The Stranger in a Strange Land Conference held at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) was a celebration of Professor Andrew Jakubowicz’s enormous contribution, spanning over fifty years of his career and traversing media studies, multiculturalism, cultural diversity, disability studies, ethnicity and cyber-racism.

SSI observed the 2017 International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) by celebrating community organisations, local governments, businesses and community members working towards disability inclusion.

Settlement Services International (SSI) CEO Violet Roumeliotis has described Allianz Australia winning the annual Human Rights Business Award as a triumph for partnerships between business and humanitarian organisations seeking to support vulnerable members of the community. The Human Rights Awards, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission at an event in Sydney on December 8, is the pinnacle of human rights recognition in Australia.

An innovative not-for-profit organisation has today launched in Coffs Harbour, where it will support newly arrived refugees as they begin their lives in Australia. The federal government has selected Settlement Services International (SSI) as the Coffs Harbour provider of the new Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP), which supports refugees from the moment they arrive at the airport until they are established in the community.

Job seekers from migrant and refugee background, as well as people living with a disability, were at the centre of a recent pilot project organised by SSI Linkers from the Metro North West team and SydWest Multicultural Services in Blacktown.

Violet Roumeliotis has been recognised as the 2017 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year.

The 2017 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year has urged corporate Australia to partner with their entrepreneurial peers in the not-for-profit sector to address commercial and social challenges. As the CEO of not-for-profit organisation Settlement Services International (SSI), Violet Roumeliotis has overseen innovative diversification leading to more than 1,100 per cent revenue growth to $113 million over five years.

Seven staff from Deutsche Bank who volunteered at SSI’s Armenian-themed Community Kitchen on November 15 were so excited by the experience they have vowed to return with more of their colleagues.

2017 NSW Telstra Business Women’s Award winner calls for corporate Australia to look to the not-for-profit sector to find the innovative solutions it needs to address workforce shortages and inspire entrepreneurial thinking.  Violet Roumeliotis, CEO of Settlement Services International (SSI), who won the 2017 Telstra NSW for Purpose and Social Enterprise Award, said her organisation, which she has grown in revenue from $9m to $110m in only four years, is built on an entrepreneurial spirit that has led to innovative approaches to supporting migrants, people seeking asylum and refugees start businesses, join large corporations and fill important gaps in the workforce.

Yesterday we received the news that the majority of people who took part in the survey on marriage equality voted to change the law to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Refugees and people seeking asylum could soon benefit from a smartphone app that navigates health care for those challenged by language and the healthcare system.   

A consortium led by SSI last week launched the NSW Settlement Partnership in Focus, a new resource showcasing an innovative service delivery model.   

A new resource showcasing an innovative, unique not-for-profit service delivery model was launched in Sydney today. The NSW Settlement Partnership in Focus is replete with success stories of this unique partnership, which is the first of its kind in the settlement sector.

People are at the centre of SSI’s work. We offer a range of responses to meet the evolving needs of people who are at a stage in their life where they’re experiencing vulnerability — whether that be homelessness, unemployment, forced displacement.

Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow was the keynote speaker at the SSI Annual General Meeting held today at the SSI offices in Bankstown, which was attended by more than 80 people.

A leadership approach that combines innovation with non-predatory expansion has seen not-for-profit CEO Violet Roumeliotis recognised as one of Australia’s top business women. On Friday at the NSW Telstra Business Women’s Awards, Ms Roumeliotis was selected in the ‘For Purpose and Social Enterprise’ category as the state representative who will go on to the national awards. She was one of 24 NSW finalists in the awards, which recognise the achievements of extraordinary business women.

The organisations in which I’ve always taken an interest — both in the business world and not-for-profit sector — are those that operate like honey bees. They collaborate and generate value for themselves, their communities and their environment.

SSI’s foster carer Alaweia Kual has been recognised as a finalist in the 2017 NSW Grandparent of the Year Awards for her valuable contributions to the community both as a kinship carer for her grandson and as a community leader supporting newly arrived refugees from her home country of Sudan.

More than 500 job seekers of refugee background received first-hand advice and guidance on how to access sustainable employment at the Refugee Job Start: Information Expo in October.

Refugees and other newly arrived community members are turning their stories into song with a global musical movement that empowers people from all backgrounds to express themselves through music.