Deepak Vinayak OAM JP is a committed community contributor with more than 24 years’ experience leading social projects in the multicultural, multi-faith and regional communities in Australia. He has actively engaged with newly-arrived migrants and has helped them settle through language support and career guidance.

Being in the public eye has given Deepak the opportunity to serve his fellow citizens and to stand by his people in difficult times. He has taken on initiatives, such as developing platforms to bring young people together on challenges such as social cohesion, multiculturalism and having active leadership roles in their own communities to strengthen belonging and good citizenship.

Deepak has mentored students and researchers from leading Victorian universities, including those who have undertaken internships or research projects with him from Monash, Victoria, Deakin and La Trobe universities.

He has worked to strengthen the community’s ability to respond to violence, gender justice and youth empowerment through active participation and engagement with government, police, media and broader Australian communities.

Deepak Vinayak OAM JP

Founder and Patron

Iwan was elected to the Victorian Parliament in November 2022, becoming the first Member for Greenvale in the Legislative Assembly. In 2023, Iwan was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Disability in the Victorian Government. Prior to entering Parliament, Iwan’s working life was focused on education and ensuring that young people can access quality education wherever they live. As a secondary school teacher in Victoria, Iwan experienced how public services and government policies have a practical impact on families and shape communities. In 2012, Iwan was awarded the General Sir John Monash Scholarship, which enabled him to complete postgraduate degrees at Oxford University, where he researched how to expand access to training and work for young people.

Iwan loves community sport, having been involved in local sport, especially cricket, as a player, volunteer and administrator over many years. He is passionate about ensuring every person has the opportunities they need to learn, grow and thrive, and that economic chances and prosperity are shared equitably across our state, including in our growing outer suburbs.

Iwan Walters MP

Honorary Patron

Mr. Kamala Kanta Dash is currently an Assistant Prof of Public Policy and Management and a Director at the Climate Change and Sustainability Centre at Sri Sri University, Odisha, India. He is a leading Television Commentator on issues of General Public Policy with a focus on International Business, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy. He studied Political Science at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack, International Relations and Asian Studies at JNU in New Delhi and Public Policy at Monash University in Melbourne for his higher studies. He worked with SACLG, the parent organisation of AIBF, while in Melbourne and now leads the AIBF activities from India.

Kamala Kanta Dash

Executive Director, AIBF and National Coordinator, India Office

Bhavya is a Professional Engineer with a Master’s Degree from Swinburne University of Technology majoring in Mechanical Engineering Design. Currently working as a Design Technologist. She is also a social worker with 09 years of experience running an NGO in India working in the sectors of Education, Health, Social Behaviour and Employment, as well as supporting many other nonprofit initiatives.

Ms. Bhavya Sugur

Secretary, AIBF

Sahil is a trained engineer and tech expert having great interest in solving community issues through technology. He is deeply interested in the issues of youth around the world and multicultural youth communities in Australia. As a youth coordinator at AIBF he connects with several other organizations that work on youth issues and mentors young volunteers.

Analytical and solution-driven Business Analyst with experience in a variety of IT software engineering and business analytics operations projects, Sahil is currently completing a Master of Business Analytics in Australia to contribute to long-term operational goals in data analytics using his strong technical background and team collaboration skills and a software developer with a related degree in Information Technology specialized in mobile networking.

Sahil Chandan

Youth Coordinator

Gaurav founded Skillset Australia, an initiative focused on helping individuals enter the workforce and upskill. Skillset Australia has been instrumental in supporting workforce shortages. The organization has successfully upskilled over 2500 students. He is committed to providing free consulting services to multicultural communities, striving to bridge the gap between businesses in need and skilled individuals ready to make a difference.

Gaurav Sen

Skill and Career Counseling Expert

Advisors

Dr. Tien Kieu is a member of the 59th Victorian parliament and has been appointed as the Victorian Government’s Ambassador for STEM Education. His journey has given him substantial migrant experience from his background as a Vietnamese boat person who spent some time in a refugee camp in Malaysia, after a sea journey of five days across the Gulf of Thailand, before being allowed to resettled in Australia in 1980.

He has strong background and have practiced and done research in Physics, Computational Science, Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science. He is currently also an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University, and a previously a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. In addition to degrees in Science — BSc (Hons) (University of Queensland) and PhD (University of Edinburgh), he has also completed the Director Course of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). His professional memberships include the Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Physics and the Graduate Membership of the AICD.

Sujeet Kumar is serving the nation, and his state of Odisha, as a Parliamentarian (Member of Rajya Sabha/ Upper House). He is the member of Standing Committee on Rural Development and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of External Affairs.

He earlier served as the Advisor, in the rank of Chief Secretary, to the Special Development Council (SDC) of Government of Odisha and as the Special Secretary of Odisha State Planning Board, very senior policy planning positions with Government of Odisha. He is a trained Engineer, Lawyer and a Policy maker.

He studied for the mid-career Master in Public Administration (MPA) at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School- Harvard University. He also has an MBA degree from Said Business School- University of Oxford, having the distinction of receiving the inaugural Skoll Scholarship for Social Entrepreneurship. He also holds two Bachelor degrees from India: Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB).

A trained Arbitrator, Sujeet Kumar is also the Founder/Mentor at LexMantra LLP, a boutique law firm focused on advisory services for start-ups, domestic and overseas corporations, multinational companies and multi-lateral bodies. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Sri Sri University and Advisor at Sri Sri Advanced Global Centre for Indigenous Studies. Previously, he worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India.

Board of Directors

Ms. Caroline is a leading Melbourne based Life Coach and Consultant and has founded Empowering Leading Women to transform lives and careers of women. As a qualified Social Worker with a wealth of expertise in human behaviour, trauma, and attachment, including highly proficient engagement and assessment skills, Caroline has trained hundreds of students and professionals in Australia and India.

Dr. Sucheta Priyabadini has a PhD from Utkal University and a D.Litt from KIIT University respectively and a Postdoctoral from Monash University, Australia. Her inspiring work on mothers, young women students and women professionals have been highly appreciated in academia and policy making.

Able is a 16+ year communications expert well-known across Asia as an International Presenter, Actress, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker, Author, Communication & Presenter Coach and Host of the ‘You Are Able’ Video Series. Her aim is to guide individuals to communicate honestly, openly and from their hearts. With her own experiences and her client’s success stories, she leads through the formative process of going beyond one’s ego to find true authentic self.

Prof (Dr.) P. Srinivas Subbarao, PhD, is an award-winning management educator, researcher and institution builder. Prof Subbarao recently was selected for the highly prestigious Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP, 2019-2020) Fellowship of Ministry of HRD, Govt of India. As part of this fellowship, he was trained in academic leadership at IIT Kharagpur & University of Cambridge. In January 2020 University of Bristol invited him to deliver a talk on challenges and opportunities in developing a campus startup culture.