Building Social Cohesion in a Multicultural Country

The Experts

• More details about Kate Jenkins AO, President, Australian Red Cross

  Kate Jenkins AO, President, Australian Red Cross

  Kate is a trusted leader and change maker. For 30 years she has been leading individual and systemic change in corporate, government and community sectors. In executive, board and leadership roles, Kate has a proven track record of navigating complex, sensitive environments to deliver lasting reform. Kate is Australia’s foremost authority on respect and equality in the workplace, in parliament and in the community. Kate’s diverse career roles include Australian Sports Commission Chair, Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner; Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner; Employment Law Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills; Chair of Creative Workplaces Council; Chair of Play by the Rules; Board member of Berry Street Victoria, Carlton Football Club and Heide Museum of Modern Art. Kate has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to human rights governance, to advancing gender equity, to the promotion of inclusivity, and to the law.

  • Kate Jenkins AO, President, Australian Red Cross 's website
  • Kate Jenkins AO, President, Australian Red Cross 's linkedin
• More details about Archana Brammall, Managing Director, The Buna Collective

  Archana Brammall, Managing Director, The Buna Collective

  Archana Brammall is a well-respected Tasmanian entrepreneur, community leader, and advocate for cultural diversity and social inclusion. Born in Ambo, Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian mother and Indian father, she spent her early years in both Ethiopia and India before migrating to Tasmania. For over two decades she has made Tasmania, especially Launceston, her home, where she has built a vibrant life with her family and established a successful career. As owner and Managing Director of The Buna Collective, Archana operates several venues including Sweetbrew and Tatler Lane. Through her businesses, she employs people from various backgrounds, an expression of her commitment to multiculturalism, inclusion and opportunity. Archana’s diverse educational background includes Economics, English Literature, Project Management and Tourism Operations. She is also a graduate of the Tasmanian Leaders Program, a testament to her leadership credentials. Beyond her entrepreneurial work, Archana plays an active role in shaping community and civic life. She is a board member of Multicultural Council of Tasmania (MCOT), a Director of Football Tasmania, Director of the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania and was recently appointed to the Tasmanian Women’s Council. Driven by her own multicultural roots and lived experience as a migrant, Archana is committed to building a more inclusive, diverse and welcoming Tasmania.

• More details about Dr Nicole O’Loughlin, Associate Lecturer in Creative Arts, University of Tasmania

  Dr Nicole O’Loughlin, Associate Lecturer in Creative Arts, University of Tasmania

  Nicole is a lecturer in Creative Arts at the University of Tasmania. Her research explores participatory visual arts in cross-disciplinary projects, the benefits of arts and cultural activities, and the development of embodied knowledge through arts practice. Her PhD centred around migrant and refugee communities in Lutruwita/Tasmania, she found the value of visual arts programs to foster belonging, enhance social cohesion, and support autonomous expression of lived experiences.

• More details about Facilitated by Sahana Sehgal, Senior Executive Assistant, Migrant Resource Centre and Board Member Multicultural Council of Tasmania

  Facilitated by Sahana Sehgal, Senior Executive Assistant, Migrant Resource Centre and Board Member Multicultural Council of Tasmania

  Sahana Sehgal has a diverse background working in community engagement, strategic communications, policy advocacy, not-for-profit management, and grants management. Over the past decade, she has focused her efforts on people and communities – both in Australia and India. Her work has brought her in contact with sectors across community broadcasting, migration and settlement, and education reform. Originally from India, Sahana has an undergraduate degree in Communications and moved to Australia to pursue a degree in International Relations from the Australian National University. Sahana currently works at the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania. She is a board member of the Multicultural Council of Tasmania, a member of the Glenorchy City Council - Access and Inclusion Special Committee, and a member of the Community Broadcasting Foundation - Content Grants Advisory Committee. She is also pursuing her PhD at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy (University of Canberra), where she is investigating the enablers and barriers to intercultural engagement amongst ethnic minority groups in Australia. In her free time, Sahana is an avid reader and writer of poetry and short stories.