Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney
Biographical profiles of speakers and chairs (continued)
Professor Courtney Cazden
Charles William Eliot Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, USA.
Professor Cazden's research and teaching centres on the functions and forms of oral and written language in both mother tongue and second language, with special attention to the importance of language issues for equity in education. Her most recent book is Whole Language Plus: Essays on Literacy in the United States and New Zealand.
Mr Chris Conybeare (Chair)
Secretary, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Australia.
Mr Conybeare took up duties as Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in April 1990. His first position in the Public Service was with the then Department of External Affairs. During his 14 years in this department he had postings in London, Bonn and Manila, and also spent two years as an Alternative Executive Director with the Asian Development Bank. Mr Conybeare held a number of senior positions in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and was Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1986-88. He was Eisenhower Fellow for Australia for 1989.
Senator the Hon. Peter Cook
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Australia.
Senator Cook is the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Science. He was first elected to the Senate in 1983 and has held a variety of portfolios since becoming a minister in 1988. Senator Cook has undertaken many initiatives in each of his portfolios to enhance the Government's economic reform program. As Minister for Resources he instituted the LandCare program. As Minister for Shipping he presided over the waterfront reform process. While Minister for Industrial Relations he devised the internationally acclaimed Australian Best Practice program and managed a vital period of industrial relations change. As Minister for Trade and Chairperson of the Cairns Group of Agricultural Free Trading Nations, Senator Cook played a key role in the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT. Before entering Parliament, Senator Cook played an active and influential role in the Australian union movement.
Senator the Hon. Anne Cools
African-Canadian founder of Women in Transition Inc., Canada.
First elected in 1984, Ms Cools is a Senator and Liberal member of the Canadian Government. She has served on a variety of Senate committees, and currently sits on the Senate Standing Committee of Social Affairs, Science and Technology. Ms Cools has been a leader and innovator in creating services to assist battered women, families in crisis, and families troubled by domestic violence. She was the founder, Executive Director and Special Projects Manager of Women in Transition Inc., a social service assisting families in crisis in Toronto, from 1974-90. Ms Cools has a strong commitment to community affairs, serving on a variety of boards and committees, many in an executive capacity.
Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come
Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec, Canada
Since 1987 the Crees have been led by Matthew Coon Come, the third Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, the governing arm of the nine Cree communities that comprise the Cree nation. He has played a key role in bringing his people's quest for survival and respect for their environmental and human rights to Canadian and international prominence. Mr Coon Come was taken from his family at a young age and placed in a residential school in the south. He finished university before returning to his people in the north to complete his "education" with his father and grandfather. After two years living entirely off the land, Mr Coon Come was "graduated" by his father as a Cree hunter. Mr Coon Come serves as director on various Cree bodies and working groups and was awarded the Equinox Environmental Prize in 1993 and more recently the Goldman Global Environment Prize.
The Hon. Simon Crean MP (Chair)
Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Australia
Mr Crean was appointed Minister for Employment, Education and Training in December 1993. He has also held the portfolios of Primary Industries and Energy, and Science and Technology. He was first elected to Parliament in 1990. Prior to entering Parliament, Mr Crean was the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). He was elected President in 1985, having held the elected honorary positions of Junior Vice-President and Senior Vice-President of the ACTU. From 1970-85 Mr Crean was a trade union official with the Federated Storemen and Packers Union of Australia, culminating in the position of Federal Secretary. Mr Crean has taken an active role within a number of national and international organisations including the International Labour Organisation, the Economic Planning and Advisory Council, the Rural and Allied Industries Council, and was a member of the Boards of Qantas, the Australian Industry Development Commission and the Transport Industry Advisory Council.
Professor Erica-Irene Daes
Chairperson-Rapporteur, Working Group on Indigenous Populations, United Nations.
Professor Daes is the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations and Chairperson-Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. She is also Inspector-Chairperson of the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations which investigates the efficient and economic use of United Nations resources. She has prepared and contributed to a number of UN reports, studies and working papers in the fields of human rights, humanitarian law, international law, international relations and particularly on the recognition and protection of the rights and freedom of the world's indigenous people. Professor Daes was the principal drafter of the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She has recently conducted a study on the protection of indigenous heritage for the United Nations. Professor Daes received the United Nations Human Rights Prize in 1993.
Dr Jara David-Moserov
Secretary-General, Czech Commission for UNESCO, Czech Republic.
