APF

Ambassadors

Jamila Rizvi is an experienced leader and gender equality expert, as well as a best-selling author, opinion columnist and broadcaster. In 2017 she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour called craniopharingioma and underwent two brain surgeries, followed by a course of radiation. In the process she lost most of the function in her pituitary gland.

As Deputy Managing Director at FW, Jamila champions women who work and women who want to work, through professional development, storytelling and advocacy. A published author for adults and children, Jamila is also a columnist for the Nine newspapers and has hosted podcasts for Listnr, ARN, Mamamia and Future Women. Her most recent book is Broken Brains, co-authored with Rosie Waterland and published by Penguin Random House, which explores Jamila’s experience of ill health.

Jamila was named in Culture Amp’s 25 Emerging Global Culture Creators 2024, Women and Leadership Australia’s Victorian award winner 2020 and included in the AFR’s 100 Women of Influence. She is a board member of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, and also an ambassador for PLAN International and the Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroscience Foundation. Previously, Jamila advised the Rudd and Gillard Governments on gender, early childhood education, media and employment participation.