We believe in the power of professional careers.
About
CareerSeekers is a non-profit organisation that exists to unlock the power of careers for people with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds, partnering with employers to create access to meaningful professional opportunities where skills, expertise, and potential are recognised and valued.
We work to build the capability of employers to support people with refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds. For those employers, the program provides access to a highly skilled yet untapped talent pool of existing and aspiring professionals; an opportunity to strengthen workforce diversity and inclusion; and a chance to make a tangible contribution to an important social issue.
CareerSeekers was founded by Michael Combs and Adam Haddow in 2015, inspired by CareerTrackers’ success with First Nations students and created to open similar pathways for professionals with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. We now operate independently as a national social enterprise supporting people with refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds into professional careers.
CareerSeekers is both a registered charity, with deductible giving status, and a registered social enterprise, but our work isn’t charity. It’s about capability, contribution and creating equitable access to meaningful, paid employment.
CareerSeekers exists to build pathways, not dependency.
For Participants
We support participants to build local experience, professional networks, and career momentum.
For Employers
Access skilled, motivated talent that is overlooked. Host organisations strengthen their teams, deepen their inclusion practice, and build a workforce pipeline that lasts beyond a single placement.
Beyond
When skilled people work at their full potential, everyone gains. Stronger workplaces, a more resilient economy, and a more inclusive Australia.
Why our work matters
Equitable access to professional careers shapes individual futures, strengthens organisations, and builds a more inclusive Australian workforce.
118 mil
people forcibly displaced worldwide
1 in 4
permanent skilled migrants in Australia work below their skill level
85%+
of Australian employers report their employees with refugee backgrounds are as productive or more productive than the rest of their workforce
2,000+
people with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds supported since 2015
Australia's humanitarian intake numbers
Australia's Humanitarian Program is currently 20,000 places per annum. This makes up a small part of Australia’s total migration intake of more than 300,000.
Australia's humanitarian visas
Australia's 20,000 humanitarian places span refugees resettled from overseas, community-sponsored arrivals, and people granted protection onshore. Together they represent a deep and diverse pool of professional talent.
Click image for more detail.
Beyond the definitions
These are the legal definitions. They don't tell the whole story.
Refugee
"Owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."
Source: UNHCR 1951 Refugee Convention, Article 1(A)(2)
Asylum Seeker
"An individual who is seeking international protection. In countries with individualised procedures, an asylum seeker is someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in which he or she has submitted it."
Source: Amnesty International
At CareerSeekers, we focus on the skills, experience, and ambition of people with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds, not the hardship that brought them here. Our participants are defined by their potential and their contribution, not their past.
That's why we use language like "person with a refugee background" or "person with an asylum-seeking background." It keeps the focus on the individual, their qualifications, and what they bring, not a label that reduces a whole life and career to a single moment of displacement.
Meet the people behind the work
John Gelagin
CEO
Kati Regan
Program Director
(University Students)
Aditi Medkehar
Program Director
(Experienced Professionals)
Victoria Hills
Program Manager
(University Students)
Rouzbeh Nabipourshiri
Program Manager
(Experienced Professionals)
Roozbeh (Rooz) Shakeri
Senior Advisor
Angelica Tavares
Senior Advisor
Nadia Abdel-Hamid
Senior Advisor
Brian Abayo
Advisor
Imogen Spouse
Advisor
Board Members
Penny Graham (Chair)
Independent Director
Chantal Mousad
Board Chair | MBA Australasia
Senior Manager | Westpac
Bwe Thay
Director Community and Partnership | The LOTE Agency
Jasmina Joldić
Deputy Secretary | Australian Government Department of Education
Anthony Ewan
Partner | EY
Michael Greene
Former Deputy Managing Partner | Norton Rose Fullbright
Edward Santow
Co-Director of the Human Technology Institute and Professor of Responsible Technology | UTS
For CareerSeekers
Apply as a University Student
Apply as an Experienced Professional
PORTAL
For Employers
Host a CareerSeeker
Policies
Privacy policy
We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live and work. We honour their Elders past and present, and celebrate their ongoing cultural traditions and connection to Country.
We also pay tribute to the ancestral homes of our participants, who have journeyed far to seek safety & opportunity in Australia. Their strength & stories enrich our shared future.