Zakia Patel is a community leader with a passion for using her skills to support marginalised communities, with a particular passion for young people. Zakia is the Regional Managing Director of the Multicultural Hub Canberra, with responsibility for Multicultural Centres in Canberra, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Bega and Cooma.
Zakia has over a decade of experience working in the community sector, and has previously held senior positions with YMCA Canberra and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. She holds a Bachelor of Law/Economics.
In addition to her professional work in the community, Zakia has been a volunteer with the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) for 13 years and is the Unit Commander for the Queanbeyan SES Unit. Zakia has had the opportunity to participate (and provide leadership to the 100 or so volunteers in the Queanbeyan Unit) in many local and interstate operations and is passionate about encouraging and empowering migrant women to volunteer in a predominately male dominated industry.