Meet our ambassadors

Zaki Haidari

Zaki was born in Afghanistan, but was forced to flee aged 17, coming to Australia to seek protection.

Zaki Haidari was recognised as an Australian Human Rights Commission Human Rights Hero in 2020 and NSW International Student of the Year in 2015. He has also completed a Diploma in Computing and a Diploma in Graphic Design.

Zaki currently works at Amnesty International Australia as a Refugee Rights Campaigner and is a highly respected Community Leader and Advocate.

Image © Abdul Karim Hekmat

Zaki's story

Hani Abdile

Hani was forced to leave her home country of Somalia and come to Australia seeking protection in 2014.

She has spent most of the last 6 years based in Sydney. An avid writer, Hani is currently studying for a degree in journalism at university, writes and performs slam poetry, and has even published her own collection of 43 poems.

Hani has received numerous awards for her community work.

Image © Aedan O’Donnell

Hani's story

Mohammad Sakhvidi

Mohammad was born in Iran and forced to leave at the age of 16, seeking protection alone.

After studying hard, Mo became the first humanitarian scholarship recipient at the University of Technology Sydney’s Faculty of Engineering in 2016.

Mo holds a degree in civil engineering and is currently working on a number of large projects for Transport for NSW, as well as his own venture TQN Personnel, which aims to support refugees and people seeking asylum to gain employment opportunities in the construction industry. He is also an Equity Ambassador at UTS where he currently mentors other humanitarian scholarship recipients.

A closeup photo of Dorothy Hodditnott looking at the camera with a slight smile. She wears a grey button-up blouse with a chunky orange necklace and black glasses.

Dorothy Hoddinott AO

Dorothy Hoddinott was principal of Holroyd High School 1995-2018, where one in every two students had been in Australia less than three years and some 60% of all students were of refugee background. She has long been a strong advocate for the human rights of children and young people, particularly young refugees and asylum seekers. Dorothy was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 and was the 2014 Australian Human Rights Medalist. She was a Fellow of Senate of the University of Sydney 2010-2017 and has been a Pro-Chancellor of the University since 2015.