Basma Alawee is a Deputy Executive Director for the Community Sponsorship Hub. Prior to that she was the National Campaign Director for We Are All America at National Partnership for New Americans. Basma led organizing efforts in more than 21 states to push for policy changes and support for the inclusion of refugee and immigrant communities. She is a co-designer of the US Refugee Advisory Board, where she previously served as the first refugee advisor on the US Government Delegation to UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee. Basma is a champion for the rights of refugees and immigrants, using her own story to empower others and effect change on a national level. As a partner, leader and advocate, she is committed to centering lived experiences in inclusive policy design and decision-making.
Dor Akech Achiek is the Group Head of Settlement Services at SSI, leading strategic and operational delivery of programs supporting newcomers and multicultural communities across Australia’s eastern seaboard. With over 15 years of experience in settlement, youth, and community services, Dor has held leadership roles including SSI Settlement Services Manager leading the then NSW Settlement Partnership of 22 providers, SSI Youth Projects Coordinator, where he oversaw the Youth Collective for migrant and refugee youth in NSW and led significant community advocacy initiatives globally, nationally and locally. A former refugee from South Sudan who arrived in Australia in 2003 after nine years in Kakuma refugee camp, Dor brings lived experience and professional expertise to his work. He holds a Master’s in International Law and International Relations, a BA in Politics and International Relations, and diplomas in Community Services and Children’s Services. Dor serves on several advisory committees including the UNHCR Global Refugee Advisory Group, Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, and NSW Office of Sport. A dedicated community advocate, he was recognised by the AMP Tomorrow Foundation for establishing the South Sudanese Youth Cultural Activities Program in Western Sydney.
Dr Jeff Crisp is an expert analyst on refugee, migration and humanitarian issues, and is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. He has held senior positions with UNHCR, where he was Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, Refugees International (Senior Director for Policy and Advocacy) and the Global Commission on International Migration (Director of Policy and Research). He has also worked for the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues, the British Refugee Council and Coventry University. He has first-hand experience of refugee situations and humanitarian operations throughout the world and has published and lectured extensively on refugee, migration and humanitarian issues. He holds a Masters degree and PhD in African Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and is a Honorary Professor at the University of Sussex.
Hugh de Kretser commenced his five-year term as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission on 30 July 2024. For more than two decades, Hugh has played a critical role advancing human rights in Australia. He was the CEO of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations people in Victoria. He also led the Human Rights Law Centre where he undertook extensive advocacy and legal action to defend the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum. Prior to that he was the Executive Officer of the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres and the manager of the Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs.
Dr Renee Dixson is the Executive Director of the Forcibly Displaced People Network (FDPN), Australia’s only organisation dedicated to SOGIESC forced displacement. A former refugee with lived experience, Renee brings over a decade of advocacy to their leadership. They lead national and international efforts to improve policies and service systems, build the capacity of services and communities, and drive systemic change to ensure LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people are supported and able to access rights, safety, and belonging in all areas of life.
Professor Daniel Ghezelbash is Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow. A globally recognised expert in international and comparative refugee and migration law, his research focuses on improving the fairness and efficiency of asylum procedures through comparative analysis. Daniel has published extensively on the global spread of restrictive asylum policies and is a passionate advocate for using technology to advance access to justice and combat systemic discrimination. He founded the Kaldor Centre Data Lab, pioneering data-driven approaches to legal decision-making in refugee cases, and is a leading voice in legal technology and generative AI in Australia. He is Special Counsel at the National Justice Project, and sits on the boards of the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, Wallumatta Legal, and the Access to Justice and Technology Network.
Dr Tristan Harley is a Senior Research Associate at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law and serves as Academic Advisor to the Australian Refugee Advisory Panel. Tristan is dual-trained as a lawyer and historian, and is recognised for his expertise in the fields of international refugee and human rights law. He has published widely in the field and has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Refugee Council, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, the Asia Pacific Network for Refugees, and Act for Peace. Tristan's current research focuses on the international law and policy framework governing the meaningful participation of refugees in decision-making processes that affect them. Alongside this research, Tristan oversees the Kaldor Centre's Displaced Scholars Peer Mentoring Program and the Kaldor Centre's Emerging Scholars Network.
Having come to Australia as a refugee, James is passionate about achieving equitable outcomes for vulnerable people and communities. Informed by his personal history, he has more than two decades of experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities and has held strategic leadership and governance roles in government, for-purpose, and community organisations. As Deputy CEO of Multicultural NSW, he advises State Government on policies and programs to achieve the full potential of multiculturalism. Prior to this he was the Executive Director at the Western Australian Office of Multicultural Interests. He has also held roles as a Board Director of the WA Child and Adolescent Health Service (Children’s Hospital), Chair of Rise Network (an aged care and disability services provider), Member or the Anglican Social Responsibility Commission, Vice Chair of the Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees, Secretary of the Ethnic Communities Council of WA, the WA State Manager for Welcome to Australia and led asylum seeker programs for Australian Red Cross.
Dr Sukhmani Khorana is a Scientia Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Media at UNSW Sydney. Sukhmani has published extensively on migrant media, the politics of empathy and belonging, and self-representation for refugees. She is the author of Mediated Emotions of Migration: Reclaiming Affect for Agency (2023), The Tastes and Politics of Inter-Cultural Food in Australia (2018), and a co-authored book, Migrants, Television and Australian Stories: A New History (2025). Sukhmani has an emerging interest in discourses of race and multiculturalism in the era of information disorder.
