160 / 164
160
Business View Oceania - October/November 2017
weren’t even able to speak English.
She was fortunate enough to have a
lot of people support her allowing her
to preserver. Since then, she vowed to
help others and reciprocate the meas-
ure of kindness that was shared with
her during her first time in the coun-
try. Aside from being fluent in English,
Leila has also completed two universi-
ty degrees and is now the CEO of Vic-
torian Arabic Social Services, or VASS
for short.
Leila has been involved in migrant and
multicultural services for more than 30
years. During that time, she has helped
develop a variety of services for wom-
en, families, retired citizens, and more.
Moreover, she established the direct
services now offered by VASS. Original-
ly, the organisation was a network of
people who had identified a gap of ser-
vices for the Arabic community as well
as a lot of racism towards the Arabic
and Muslim people of Australia. Over
the years, the organisation grew and
is now a state-wide key service provid-
er. Leila herself slowly became more in-
volved in the process of management
and the organisation was built further
while establishing clear visions, values,
and a strong engagement with the com-
munity.
The principles of social
justice
Over the years, Leila has learnt that
no single community can prosper on
its own.