Commissioners
The VMC comprises of twelve dedicated Commissioners who advocate the values of the Commission and act as a conduit between the community and the Commission. Our Commissioners have a solid understanding of the issues facing ethnic communities and are actively involved in the community, regularly attending events and playing a vital role in assisting networks and liaison between different faith and community groups.
The Commissioners are in constant contact with the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson and meet on a monthly basis to develop strategies and discuss community issues that require action. Commissioners are selected through a competitive interview process then officially appointed by the Governor of Victoria for terms of up to four years.
Commissioners
Mr. George Lekakis (Chairperson)
Mr. Hakan Akyol (Deputy Chairperson) 
Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel
Mr Joseph Caputo
Dr.Stanley Chiang
Mrs Vicki Mitsos
Ms Samar Mougharbel
Ms Vivienne Nguyen
Dr Linda Sydor Petkovic
Ms Marcia Pinskier
Ms Usha Sharma
Mr Yasser Soliman
Mr George Lekakis
(Chairperson)
Mr George Lekakis has been the Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission since 2001. He is an experienced advocate for ethnic, religious and multicultural communities at the local, state and national levels; as illustrated by his tenures as both the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of Victoria’s peak multicultural umbrella organisation, the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV), and also as Deputy Chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA).
Prior to taking up the role of Chairperson of the Commission, Commissioner Lekakis was the Director of the South Central Region Migrant Resource Centre and the New Hope Foundation (between 1989 and 2001).
He has served on many government and community-based boards and committees of management, including the Victorian Industrial Relations Taskforce, the Community Support Fund Advisory Council, the Workforce Participation Program Advisory Committee and has also served as a member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
His current roles also include co-chairing the Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Committee (PACMAC) as well as being represented on Future Melbourne Leaders, Multicultural Arts Policy Advisory Committee, Centre for Dialogue Advisory Board and the Ministerial Advisory Council on Languages ESL and Multicultural Education.
Commissioner Lekakis has formal qualifications in social work and nursing.
Mr Hakan Akyol
(Deputy Chairperson)
Commissioner Akyol was appointed Deputy Chairperson and Director of the Commission in February 2005. Prior to this appointment he was the Deputy Director of the Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs for approximately 4 years, the Executive Officer of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria between 1993 and 2001 as well as having worked in local government.
Over the years he has served on various boards and committees including on the South Central Region Migrant Resource Centre’s Committee of Management and the Board of Multicultural Arts Victoria.
Born in Turkey, Commissioner Akyol migrated to Australia with his parents in 1969.
Ms Elleni Bereded-Samuel
Commissioner Bereded-Samuel was born in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa). Her background includes experience working in women’s health and education and she has worked with a range of ethnic groups.
Elleni is currently employed as the Community Partnerships Officer at Victoria University, is a co-founder and member of the Committee of Management of the Horn of African Communities Network, Deputy Chair of the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition. Elleni has been the lead consultant on a number of community consultations and a resource person for local, state and federal government Departments in regards to education, training and employment. Elleni has represented the Horn of African Communities in various local, state and national conferences. She has BA in Foreign Languages and Literature and English as a Second Language, Post-Graduate Diploma in Counseling and is currently completing a Masters in Education (due to finish in 2006).
Her area of interest and expertise is youth and women’s issues.
Mr Joseph Caputo
Commissioner Caputo was first appointed to the Commission in 2001. He has demonstrated a commitment to multiculturalism over a long period working with diverse communities, in particular the East Timorese community. He is currently a Councillor with the Moreland City Council.
He has also had extensive experience in the private sector including as a Work Organisation Facilitator at Ford. His experience in local government is extensive having served both as Councillor and Mayor at the Brunswick City Council prior to amalgamations.
Joe holds a Graduate Diploma in Industrial relations and Human Resources Management and a Master of Business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Dr. Stanley Chiang
Commissioner Chiang was born in Shanghai, China and migrated to Japan with his parents in 1977 where he finished his high school. In 1980 he came to Australia to undertake his university studies and obtained degrees in biological sciences (B.Sc., Hon.) and medicine (M.B.B.S.) at Flinders University of S.A. In 1992 he came to Melbourne and started a general practice. He currently runs a number of medical clinics with his business partner as well as undertaking some research and teaching.
Dr Chiang was first appointed to the Commission in 2001 and has extensive involvement with ethnic communities, particularly the Chinese community in Victoria. He is also a Councillor with the Darebin City Council.
Dr. Chiang is also president of the North Eastern Melbourne Chinese Association (NEMCA), and president of the Pacific Art and Literary Federation. He has worked tirelessly to encourage the integration of new migrants into mainstream Australian society and promoted the benefits of multiculturalism at every opportunity. The Kite Festival, which NEMCA and the City of Darebin co-organises, has now become an annual event.
Ms Samar Mougharbel
Commissioner Mougharbel was born in Beirut (Lebanon) and migrated to Australia in 1987. She is actively involved and committed to promoting multiculturalism in the community, particularly with migrant and refugee women.
Ms Mougharbel has 10 years experience working in the community sector, both in voluntary and paid capacities. Since 2001 she has been committed to community development and social programs aiming to bring positive changes, improvement and empowerment to women from culturally and linguistically diverse background.
