The MWN core committee drives the strategic direction and priorities of the Multicultural Women's Network.
Chair, Veronica Wong
Veronica Wong is passionate about supporting students to become global citizens, creating opportunities, and building bridges for them to be transformed by engaging with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and world views. Veronica has extensive experience in international relations and managing study abroad and student exchange programs. She is currently the Manager of the UTS BUILD Program (Beyond UTS International Leadership Development), an extra-curricular global leadership program preparing students to become global leaders and active global citizens.
Project Officer (Special Projects), Dr Elaine Laforteza
Dr Elaine Laforteza has a PhD in Cultural Studies. She is the Equity and Diversity Project Officer (Cultural Diversity) at the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion and former Events Lead for the MWN. She has held academic positions at Macquarie University, Charles Sturt University, and UTS. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and community media, and her book ‘The Somatechnics of Whiteness and Race’ is available through Routledge. Elaine hosts SBS’s award-winning podcast, ‘My Bilingual Family’, and is also an emerging playwright, producing plays for various festivals in Sydney.
Project Officer (Advocacy), Amanda Moors-Mailei
Amanda Moors-Mailei is the Student Equity Access & Pathways Program Manager at the Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion. She designs initiatives, programs, and strategies to expand access for students underrepresented in university. Her work seeks to illuminate, deconstruct, and actively counter systemic injustices to access, participation, and success for students in higher education. Amanda is a fierce advocate for culturally responsive practice, racial justice, and interrogating the dominant narratives that exclude groups of people in the Australian education system.
Project Officer (Evaluation), Anusha Muller
Anusha Muller has extensive experience in the human rights and social justice sector, with roles spanning across media, campaigning, and project management. Anusha began her career working for Lord Mayor Clover Moore, where she was focused on advocating social housing and marginalised communities. Since then, she was worked as a climate campaigner for GetUp! And was most recently working in strategic communications at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Anusha is passionate about racial justice, climate justice and using her skills for social good.
Projects Officer (Grants Delivery), Dr Zozan Balci
Dr Zozan Balci is a teacher, researcher, social justice advocate, and sociolinguist. She is an academic at UTS in social and political sciences, where she has been teaching and mentoring undergraduate students. Her lived experience of being caught among many cultural and linguistic worlds informs much of her scholarly work. In 2022, she won the UTS Learning and Teaching Award for inclusive teaching practices. Zozan has also worked in social justice advocacy at the
Marketing and Communications Lead, Leah Subijano
Leah Subijano is Senior Engagement & Events Officer at the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion. She has extensive experience in marketing, communications, and events management in the higher education sector. Leah is a first-generation Filipino-Australian and also a dancer, performer, and artist. She has a deep passion for cultural styles and music and enjoys collaborating with other POC artists. Leah believes decolonisation is the path to liberation and values community, storytelling, and collaboration.
Marketing and Communications Officer, Alexandra Nicolas
Alexandra Nicolas is currently working as an administrator for the Research Capability Development team in the UTS Research Office, helping run the UTS Aspire program. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and has extensive experience in research, executive support, HR and administrative support roles across the public sector and higher education. She is passionate about supporting others and enabling them to fulfil their goals by working on projects which provide these opportunities.
Marketing and Communications Officer, Steffi Dourado
Steffi Dourado is passionate about widening access and participation in higher education for students from underrepresented backgrounds. She is currently working as a Student Equity Project Officer at Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion, and delivers the on-campus experiences for the U@Uni Academy Program, an alternative entry pathway to UTS. Outside of work, Steffi has completed nine half marathon programs, done a seven-day rally in regional Queensland and Northern Territory and recently sported a skullet to raise funds for cancer research!
Events Officer, Nema Madnani
Nema Madnani is currently working as a Project Support Officer in the Student Equity Team at the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion. She completed her Master of Business Administration, majoring in Human Resources. Nema has experience in various roles where she can apply administration, project management, stakeholder management, and people-centric skills. Nema is passionate about her work in student equity, which aim to address inequality in higher education and remove systemic barriers that exclude some students from higher education.
Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion Liaison, Dr Kumi de Silva
Dr Kumi de Silva’s commitment to drive and influence inclusion and belonging has led her from a career as an immunologist with an interest in infectious diseases and developing vaccines to her current role as the Gender Equity Programs Manager at UTS. Kumi advocates for equity with a focus beyond gender alone. She co-founded Mosaic, a network to support CALD staff at the University of Sydney and was a member of the successful application for the Science in Australia Gender Equity (Athena SWAN) Bronze Award there and is a Dr John Yu Fellow for Cultural Diversity Leadership.
Recruiting for roles
- Events Lead
Interested in joining our core committee? Contact us at mwn@uts.edu.au