Together. We Can. Will. Can. Will. Can. Will.
As a thriving and dynamic team, we consistently strive to to excel in all of our endeavours to achieve our mission with in a friendly, professional and fulfilling envrionment.
Hamza Vayani
Chairperson
MBA Business (Health Services Management)
Hamza is not afraid of asking the difficult questions when it comes to marginalisation, discrimination and institutional racism impacting on health, wellbeing and social mobility outcomes for people of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. He has successfully held several appointments in a range of senior management roles, advisory committees at state and national level including completing board appointment with Brisbane South Primary Health Network.
He is known for bold and big picture thinking that results in a reputation that precedes him for challenging established norms and being ahead of his time. He believes public policy should be informed by the lived experience of the communities we serve in a way that is inclusive, evidence based and without fear or favour.
Examples of key pieces of work Hamza has led and facilitated in Australia and the UK include establishing a national network of consumers and carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, publication of a spotlight report at the request of the Australian government National Mental Health Commission that unequivocally exposed the lack of data collection and analysis about access, experience and outcomes to mental health and suicide prevention programmes effectively engaging people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In the UK he was appointed on the Commission for Integration & Cohesion as one of twelve resulting in a report called Our Shared Futures with recommendations that the then government acted upon to improve social cohesion. He was also selected to attend as a youth lead of behalf of the UK delegation to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance held in South Africa in 2001.
As a World Wellness Group board member Hamza brings new, innovative and agile ways of analysis and strategy that are part of a considered approach to advocacy and service delivery outcomes for some of the most disadvantaged populations in our community.
Rita Prasad-Ildes
Director
BSW, GradC Management (Health Services)
Rita is a fearless advocate for disadvantaged people from immigrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Shaped by her own experience as an immigrant woman and a child from an interracial marriage, Rita has spent her entire career since graduating social work in 1989 working to advance the rights of immigrants, particularly in relation to equity in health and mental health.
As an influencer and thought leader on matters relating to multicultural health she is a sought-after speaker and expert consultant but her most notable work has been her voluntary contribution to the multicultural sector in Queensland. She has built networks and alliances to harness significant social capital to establish essential health and social services where there were none and has been a key architect of specialist multicultural services in the NFP and public sectors.
Known for her visionary and out of the box thinking, more recently Rita has taken on the role of social entrepreneur. Based on her extensive NFP and public sector experience, Rita concluded that the tackling of entrenched and systemic issues relating to health inequity required a different approach and pursued a social enterprise approach as co-founder of World Wellness Group. Her pioneering work in this area was recognised with a Telstra Business Award for World Wellness Group in 2016 and a bursary to the World Forum on Social Enterprise in 2017.
Nera Komarić
Company Secretary
LLB MPH
Nera has worked in the community and health sectors nationally and internationally for 25 years. She was aware that the protection of basic human rights requires sustained and joint efforts involving institutions, civil society, media and academia and this inspired her to be one of the three co-founders of World Wellness Group.
Currently, Nera is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the School of Clinical Medicine – Primary Care Clinical Unit, at The University of Queensland. Her former roles have included Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) Chronic Disease state-wide program manager during which she was instrumental in developing new and innovative strategies in chronic disease management for CALD populations and accredited multicultural health workers training. Recently she was a Croatian Government Focal Point in European Migration Network working on EU safe migration laws and policies. Before that she was researching and consulting with international and national authorities on combating trafficking in human beings especially for sexual exploitation for OECD and she cofounded a Women’s Room – the first Croatian Centre for Sexual Rights. Being a refugee from former Yugoslavia herself, she also spent many years working with migrants and refugees to support their safe settlement.
Nera has a background in migration and humanitarian law and public health. In her career she has been involved in the design and delivery of research and evaluation projects in areas covering CALD health, integrated CALD models of health care, chronic disease prevention and management, and health services research. Nera’s main interests are in translating evidence into practice with a special focus on vulnerable populations.
Marina Chand
Director
BAppSc (Hlth Ed) AdvDipHlthSc (Hom)
Marina is one of the three co-founders of World Wellness Group. With tertiary qualifications in health promotion and homoeopathy she brings a unique combination of skills and expertise.
Marina’s career spans more than 25 years in the health sector; in government, not for profit organisations and private practice as a consultant to government, the tertiary education sector and NGOs. Marina has advanced expertise in multicultural data collection, multicultural marketing and communications, culturally tailored health service design, and holistic health models. At WWG she manages a number of strategic projects including social impact measurement. She has a particular interest in the inequities in Australian data collection that render multicultural populations largely invisible and under-represented and consequently under-invested and poorly serviced. She is also the Co-chair of the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative, Australia’s peak body for multicultural health.
Marina is also a community leader on the north-side of Brisbane where she and her family run a temple that is visited by thousands of members of the culturally and linguistically diverse community in Brisbane. She is frequently engaged by government as a community leader who has a personal grass-roots network that spans thousands of people from diverse backgrounds as well as a leader in the multicultural health sector. Her professional and personal life are immersed in multiculturalism, cultural diversity and supporting vulnerable community members who have been left behind. She is also a carer and has extensive lived experience with the NDIS and aged care service sector.
Dr Graham Emblen
Board Member
MBBS, FRACGP, MFM, DRANZCOG, GAICD
Graham has had a long and varied career as a General Practitioner initially as a procedural rural GP in Toowoomba. Throughout this career he has sought to find ways to improve the quality of health care that each community receives.
