Eight Countries. Three Graves. One Decision. A Woman Who Kept Building

Eight Countries. Three Graves. One Decision. The story of a woman who kept building.

A live storytelling experience that will change how you see your past, your identity, and what is still possible for you.

What do you do when everything you built is gone?

When the people who believed in you are buried. When the country you arrive in does not recognise your name. When your qualifications mean nothing and you are starting over - at an age when most people would stop.

You are about to hear the true story of a woman who faced all of that. And built anyway.

From survival to contribution.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

Future Power Academy presents an intimate, live storytelling experience with internationally recognised keynote speaker, identity and leadership coach, and author - Vivianne Dawalibi.

This is not a seminar. This is not a workshop.

This is a rare opportunity to sit in a room with a woman who has lived across 8 countries before becoming a refugee in Australia, served under the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UNHCR, buried her mother, her father, and her husband just over three years - and then and built two medical practices, an import-export business from her garage, and ultimately a global academy for human transformation.

From El Damer, North Sudan to Nairobi, Mogadishu. Yerevan. Minsk. Chisinau, Dhaka. Banja Luka. From a UNHCR bookkeeper to an internationally recognised Top 50 Global Speaker. From devastating loss to the founding of Future Power Academy.

Her story is not about surviving. It is about what you build after the survival.

WHAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE

✦ A storytelling journey spanning 70 years, 8 countries, and one extraordinary life - told live, in the room, by the woman who lived it.

✦ The H.E.A.R.T.™ Framework - Vivianne's five-stage transformation model built from lived experience: Heal · Embody · Awaken · Reclaim · Transform.

✦ A moment of honest reflection - what has your own journey cost you, and what has it quietly given you that you have not yet claimed?

✦ A conversation with one of Australia's most compelling voices in identity, resilience, and leadership - with dedicated time for connection after the experience.

✦ Inspiration that does not fade - because it comes from truth, not theory.

THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU IF...

✦ You are a migrant, refugee, or newcomer who has rebuilt your life in a country that did not immediately recognise your worth - and you are still finding your footing.

✦ You are a professional, leader, or founder who has experienced significant loss - personal, professional, or both - and you are ready to lead from that experience rather than hide it.

✦ You are a woman navigating identity - who you were, who you became, who you are choosing to be next.

✦ You are carrying a story you have never been given permission to call powerful.

✦ You believe that lived experience is not a liability - it is the most underused leadership asset in the world.

✦ You are ready to stop waiting for the right moment and start building the life that is still available to you.

THIS EVENT IS NOT FOR YOU IF...

You are looking for a quick-fix formula. You want theory without truth. You are not ready to be moved.

Vivianne's story does not leave people comfortable. It leaves them activated.

ABOUT VIVIANNE DAWALIBI

Founder, Future Power Academy Keynote Speaker · Identity & Leadership Coach · Author Top 50 Internationally Recognised Speaker (2025–2026) Official Awards Judge (2026).

Vivianne Dawalibi spent 20 years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees across 8 countries before resigning to care for her dying husband. Within three years she lost her mother, her father, and her husband. She arrived in Australia with her qualifications unrecognised and her professional identity erased.

She rebuilt from a garage.

She founded two bulk-billing medical practices that served communities for over 16 years. She launched an import-export business. She conducted government-funded community research. She became an accredited mortgage consultant. And in April 2025 - after selling both medical practices - she launched Future Power Academy: a global platform for identity reclamation, resilience, and leadership transformation.

Her framework, H.E.A.R.T.™, was not written from research. It was written from living.

"Healing did not return the life I had. It gave me the courage to live the life that remained."

Vivianne Dawalibi

WHY THIS EVENT. WHY NOW.

Because the world is full of people carrying stories they have been told are too heavy, too complicated, or too foreign to be valuable.

Because identity is not what survives hardship - it is what emerges from it.

Because there is a difference between a life that happened to you and a life you chose to build from what remained.

Vivianne has lived both.

And on October 16th, she is going to show you the bridge between them.

The story behind 70 Years of Courage

This live storytelling experience brings Vivianne Dawalibi’s remarkable journey from her memoir, 70 Years of Courage, to the stage.

Vivianne will take you inside the moments that rarely appear in professional biographies:

• What happened across the eight countries

• Whose lives are represented by the three graves

• The decision that separated survival from rebuilding

• What she discovered about identity when familiar roles disappeared

• How responsibility became the beginning of courage

• What she went on to build—and why she did not stop there

• Why her next chapter may be the most important one yet

This is not simply a story about what happened to one woman.

It is an invitation to examine the moments that shape all of us:

What remains when identity, security and certainty disappear?

What capability might still be waiting within you?

What could one courageous decision make possible?

Take the story home

Signed copies of Vivianne’s memoir, 70 Years of Courage, will be available for purchase at the event.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to meet Vivianne and explore engaging her for:

• Keynote speaking

• Executive and identity leadership coaching

• Leadership and transformation programmes

• Organisational storytelling

• Legacy-book development

Event details

Friday, 16 October 2026

11:00 am–1:00 pm

African Australian Advocacy Centre
Building J, Level 2
158 Hawkesbury Road, Westmead

The venue is situated directly opposite Westmead train station and light rail, within the NICM Health Research Institute building.

Admission is free, but registration is essential.
Limited seats are available.

Hosted by Future Power Academy
Supported by African Australian Advocacy Centre

Some stories explain what happened. This one asks what you will do next.

Come and discover:

Eight countries. Three graves. One decision. And what one woman built when giving up would have been easier.

Reserve your seat.

What others said:

Sohas Charity team privilege to join in the celebration of Vivianne’s 70 years of Courage and I was inspired by the remarkable story of Vivianne Dawalibi. Some lives are remembered not simply because of what a person has endured, but because of what they chose to do with those experiences. Vivianne’s journey is one of courage tested by adversity, faith sustained through uncertainty, and service shaped by a deep understanding of human dignity.