Patron and ambassadors

Magda Szubanski has been famous for making Australia laugh for over three decades. She has been named the “Most Talked about Person of 2017” following what many have called her ‘crucial role’ in the complex and difficult 2017 Same-Sex Marriage Survey. She is patron of Twenty10, an ambassador for the Pinnacle Foundation and also volunteered for the Orlando Victims’ Fundraiser concerts in Melbourne and Sydney.

After early training with the ABC-TV cult show D-Generation, Magda shot to fame in 1989 in response to the huge variety of comic characters she created. For over thirty years Magda has survived and thrived at the top of the show business tree- a notoriously fickle and competitive industry. For three decades she has been a household name as one of Australia’s most loved and respected actors, writers and producers.

Magda has received many accolades over the course of her career, including a Mo Award, seven Logie Awards, three AWGIE Awards, two People’s Choice Awards, two Astra Awards and the AFI for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Australia’s favorite second-best friend, Sharon Strzelecki, a character she created herself. Including this, she was awarded the 2018 Victorian Award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership by Women and Leadership Australia. She is also the 2018 recipient of the nation’s top free speech honour, the Voltaire Award, given by Australia’s oldest human rights organization, Liberty Victoria.

Cristyn Davies is a Research Fellow in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney Clinical School, and The Children’s Hospital Westmead, Australia.

She has published widely in the areas of gender and sexuality diversity in young people with a focus on health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes; health education including sexual health and relationships education for young people; qualitative research methods and design; HPV and HPV vaccination (including vaccine delivery systems); Implementation Science and Knowledge Translation; narrative and media studies; and innovative pedagogies and educational practice.

Supported by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Cristyn represented Australian civil society at United Nations Human Rights Council 41 in Geneva, Switzerland, where she advocated for a human rights approach to data collection, health equity, and equity in education for people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity. She worked in support of the renewal of a global mandate to protect people against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Cristyn also advocated for equity in access to HPV vaccination and screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cristyn is the recipient of the Health and Wellbeing Award, Honour Awards, 2019.

She is co-author of the Growing up Queer report, which was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s research excellence award from Western Sydney University, Australia.

Patrick Abboud is an award winning documentary filmmaker and broadcaster. In 2016/17 alone as senior investigative reporter/ presenter on SBS VICELAND program, The Feed, he exposed unsolved gay hate crimes; discrimination against transgender people in the Australian Defence Force; and homophobia in the NSW Police force. His film on Australia’s underground Muslim LGBTQI communities helped secure funding for a national support group and community education program. Patrick comes from Palestinian/Lebanese parents, and was raised in Western Sydney and has worked extensively across community social services and the arts with a passion for working with young culturally diverse LGBTIQA+ folk. Patrick was just named one of the 50 most influential LGBTQI voices in Cosmopolitan’s 2017 rainbow list. In 2016 he won the LGBTQI Honour Award for outstanding broadcasting.

Jordan Raskopoulos is an Australian comedian, sketch and stand-up artist, actress, singer, improviser, voice-over artist, writer, events host, panelist, commentator, video game streamer, world record holder, and advocate. She is best known as the frontwoman for comedy rockers The Axis of Awesome. Their YouTube channel has 315,000 subscribers and their music videos have over 200,000,000 hits. Two hundred million!

Jordan came out as a transgender woman in February 2016 with a funny yet touching video titled What’s Happened to Jordan’s Beard?. She has become an inspiration and Role Model to young LGBTQIA+ people by living her genuine life openly and publicly, and being an outspoken campaigner for progress and understanding. She has also spoken openly about her experiences with anxiety.

Jordan also boasts numerous television credits, including as a creator and star of The Ronnie Johns Half Hour. She has also appeared on Thank God You’re Here, Q&A, Good News Week, The Project, and Get Krack!n, and had a supporting role in Underground: The Julian Assange Story.

Michelle Heyman is an Australian soccer player and commentator who is passionate about sharing her story. She has played for the Matildas 11 seasons in the W- League. Outside of soccer, Michelle is coaching the next generation to hopefully share the same experiences. She is passionate about creating a safe environment that will help build leadership, positive attitude, and just to have some fun! Her main goal is empowering women in sport and whatever they set out to achieve, and to learn to love and smile when they are playing.

Heyman, having struggled with her own anxiety, aims to raise awareness around mental health. Almost quitting sport after the loss of her cousin who inspired her to get into soccer, she started to seek support and learn about her own mental health. She is grateful for the people around her that helped her to believe in herself and be true to herself.

Heyman is also a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community!

Former professional rugby league footballer, Casey Conway is now the NRL’s manager for diversity and inclusion. Born in central QLD, Aboriginal Australian Casey Conway has lent his skill set and personal experience to youth work and takes pride in both addressing and dispelling industry stigmas. He is a prominent spokesperson for the LGBT community and has an interest in helping all minority groups find their voice.