Dr David-Moserov is the Secretary-General of the Czech Commission for UNESCO, a position she has held since 1993. Prior to this she was Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand for the Czech and Slovac Federal Republic. Following the "Velvet Revolution", Dr David-Moserov was coopted to the Czech Parliament and was elected Vice President of the Czech National Council. She was subsequently elected in the first free election. As a Member of Parliament, Dr David-Moserov was elected to the governing body of the Parliament, the Presidium, and chaired the Committee for Science, Education and Culture.
Mr Hass Dellal (Chair)
Executive Director, Australian Multicultural Foundation, Australia.
Mr Dellal was appointed Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation in 1989. It is an organisation established to promote a strong commitment to Australia as one people drawn from many cultures. Mr Dellal has had extensive experience throughout Australia in multicultural affairs and has spearheaded a number of initiatives for the benefit and development of the general community. He serves on a number of committees and boards dealing in police relations, access and equity, skill recognition, second language development, philanthropy and the arts. Mr Dellal is also a Commissioner with the Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, a committee member of the Victorian Council for the Arts, and the National Police Ethnic Advisory Bureau.
Mr Patrick Dodson (Chair)
Chairperson, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Australia.
Mr Dodson is a Yawuru man born in Broome in Western Australia. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and worked for a number of years with the church in the Northern Territory. He subsequently left the priesthood and worked for the Central Land Council in Alice Springs. In 1989 he was appointed as a Royal Commissioner to investigate the issues underlying the disproportionate number of Aboriginal people dying in custody. At the completion of the Royal Commission he returned to work on land issues as the Director of the Kimberley Land Council before being appointed as the Chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. Mr Dodson continues to live in Broome where he is involved in issues relating to the maintenance of Yawuru culture and language.
Mr Demetri Dollis MLA
Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Planning and Trade, Victoria, Australia. Mr Dollis was first elected as the State Member of Parliament for Richmond, an inner-city electorate in Melbourne, in 1988. He is also Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Planning and Trade. Mr Dollis worked as a consultant for the Federal Ministers for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs and Social Security. He also served as a Councillor for the City of Collingwood in Victoria. He has served as a committee member for a number of community organisations.
Senator the Hon. Gareth Evans QC
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia
Senator Evans has been Foreign Minister since 1988 and Leader of the Government in the Senate since 1993. He has previously held the positions of Attorney-General, Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Transport and Communications. Senator Evans has been closely involved with several major Australian international initiatives, including chairing in 1989 the inaugural ministerial meeting to establish APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). He is perhaps best known internationally for his role in developing the United Nations peace plan for Cambodia from 1989-91. He has written or edited eight books and published numerous articles on legal and constitutional reform, Labour politics and foreign relations, including his 1993 work Cooperating for Peace, intended as a contribution to the debate on the reform of the United Nations.
The Hon. Elizabeth Evatt AO
Member, United Nations Human Rights Committee, Australia.
Ms Evatt has been a member of the Human Rights Committee, established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, since 1993. She served as President of the Australian Law Reform Commission from 1988-93 and was a member of the commission from 1993-94. Ms Evatt was a Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission from 1989-94 (and of its predecessor, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission from 1973-89). From 1976-88 she served as Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia. She was a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women from 1984-92, and Chair from 1989-91. Ms Evatt chaired a Royal Commission on Human Relationships from 1974-77. She currently holds the position of Chancellor of the University of Newcastle.
The Hon. Sheila Finestone PC MP
Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women), Canada.
Mrs Finestone was appointed as Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) following the Liberal Party victory in 1993. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1984. Mrs Finestone has been involved in community development, ranging from cultural issues to those dealing with minorities in the province of Quebec. She has been active in protecting Anglophone rights in Quebec and Francophone rights throughout Canada. Mrs Finestone has served on such varied boards as the Cardiology Institute of Montreal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as well as the Interfaith Task Force on Soviet Jewry.
The Hon. Sir James Gobbo AC
Chairman, Australian Multicultural Foundation.
Sir James served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1978-94 and is currently Chairman of the Council of the Australian Banking Industry Ombudsman. Sir James has maintained a long interest in Italian community affairs in Australia, reflected in his Presidency of CO.AS.IT. (Italian Assistance Association), the largest migrant welfare organisation of its kind in Australia. He was also a founding Chairman of the Italian Historical Society. Since 1975 Sir James has served on various advisory bodies to the Federal Government in connection with immigration and refugee affairs. He was Chairman of the Australian Refugee Council in 1977, and the founding Chairman of the Australian Multicultural Affairs Council from 1987-91. Currently Sir James is the Chairman of the Australian Multicultural Foundation, an organisation established to promote a strong commitment to Australia as one people from many cultures.
Dr Julian Gold
Director, Albion Street Clinic, Australia.
