Appointed May 2016
Khadija Gbla is a passionate and inspired young African-Australian woman. She is an award winning inspirational speaker, facilitator and consultant who has displayed great courage and determination in achieving 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 further her involvement in the community and to inspire others to accept the differences in our multicultural society and with that make a difference in our community. An optimistic and passionate representative of the African community, Khadija utilises her powerful and inspired voice to advocate equality and acceptance within the community.
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 not for profit organisation, 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 before it starts, through challenging its primary drivers – gender inequality and restrictive gender stereotypes. Khadija is the Safe Communities Coordinator for the City of Charles Sturt and helps to coordinate and implement the local government domestic and family violence prevention toolkit.
Khadija has received numerous awards for her vision and leadership, 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.
Khadija arrived in Australia as a refugee from Sierra Leone and lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her young son.