Africa Media Australia (AMA) and The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) held a Jewish – African ‘Jeffersonian’ Dinner in partnership African Professionals of Australia at the Adele Southwick Centre at St Kilda Hebrew Congregation on Sunday night. The dinner provided a great opportunity for members African and Jewish communities to connect and share ideas ideas and discuss topics of mutual importance.
JCCV President Jennifer Huppert and the Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott opened the event in front of over 65 guests, who represented a variety of Jewish communal organisations and Victorian African communities from over a dozen countries.
A view of the dinner at Adele Southwick Centre in St Kilda (Photo JCCV)
Ms Huppert stated, “This is a great opportunity for our communities to come together, make connections and share ideas around the topics on the agenda for the evening – community development, entrepreneurship & career development and diaspora engagement”
“Our communities have a lot in common, including the refugee experience, confronting racism as a minority and issues around integration. Key messages that come out of the discussions centred around the need to build trust within your community, the importance of youth and a focus on women”, she stated.
Clyde Sharady, the AMA’s CEO presenting at the dinner (Photo JCCV)
AMA’s CEO, Clyde Sharady outlined challenges facing the African community, the diversity in the community and the need for strong, united and effective community leadership.
“As new and emerging communities in Australia, African communities have a lot to gain to connect with more established communities in the country and learn from their experience and insights. It is also important for us to share our stories with the broader community. We have so many positive stories to share, in contrast to the image that mainstream media in Australia is projecting out there about Africans “, stated Mr Sharady.
Other Keynote speakers included former JCC president Nina Bassat, former JCCV president and immediate past Chairperson of the Victorian Equal opportunity Commission John Searle, Prof Andre Renzaho, founder of the African Review Panel, Africa Day Chair Steve Rametse and former president of the Senegalese Community of Victoria Barry Moustapha. Steve Rametse informed guests about the recently developed African Australian Leadership Forum, and summarised its priorities for implementation, including social inclusion, employment, child protection, youth empowerment and combating racism.
Clyde Sharady, the AMA’s CEO presenting at the dinner (Photo JCCV)
Alon Cassuto described the new Young Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) ‘Iftiin’ Somali Graduate Mentoring program, which was launched the previous Tuesday at State Parliament, and emanated from the inaugural JCCV African Dinner in May. He encouraged participants at the dinner to ensure follow-up and ongoing dialogue so that concrete outcomes like the mentoring program could be developed.