Professor Jane McAdam AO is Scientia Professor of Law, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and the Founding Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, where she leads the Evacuations Research Hub. She is a Fellow of both the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Law, and an Honorary Associate of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. Professor McAdam publishes widely in international refugee law and forced migration, with a particular focus on evacuations and mobility in the context of climate change and disasters. She serves on multiple international committees and for a decade was the joint Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Refugee Law, the leading journal in the field. In 2021, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) ‘for distinguished service to international refugee law, particularly to climate change and the displacement of people’.
Mohammed Naeem is the Senior Director for Advocacy Strategy at Refugees International, where he drives the organization’s congressional engagement. Previously, between roles at the American Immigration Council and More in Common, Mohammed built nationally recognized public advertising campaigns, spearheaded cross-sector partnerships, and socialized signature audience research. He has held several leadership roles, including as the inaugural Chair of the United States Refugee Advisory Board and Representative of UNHCR’s Refugee Advisory Group to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee on Public Issues of the Ad Council, the Advisory Council of Pathways International, and the Board of Directors of Refugee Council USA. Mohammed is a graduate of Stony Brook University and lives in Queens, New York.
Kate is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Fellow and a Professor at the Australian National University where she specialises in international refugee and human rights law. She is the author of many influential publications including Protection from Refuge: From Refugee Rights to Migration Management (CUP, 2022) which is an international and comparative examination of the role courts play in refugee journeys. Kate is currently working on two ARC funded projects. Her ARC Discovery Project (with Associate Professor Anthea Vogl, Dr Nathan Gardner and Professor Susan Kneebone as Lead Investigator) focuses on refugee community sponsorship. Kate’s ARC Fellowship examines the growth and development of strategic human rights litigation in Australia as well as emerging transnational approaches to strategic litigation for refugee rights. She is also working on a third project involving scholars with lived experience of displacement rewriting refugee law judicial decisions, which is inspired by feminist judgments methodology.
Hafsar Tameesuddin is the Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, a social worker, human rights defender and Rohingya activist. They advocate for the rights of refugees, LGBTQI+ communities, statelessness, gender equality, prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and ending child marriages with more than 15 years of experience working with refugee communities, and international and national non-government organisations. They are an advisory member of the Global Movement of Statelessness, board member at Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia, and served as an an advisor to UNHCR. Their expertise includes understanding the ground realities of challenges faced by refugees, statelessness and LGBTQI+ communities as someone with lived experience. They are a passionate advocate for power shifts, inclusion and diversity within systems. Their work and advocacy are centred on improving prevention and response measures to SGBV, and promoting and protecting the rights of refugees, stateless people, asylum seekers, and LGBTQI+ communities in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Kylea Tink is a trailblazing leader, experienced executive, and passionate social advocate. The first woman elected to represent the federal seat of North Sydney, she is widely recognised as a formidable agent of change. Before entering politics, Kylea held senior roles as CEO, Managing Director, Board Member and Strategist, successfully building and leading not-for-profits, businesses, and high-performing teams. A prominent member of the 'Teal Wave' that reshaped Australian politics in 2022, Kylea brings over 35 years of experience driving meaningful change across sectors and communities. A regular media commentator, she is known for her bold, values-driven advocacy – challenging the status quo and sparking the conversations that lead to real progress.
Frances Voon is Executive Manager of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, and brings extensive global experience from work in refugee operations with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN World Food Programme and Jesuit Refugee Service. She completed an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Oxford as a John Monash Scholar, and holds an LLB/BA (Hons) from UNSW Sydney. She was Tipstaff to Justice John Basten at the Supreme Court of New South Wales and is admitted to legal practice. In 2021, she was named amongst the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians (winner of the Community and Advocacy/Not-for Profit category), and she was winner of the Advance Global Australians Social Impact Award in 2022.
Najeeba Wazefadost is a former refugee from Afghanistan who holds a Bachelor of Medical Science. She is Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees. She co-founded the Global Refugee-Led Network and is a founding member of GIRWL (Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders). Najeeba has been actively involved in the development of refugee-led networks at both the regional and global level, focusing on bringing together refugee and migrant-led organizations and refugee change-makers from around the world to gather to discuss their lived experiences and propose solutions for more effective and sustainable refugee policy. She is an advocate, educator, public speaker, and researcher. Through all her work, she prioritises and amplifies the voices, experiences, and aspirations of those most directly impacted.
Saul Wodak is an Advisor at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) Sydney office. His work at BIT has been predominantly in the areas of energy and sustainability. Saul’s recent projects have focussed on how to effectively communicate to the public about the climate crisis and build support for climate solutions, and the development of the National Guidelines for Community Engagement and Benefits for Electricity Transmission Projects. Saul’s work to develop interventions to help consumers identify greenwashing has been published in the New York Times and The Australian. Saul has worked on a diverse range of projects on gender equality, education, consumer welfare and digital health. He completed an MSc in Behaviour Change at University College London in 2019 and a B.Lib Studies with an Honours in Psychology at the University of Sydney.
