as a finalist in the 2022 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards, Costa remains a dedicated advocate for multicultural communications, contributing to society through impactful campaigns and meaningful partnerships.

Emily is a passionate strategic communications professional with a background in journalism, not-for-profit disability services and government. She has a keen interest in inclusion, accessibility, privacy and tech.

Working at the eSafety Commissioner as Senior Communications Advisor, Communities, Emily's diverse skill set informs the agency's communication strategy and campaigns on a range of key areas including First Nations, LGBTIQ+, disability, older Australians and more.

Her mission is to help protect the voices of diverse individuals and communities who are more at-risk online, and empower everyone to benefit from the full advantages of digital connectivity.

Sean leads the Information Access Group team. He combines his passion for helping our community with his extensive corporate and leadership experience to ensure our clients are supported to get the best possible outcomes for their editorial, design, print, web and accessibility projects. Sean has experience in design, communication, project and team management. His focus is on providing our team and clients with an exceptional and supportive work environment.

The Information Access Group is a communication agency that specialises in accessibility. We believe that information should be accessible to the widest possible audience, including people with disability, First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities and people of all ages with low levels of literacy. 

“Making information accessible to such a broad spectrum of user groups is truly rewarding. It’s one of the reasons why it’s easy to get out of bed in the morning and come to work with this amazingly talented and creative group of people. I am grateful for the opportunity to see, first-hand, the positive effect our accessibility work has.”

Anushe has been working in the non-profit and social policy space for the last 6 years. In her current role with Women’s Health Matters, she leads the organisation’s projects that engage and support migrant and refugee communities in the ACT through bilingual health education and in-language resource development.

Previously, she has worked at state and national peak bodies, working towards improved sector responsiveness and better health outcomes and access for multicultural and multilingual communities. Her expertise is in health and system navigation, youth policy and women’s health.

Coming from an intergenerational and multilingual migrant household, Anushe is a strong advocate for multilingualism and language diversity to be seen as an incredible asset rather than from a deficit lens or a barrier preventing our communities from thriving.

She believes communications and service provision should be tailored, empathetic and most importantly, co-designed by community.

Mercedes is an expert communication and stakeholder manager with over 25 years of experience in Australia and Overseas. Her special interest is the development of In-House capabilities to write materials that are ready for translation to enable culturally appropriate communication.

Mercedes Dent is a renowned multicultural communications expert and certified Change Practitioner (Prosci). She was a guest speaker at the 2023 Multicultural Communication Summit and received the 2020 ACT Multicultural Award for establishing a communication link between community services and CALD communities. In 2019, Mercedes played a key role in developing the Carers ACT COVID crisis-communication strategy, earning industry acclaim.

She also led the highest-performing customer service team of 2018 at Kaplan Professional Australia through innovative cross-training strategies.

Omar Al-Ani is an experienced humanitarian professional and a passionate advocate for vulnerable populations. With over 16 years of dedicated service in the field, Omar has played a pivotal role in designing and delivering impactful humanitarian efforts worldwide, with a strong focus on health and protection needs.

His expertise extends to strategic planning and the implementation of health services, ensuring individuals and communities have access to medical care during conflict and forced displacement. Omar actively addresses and advocates for health services, aiming to bridge gaps in equitable access to healthcare.

Omar's educational background includes a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Baghdad. Currently, he is pursuing a Master of Health Service Management at Griffith University, further enhancing his understanding of the healthcare sector in Australia.

Motivated by his desire to make a positive difference, Omar actively participates in professional associations such as the International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). During his leisure time, he enjoys travelling, immersing himself in nature, and pursuing his passion for climbing.

With a vision of a world where every individual has equitable access to healthcare, Omar remains steadfast in his commitment to creating a better future through his work in the non-profit sector.

Ine focuses on supporting migrant and refugee communities in Australia through developing multilingual digital solutions and promoting access to social infrastructure that supports community resilience and social cohesion.

Previously, she has worked at UNHCR and in the diplomatic space across multiple countries, including Australia. Ine holds a Master of Arts in History (2016) from the University of Ghent and a Master in International Relations and Diplomacy (2019) from the University of Antwerp.

Saad Khalid, a first-generation Pakistani Australian, is deeply passionate about fostering multiculturalism and building a more inclusive society. With a proven track record in community media, he has demonstrated excellence in delivering impactful content that engages the public across various demographics. Through a cross-sectional lens, Saad has effectively highlighted the contributions of migrants to Australia, employing the powerful medium of storytelling.

In his role as the Executive Director at the Canberra Multicultural Service and non-Executive Director at Relationships Australia, Saad advocates for intergenerational leadership and the collective aspirations of young people. Additionally, serving as the National Youth Advisor to the NEMBC, his efforts extend nationally, creating opportunities for multicultural youth to actively participate in content production.

Sharon Brine is an experienced communications professional with her career in the field spanning over a decade across non profit and government roles.

Sharon has worked at the Department of Health and Aged Care since September 2020 and is currently the Assistant Director of the Diverse Audiences Communications team, contributing to the department’s strategy and roll out of content for multicultural audiences.

Sharon is passionate about using effective communication methods to ensure multicultural communities, and other diverse audiences, can access the health information they need to make informed health decisions.

Sam, a retired Principal Pharmacist with 35 years at the Commonwealth Department of Health, held key roles, including Chief Pharmacist. Notable achievements include aiding the implementation of the Federal Therapeutic Goods Act and facilitating a memorandum of understanding between China and TGA. Awards include the TGA Outstanding Achievement Award and the Order of Australia.

In leadership roles, Sam served as President of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (ACT Branch) and Multicultural Honorary Ambassador for the ACT from 2001 to August 2022. In 2012, he became a People of Australia Ambassador for the ACT, recognised for promoting Multiculturalism.

Throughout his career, Sam contributed significantly to healthcare and multiculturalism, leaving a lasting impact on both the Australian community and the field of pharmacy.