– Michael Combs, Founder of CareerSeekers and CareerTrackers
CareerSeekers is a non-profit organisation supporting Australia’s humanitarian entrants into professional careers. Our program provides in-depth preparation and support to both refugees and people seeking asylum who are either currently studying at university, or looking to restart their professional career in Australia.
Our program supports two distinct groups of asylum seekers and refugees:
In 2015, Founder of CareerTrackers, Michael Combs, sought to expand the successful model he had established to support pre-professional Indigenous university students. With the establishment of CareerSeekers, corporate Australia’s focus on multicultural diversity was applied to tackle the issue of underemployment of asylum seekers and refugees.
CareerSeekers is endorsed as an Item 1 Deductible Gift Recipient organisation
Penny Graham (Chair)
Independent Director
Penny is a non executive Director on commercial and not for profit boards. She has built an extensive career in global infrastructure and investment in Australia, Asia and Europe. In addition to chairing the CareerSeeker’s Board, she is currently Chair of ALTRAC, the company that operates light rail in Sydney and is Chair of NorthWest Roads Group, operating the M7 motorway and Northconnex tunnels.
Anthony Ewan
Partner
EY
Anthony is a Partner in the EY Sydney Assurance practice with over 19 years of experience. He is responsible for providing assurance and accounting advisory services to a diversified portfolio of blue chip clients primarily in the real estate, funds management and public sector entities.
Anthony has spent the majority of his career based in Sydney yet his career experience includes secondments to the USA (New York) and the UK (London), the latter for 3 years in both real estate audit and transaction advisory (inbound IPO) roles. He was also based in Canberra for 3 years with a focus on Federal Government clients.
Anthony is a member of the Executive Leadership Team for EY Oceania Assurance, a practice with over 1,500 employees. He is also a council member on EY Oceania’s Diversity and Inclusiveness Council and EY’s Purpose and Corporate Responsibility Council. Anthony is currently the Independent Audit Committee Chair of the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute.
Michael Greene
Deputy Managing Partner
Norton Rose Fullbright
Michael Greene is a graduate of Macquarie University where he earned a combined Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws Degree and he is also a graduate of the University of Sydney where he earned a Master of Laws Degree. He is a commercial disputes lawyer with almost 30 years’ experience.
Michael held a number of leadership roles at Henry Davis York, served several terms on the firm’s Board and from 2014 to 2017 was the Managing Partner. On the merger of Henry Davis York with global firm Norton Rose Fulbright in December 2017, Michael became the Deputy Managing Partner and Head of the Government Practice of the combined firm. He also sits on the Management Committee of the national partnership as well as the Executive Committee of the global firm.
Michael is listed by Chambers Asia-Pacific as a “leader in the field” of Government. He is a CEO Ambassador for the Workplace Gender Equality Agencies Pay Equity campaign and a Non-Executive Director of Streetwork, a Sydney based charity which provides support for “at risk” young people.
Edward Santow
Industry Professor – Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
As Human Rights Commissioner Ed leads the Commission’s work on technology and human rights; refugees and migration; human rights issues affecting LGBTI people; counter-terrorism and national security; freedom of expression; and implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
Ed’s areas of expertise include human rights, public law and discrimination law. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and serves on a number of boards and committees.
In 2009, Ed was presented with an Australian Leadership Award, and in 2017, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
From 2010-2016, Ed was chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and was previously a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law School, a research director at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and a solicitor in private practice.
Bwe Thay
Deputy Chairperson
Victorian Multicultural Commission
Bwe Thay is a spirited advocate for a multicultural Australia. He has a strong commitment to promoting harmony by engaging and bringing communities together to build a vibrant society. Bwe works to develop the capacity of multicultural communities, with a focus on leadership development, education and employment outcomes. His involvement extends from working with individual communities to advocacy at the highest levels. Bwe’s work informs the direction and policy of service providers, business and all levels of government.
His practical, hands-on approach is well recognized within multicultural communities. Bwe has held many leadership roles within Victoria’s multicultural sector and has been widely recognised for his advocacy, community service and professional achievements.
Bwe is Deputy Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, board member of GO TAFE, Global Peace Fellow for Salzburg Global Seminar and a member of numerous government advisory panels and working groups. His advise is widely sought from across Australia and internationally.