In Toowoomba he included roles beyond his General Practice to include board governance with the Toowoomba Division of General Practice and the Queensland Divisions of General Practice. He was a Senior Lecturer with the University of Queensland Rural Clinical School. Through supporting the founding years of the Cognitive Institute, he established many programs delivered throughout Australia and New Zealand that influenced medical professionals of all disciplines in improving care through the improvement of their communication skills.
He has dedicated over 25yrs of his career to medical education, and is currently the Director of Education and Training for General Practice Training Queensland, responsible for the training of GPs in Southern Queensland. His contribution to General Practice education has been acknowledged with the Corlis Award bestowed by the RACGP for his national contribution to medical education.
Throughout his career he has had a passion for many cultures, supported through experiences of working in Uganda, PNG and the Northern Territory of Australia. He has worked as a clinician at World Wellness for 7 years, seeking to find effective health options for many refugees, people seeking asylum and any person who needs help.
As a graduate of the AICD, with leadership and board roles, Graham brings his knowledge and experience of many facets of the medical system as an additional lens to enhance the impact of World Wellness Group.
Roger Collins-Woolcock
Treasurer
BCE MBA
Roger is a civil engineer and also has an MBA from Deakin University. He worked as a consultant throughout his career with the largest stint with Cardno (1991-2015) where he was the General Manager of the Australia and New Zealand region. He now runs his own practice (Collins & Woolcock) providing strategy, business development, training and M&A advice to small to mid-tier (10-700 staff) professional services firms across Australia and New Zealand. Roger brings strong business and governance expertise to the board of World Wellness Group, along with unlimited positivity and a talent for long-term strategy.
Roger is married to Mandy and has three wonderful children. He is a mad AFL fan and a Demons tragic (literally). He continues to play Masters AFL for the mighty Souths Sharks however this year will be his 33rd and last season.
Our Team
Our vision is to build health equity in the Australian health system. This is a large and ambitious vision. We believe that the health and wellbeing of the whole community cannot be at an optimum if sections within our community continue to be marginalised and excluded in the health system.
We work collaboratively with stakeholders at all levels in the health and social care sectors via direct health service delivery, research, data-informed training and policy advice, philanthropy and partnerships and by elevating the voices of diverse people with lived experience. We measure our success by our impact in creating a just and inclusive health and wellness system.
Culture in Mind Team
Current Team: Drew Cummins (Manager), Amos Ruhindwa, Aurore Pascaud, Lata Gedafa, Pauline Lee-Jones, Sofia Alisheikh and Thiri San
Pictured: Lata, Sofia, Thiri and Mohamed
Health Justice
Current Team: Lina Zarta and Yasmin Ildes
Pictured: Lina
Multicultural Connect Line Team
Current Team: Catherine Lane (Manager), Baneen M Raza, Keziah Coelho, Tran Nguyen and Viviana Jimenez
Pictured: Keziah and Baneen
Multicultural Helpline Team
Current Team: Sameera Suleman (Manager), Brendan Richards, Lama al Nawakil, Phoenix Qu and Sharon Taniwha
Pictured: Fauzia, Lina and Phoenix
Care Finder Team
Current Team: Marina Chand (Manager), Chuen-man Chang, Danne Bathan, Darren Liu and Louise Yuan
Multicultural Psychological Therapies
Current Team: Annette Ruzicka (Manager), Alison Stone, Bushra Aman, Claudina Rodriguez, Cris Valbert, Jacqueline Bentley, Jenny Le, Kirsi Reinikka, Koda-Jo Berry Stewart, Mohamed Kamara, Najla Al Chouni, Noah Kim, Phil Haynes and Tobias Mukandi
Pictured: Jacqueline, Sara, Bushra, Tobias, Rebecca and Annette
Medical Team
Our Medical Team
Dr Anna Hebden, Dr Azadeh Abtahi, Dr Deepak Ganapathy, Dr Crystal Pidgeon, Dr Katrina Neal, Dr Janet Fryar, Dr Lisa Bohlscheid and Dr Luisa Butler
Our Allied Health and Traditional Medicine Team
Heather Martinson (Physiotherapist), Saini Singh (Homeopath) and Mona Payman (Pharmacist)
HR and Finance Team
Current Team: Farida Karimi, Shirley Craig and Vidya Charan
Pictured: Vidya, Shirley and Farida
Data and Technology Team
Current Team: Ameen Sonpra and Rebecca Chiang
Picutred: Rebecca and Ameen
Reception and Administration Team
Current Team: Ellice Tikaram (Manager), Farida Karimi, Liesse Irakoze, Pawhae Ywa, Rebecca Porter and Sara Ehsan
Nursing Team
Current Team: Jessica Sidhu (Manager), Sherab Tsomo and Yvonne Iragaohoraho
Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistance Team
Current Team: Mehdi Zaker and Sherab Tsomo
Multicultural Peer Support Worker Team
Multicultural Peer Support Workers (MPSW) are trained workers who work closely alongside clients and health practitioners. They draw on their own lived experience as migrants and refugees of cultural adaptation and acculturation to provide culturally tailored support to maximise engagement, trust and understanding.
World Wellness Group has developed this unique workforce and we employ approximately 50 Multicultural Peer Support Workers who collectively speak around 45 languages. They work across health programs including mental health, counselling and therapy, health management and prevention programs and consumer focused research. All our MPSWs have undergone generic and tailored training depending on the program they spend most of their time working in.
Multicultural Peer Support Workers are not volunteers but are valued staff members who are required to comply with health program guidelines, privacy principles, code of conduct, confidentiality policies and the boundaries and limitations of their role.
Aurore Pascaud, Multicultural Peer Support Worker Coordinator
Sharon Were, Multicultural Peer Support Worker Coordinator
