Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2016 2016 Review of operations_WEB | Page 27

KHADIJA GBLA
Appointed May 2016 CATHERINE POUTASI
Appointed December 2016
Khadija Gbla is a passionate and inspired young
African-Australian woman. She is an award
winning inspirational speaker, facilitator and
consultant who has achieved her aspirations
of giving women, youth and minority groups
a voice at a local and State level. Khadija is
dedicated to her voluntary work and has utilised
every opportunity to inspire others to accept
the differences in our multicultural society. An
optimistic and passionate representative of the
African community, Khadija utilises her powerful
and inspired voice to advocate equality and
acceptance within the community. Catherine Poutasi was born and raised
in Aotearoa, New Zealand and moved to
Wollongong, Australia in 2013 with her husband
and two children.
Her consultancy offers cultural awareness
training and facilitation to government agencies,
non-profit organisations and individuals; advocacy
and mentoring to culturally and linguistically
diverse communities. Khadija is the Executive
Director of No FGM Australia, which works to
protect Australian girls and support survivors of
FGM. She is also an Ambassador for Our Watch,
a national, not-for-profit organisation dedicated
to preventing violence against women.
Khadija has received numerous awards, including
The Advertiser South Australia’s 50 Most
Influential Women of 2014, the 2013 Madison
Magazine Australia’s top 100 Inspiring Women,
the Amnesty International Human Rights
Activists to watch out in 2013, and in 2011 was
named Young South Australian of the Year and
Young African Australian of the Year.
She has quickly made in-roads into her new
community and is an active community volunteer
in the Illawarra region, as well as taking on a
position with the Management Committee of the
Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra.
Catherine has a Masters degree in Organisational
Psychology and is of Samoan and New
Zealand-European descent.
Catherine is the Chair of the Pasifika Foundation
in New Zealand which is a Non-Government
Organisation with a vision to improve the health,
education and social outcomes of Pasifika families.
Catherine is also the Director of Integrity
Professionals, a small consultancy specialising
in project management, service reviews and
evaluations. The consultancy partners with
culturally and linguistically diverse groups in
Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
She has extensive experience in both health and
social services as a Principal Consultant and has
operated her own business since 2007. Before that
she held senior roles in the New Zealand public
health system.
Khadija arrived in Australia as a refugee from
Sierra Leone and lives in Adelaide, South
Australia with her young son.
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