Ms Mougharbel is actively involved in various Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission forums and discussions regarding racial and religious discrimination against Muslim Women. She is currently the Springvale Neighbourhood House Co-ordinator (Nov 2005) where she involved with more than 50 community groups, in addition to a close association with the literacy centre and the Sumnation World Cultural Festival.
Mrs Vicki Mitsos
Commissioner Mitsos was first appointed to the Commission in 1998. She is a Manager of the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE and has considerable experience in the provision of language services having worked as an interpreter, a teacher, an ethnic counsellor and as a bilingual consultant.
She has represented the Shepparton region through her work on the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District over an extensive period, including up until last year as its President.
Ms Mitsos plays an active role on numerous boards within the community including NAATI.
During the Centenary of Federation she was awarded an honour roll for "Women shaping the Nation" and in 1997 was awarded Woman of the Year in Business Professionals.
Ms Vivienne Nguyen
Commissioner Nguyen has strong links with Victoria's Vietnamese community and has demonstrated strong advocacy skills to support the strengthening of ethnic communities generally. She has represented the Vietnamese community in a range of forums and has a bachelor of Commerce and Master of Applied Finance.
Ms Nguyen is currently employed with the ANZ Bank in Banking Products. Previously she was National Manager for AustChoice Financial Services Limited, responsible for sales and marketing. She also spent some time working as a Client Services Manager at AMP Asset Management. She has been actively working with young people on a voluntary basis for a number of years and undertaking advocacy role for young people's voices. In the past six years Ms Nguyen has had executive roles with the Vietnamese Community in Australia (Victoria Chapter) in the areas of strategic planning, youth and advocacy.
Dr Linda Sydor Petkovic
Commissioner Sydor Petkovic, with Ukrainian and Serbian heritages, has been actively involved with the Ukrainian and multicultural communities in Geelong over a number of years and has managed an after hours ethnic school in the region since 1992. She is currently the President of Geelong’s Diversitat (formerly the Geelong Ethnic Communities’ Council). Whilst studying for her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at Monash University she undertook research and Slavic language studies in Europe.
Ms Marcia Pinskier
Commissioner Pinskier has a Jewish heritage and is active in a wide range of community and not-for-profit groups, with strong ties to the Jewish Community. She has a strong commitment to the promotion of respect and engagement between diverse ethnic and faith communities.
Her background is in Education and she is the immediate past President of Caulfield Junior College, a suburban school with a high degree of ethnic diversity. During her term she established and chaired a Governance sub-committee and supported the schools accreditation by the International Council of Schools. Ms Pinskier has an interest in disability and the additional pressures families of the disabled encounter from within their own ethnic communities.
She established the Jewish Parents Autism Spectrum support group, and is the Vice-President of ACCESS, an advocacy group for families with disability in the Jewish community. She also sits on the Service Delivery Committee of Jewish Care, the foremost welfare organisation in the Jewish community. Ms Pinskier is an Executive member on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (Victoria) and a Board member of the National roof body.
Ms Pinskier is a past delegate to the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and was the first Melbourne based CEO for the Australian arm of Hadassah International. She has active partnerships with Victoria Police as a member of PACMAC (Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Committee) and has worked closely with the Victorian Police Multicultural Advisory Unit on a number of projects. Commissioner Pinskier works as a Consultant with a diverse range of organisations in areas of capacity building, leadership development and governance.
Ms Usha Sharma
Commissioner Sharma was born in Fiji but travelled and lived in India for further studies at sixteen years of age, before migrating to Australia in 1986 with her family. She has worked extensively with the Indian community in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Her community involvement covers a range of activities, including working with youth and encouraging ethnic groups to increase their involvement in local communities.
She has worked in the legal and telecommunications field before purchasing her own skylight business. Usha was a founder member and President of the Sangam Community Association as well as being one of the founder members of Australian Indian Innovations Inc (AIII) which hosts Diwali Fair, festival of lights, every year at Sandown Race Course for which she is the cultural co-ordinator and the host of the show. She is also an executive member of Songkran New Year Festival where she works with members from Lao, Burmese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Cambodian and Thai communities to host, on a very large scale, New Year Festival in the City of Springvale.
She is one of the pioneers of the Hindi language program on 97.7(FM) Radio Casey and at present is the coordinator and presenter of the Hindi language program at 88.3 Southern FM. She is a firm believer and promoter of multiculturalism.
In 2003, Usha became a recipient of the Centenary Medal.
Mr Yasser Soliman
Commissioner Soliman is the former President of the Islamic Council of Victoria and has worked closely with the Islamic community as well with Commonwealth, State and Local governments to strengthen partnerships across the community. He has actively worked in partnership with Victoria Police, local councils and Islamic youth to forge understanding and cooperation.
He continues to be involved in interfaith dialogue and community relations through the Islamic Council of Victoria and externally. He was a previous President and Treasurer of the Victorian branch of the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth and a former member of the Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Committee (PACMAC).
He has been awarded the Police And Community Multicultural Advisory Committee (PACMAC) Exemplary Award and a recipient of a Centenary Medal in 2003.
He is currently a member of the Council for Multicultural Australia, an Australian Citizenship Ambassador, an Executive Committee member of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria and is the President of the Islamic Family and Childcare Agency. He runs a consultancy called Diversity Connect International with a focus on diversity issues and developing understandings and relations.
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