ECCV held their 2022 Annual General Meeting last night at the Greek Centre in Melbourne’s CBD, attended by more than 80 members and supporters.
The meeting opened with a warm welcome from Bill Papastergiadis OAM, President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria (GOCMV), who highlighted the need to sustainably fund the vital work done by ECCV and the multicultural sector, and the importance of collaboration between established and newer migrant communities. In addition to his leadership of GOCMV, Bill is a VMC Commissioner and Managing Partner of law firm, Moray & Agnew, an Ambassador in our All One Together anti-racism project.
We were delighted to host Dr Sandro Demaio, CEO of VicHealth, as guest speaker. Sandro shared his experiences of growing up as the grandson of migrants, and reflected on how he can enjoy the benefits of a multicultural society thanks to the sacrifices made by previous generations. He also acknowledged the contributions of multicultural community leaders and organisations in supporting Victorians from migrant and refugee backgrounds to navigate and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular nod to the work of Afri-Aus Care, Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities’ Council and South East Community Links.
We are proud to call VicHealth a member of ECCV. It has been great to partner with them on the Future Healthy project as well as on this year’s FECCA 2022: Advancing Multicultural Australia national conference.
ECCV Chairperson Eddie Micallef delivered a report outlining the highlights of ECCV’s work over the past year, as did CEO Emiliano Zucchi and Treasurer Jenny Matic.
A highlight of the AGM was the bestowing of an ECCV Life Membership to Marion Lau OAM, who has served as a Board Member for close to three decades. ECCV Deputy Chairperson Jill Morgan AM was joined by Eddie Micallef in celebrating Marion’s long list of achievements at ECCV and as part of the broader multicultural sector. Both Jill and Eddie praised Marion as a role model who has blazed the trail for other migrant women leaders.