Chantal Mousad
Senior Manager, Business Control and Monitoring
Westpac
Chantal Mousad
Joined the Board in Feb 2023. Chantal is an alumni of the CareerSeekers program in 2018. Chantal is originally from Syria and moved to Australia as a refugee with her daughter Ayla in 2017 as part of
the humanitarian programa as single Mum.
Chantal was former Chief Risk Officer. In 1018 Chantal moved from Brisbane to Sydney and joined the CareerSeekers program and had the opportunity to restart her career at Commonwealth Bank as an intern.
Chantal has moved to different roles in banking from digital Analyst to risk manager in wealth management then take up a senior Manager role for risk and monitoring. Also, Chantal is an ambassador for Westpac Foundation supporting HBE in Melbourne. Chantal was a great part of research related to refugee immigration across many universities in Australia.
Jalal Albshara
(Voluntary)
Ian Narev
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
SEEK
Ian is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SEEK.
Ian joined SEEK in April 2019 in the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and CEO of Asia Pacific and Americas. Before joining SEEK Ian spent 11 years at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He was CBA’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from 2011 until 2018. Prior to joining CBA Ian was a partner of McKinsey and Company.
Ian has non-profit board roles in education and the performing arts, and advisory board roles in private equity and fintech.
Ian holds a Bachelor of Arts and Law (Honours) from the University of Auckland, and Masters of Law from Cambridge University (International Corporate Law) and New York University (International Relations).
Susan Clear
Director, Social Impact Investing
Macquarie Group
Susan Clear leads the Macquarie Group Foundation’s global social impact investing work. The A$20m portfolio includes impact-first investments working to break down systemic barriers to employment. She also oversees the Foundation’s global 50th Anniversary Award, and until 2022, was Head of the Foundation for Asia, based in Hong Kong.
Prior to joining Macquarie in 2013, Susan worked at PwC and her experience also includes work in the non-profit and government sectors, in Sydney, Canberra, Beijing and Hong Kong.
She is a conversational Mandarin and Danish speaker, holds a Masters in Corporate Environmental Governance from the University of Hong Kong and a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney. Externally, Susan serves on the Board of Hong Kong Dignity Institute, and chairs the Philanthropy Advisory Committee of Career Seekers, an organisation supporting Australia’s humanitarian entrants into professional careers
Manish Jayswal
Head of Consumer Finance Risk and Portfolio Insight
Westpac
As Head of Risk Management Consumer and Business Banking, Manish is managing end to end risk management for Westpac Banking Corporation’s Consumer Finance line of business. Manish has spent extensive time in the area of Financial and Non-Financial Risk (Institutional and Retail). Prior to moving to Australia in 2012, Manish has held several global senior risk management roles, notably with Fannie Mae in Washington DC and GE Capital. Manish is passionate about the role risk management play in decision making under uncertainty and creating value whilst balancing community expectations. Manish holds Bachelor in Commerce (Hons), Masters in Business Administration (Finance) and Masters in Risk Management.
Daniel Veytsblit
Founding Partner
Backbone Partners
Daniel is the founding partner of Backbone Partners, a venture fund focussed on investing in immigrant founders from day one. Prior to founding Backbone Partners Daniel was Investment Director at Investible where he invested in over 50 early stage companies across over 20 sectors and nine countries. He has over 15 years experience across venture capital, funds management, investment banking and investment consulting. Daniel currently advises early stage companies as an advisory board member and consultant while also assisting family offices and corporates on their innovation strategy and venture investments. He graduated from UNSW with first class honours in Finance and a major in Actuarial Studies.
Nyadol Nyuon, OAM
Executive Director, Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, Victoria University
Nyadol is a former lawyer, community advocate, writer, media commentator and public speaker. Nyadol is a Senior Consultant in the Community Crime Prevention Unit of the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victoria, where she leads engagement with African-Australian and South Sudanese-Australian communities.
Nyadol was born in a refugee camp in Itang, Ethiopia, and raised in Kakuma Refugee camp, Kenya. In 2005, at the age of eighteen, she moved to Australia as a refugee. Since then, Nyadol has completed a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne.
Nyadol Nyuon is a vocal advocate for human rights, multiculturalism, the settlement of people with refugee experiences and those seeking asylum. Her advocacy efforts in these areas have been recognised on multiple occasions including receiving the Victorian Premier’s Award for Community Harmony and the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Racism, It Stops with Me Award. She is currently an advisory board member of Melbourne University Social Equity Institute and the Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative.
Founder