Dr Gold has been the Director of the Albion Street Centre, a clinic treating 2000 patients with HIV, for 10 years. Concurrently he holds the position of Senior Specialist and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. His field of specialisation is infectious diseases. Dr Gold has been a member of the New South Wales Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS since 1987. From 1980 to 1981 he was a Program Officer with the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Dr Gold has an interest in the spread of disease across borders and has worked as a consultant on HIV in Thailand, China, Fiji, Sri Lanka and India. The Albion Street Centre is conducting a project, sponsored by the Australian Government, on HIV management in Thailand and China.
Ms Patricia Greer
Principal, John Eaton Elementary School, Washington DC, USA.
Ms Greer has been the Principal of the John Eaton Elementary School since 1975, and from 1975-92 she was also the principal of the Phoebe Hearst Elementary School. The John Eaton School is multicultural and multilingual and has a racially and economically diverse student population. It is one of nine US schools that has received national recognition by the National Network of Successful Schools (a US Department of Education funded program that identifies model schools nationwide and disseminates their successful practices). Ms Greer has worked in the field of education for over thirty years as a teacher, consultant and teacher trainer. She has been awarded the Outstanding Educator's Award by the Washington Post, the Superintendent's Incentive Award for Outstanding Leadership, and served on the Mayor's Education Task Force.
Ms Linda Griego
President and Chief Executive Officer of Rebuild LA, USA.
Ms Griego is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rebuild LA, a non-profit public benefit corporation formed immediately following the 1992 civil unrest to focus on the economic revitalisation of the affected and neglected communities of greater Los Angeles. In September 1991, Mayor Tom Bradley named Ms Griego his Deputy Mayor in charge of economic development. She was also the city's designated liaison official to the Federal Government following the 1992 civil unrest. She resigned her post as Deputy Mayor in January 1993 to run for Mayor of Los Angeles. Ms Griego has been involved in numerous civic and community activities since arriving in Los Angeles in 1972. She currently serves on several boards.
Associate Professor Alice G. Guillermo
College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines, The Philippines.
Professor Guillermo is Associate Professor of Art Studies at the College of Arts and Letters at the University of the Philippines (UP) and a former Chairperson of the Art Studies Department. She has written numerous reviews and articles on art and culture. She received the 1976 Best Critique Award from the Art Association of the Philippines, a Palance Award in essay, and was National Fellow for Essay at the UP Creative Writing Centre in 1988.
Dr Narayani Gupta
Reader, Department of History and Culture, Jamia Millia Islamia University, India.
Dr Gupta is a Reader in the Department of History and Culture at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. Dr Gupta is a founder-member of the Conservation Society of Delhi and a member of the Delhi Urban Art Commission. She has published on urban history and conservation.
Professor Tomas Hammar
Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations, Stockholm University, Sweden.
In 1983 Professor Hammar was appointed Director of the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Stockholm University and in 1989 was appointed to the first Nordic Chair in International Migration and Ethnic Relations. Professor Hammar headed the Swedish Commission for Immigration Research in 1978. He has written a number of books in Swedish about immigrants' voting rights and political participation, naturalisation and citizenship. He was the editor of European Immigration Policy and the author of Democracy and the Nation State.
Ms Ratih Hardjono
Foreign Correspondent, Kompas, Indonesia. Ratih Hardjono has been the foreign correspondent for Kompas, Indonesia's largest Indonesian language daily, since 1986. She has principally served in Australia but was posted to Washington during the Gulf War and has carried out assignments in the former Soviet Union and Southern Africa, among others. She also writes occasional articles and columns for the Jakarta Post, an English language daily. Ms Hardjono was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University USA in 1993-94. She was only the third Indonesian and the first Indonesian female journalist to win this prestigious scholarship. Ms Hardjono is the author of a book on Australia, The White Tribe of Asia. It was published in 1993 in both Indonesian and English.
Dr Marianne Heiberg
Acting Director, Projects and Development, UNRWA Field Office, Jerusalem.
Dr Heiberg is the Acting Director of the Projects and Development Office, United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Jerusalem. Before taking up this position, she was Senior Research Associate at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo. Dr Heiberg was the project director for a study, "Living conditions in the West Bank and Gaza", which formed the framework for the secret negotiations in Oslo between the PLO and the Israeli Government and led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles. Dr Heiberg has undertaken a number of other significant research projects and has published widely on issues of conflict and peace.
Next: Global Cultural Diversity Conference proceedings - profiles 3
Previous: Global Cultural Diversity Conference proceedings - profiles 1