Canning Cultural Ambassadors
The Canning Cultural Ambassadors program connects Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities and the City.
Cultural Ambassadors are recruited to play an engagement role with their communities. They help with information flow and feedback between their community and the City.
Cultural Ambassadors:
- possess bilingual skills
- live locally
- are well connected to their community
- commit to attending a minimum of 10 monthly meetings
- require obtaining of a Police Clearance and a Working with Children check.
The program objectives are to:
- increase the community's awareness of and access to City services
- identify opportunities for the City to improve services and activities to better meet community needs
- foster dialogue to reduce barriers and enhance participation
- build intercultural understanding and relationships.
The program is integrated into the City’s volunteer program, and as a result, it adheres to its guidelines. This implies that ambassadors who are City volunteers must relinquish their ambassador role if they assume any paid positions within the City, including if they run for, or are elected to the City of Canning Council. Additional details can be found in the Position Description (PDF 700KB) and the Volunteers Handbook (PDF 930KB).
Application Process
- The city initiates a public Expression of Interest (EOI) call out for a limited time – Interested parties submit their application through the online EOI form.
- Review of applications – Shortlisted candidates are contacted to schedule an interview.
- Interview of candidates – Applicants attend a face-to-face interview conducted by one or two City officers. A reference check is also done at this stage.
- End of process – Applicants are notified of the outcome. Successful applicants are appointed Canning Cultural Ambassadors for x10 months.
The City of Canning acknowledges the support of Lotterywest, Curtin University and Multicultural Futures in helping to establish the program.
Download the Canning Cultural Ambassador Program presentation (PDF 8MB) to learn more.
Cultural Ambassadors
Anbumoly Kuppusamy
Country of birth: Malaysia.
What culture/s do you identify as: Tamil – Malaysian / Indian.
Languages spoken: fluent in Tamil, Malay, English, Telugu Hindi Intermediate: Malayalam and Arabic. Basic in Cantonese.
Dr Cynthi Senarath Yapa
Country of birth: Sri Lanka.
What culture/s do you identify as: Sinhalese.
Languages spoken: fluent in English and Sinhalese.
Hameed Mohammad
Country of birth: India.
What culture/s do you identify as: Indian and Arab Culture.
Languages spoken: fluent in English, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu. Intermediate in Nepalese. Basic in Tamil and Italian.
Haneen Shehadeh
Country of birth: Qatar.
What culture/s do you identify as: Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim.
Languages spoken: fluent in Arabic and English.
Jess Yaping Jiang JP
Country of birth: China.
What culture/s do you identify as: Chinese.
Languages spoken: fluent in Mandarin and English.
Dr Khanh Ho
Country of birth: Vietnam.
What culture/s do you identify as: Vietnamese.
Languages spoken: fluent in Vietnamese and English.
Marwiah Liklee
Country of birth: Singapore.
What culture/s do you identify as: Malay.
Languages spoken: fluent in English and Malay.
Padmini Saxena
Country of birth: India.
What culture/s do you identify as: I am an Indian Hindu woman.
Languages spoken: fluent in English, Hindi and Urdu. Intermediate in Punjabi.
Dr Parwinder Kaur
Country of birth: India.
What culture/s do you identify as: Punjabi (Indian).
Languages spoken: fluent in Punjabi, Hindi and English.
Rasha Abdelmonem
Country of birth: Egypt.
What culture/s do you identify as: Muslim Egyptian Arabic.
Languages spoken: fluent in Arabic and English. Intermediate in Mandarin.
Sabah Suleiman
Country of birth: Ethiopia.
What culture/s do you identify as: Eritrean /Sudanese/Ethiopian.
Languages spoken: fluent in Tigrinya, Arabic, Ethiopian and English.
Dr Siddier Chambers
Country of birth: Jamaica.
What culture/s do you identify as: Jamaican/Caribbean culture and African culture.
Languages spoken: fluent in English and Patois.
Dr Udbhav Mehta
Country of birth: India.
What culture/s do you identify as: Gujarati.
Languages spoken: fluent in English, Gujarati and Hindi. Basic in Marathi and Punjabi.
Verna Kanagaratnam
Country of birth: Malaysia.
What culture/s do you identify as: Ceylonese.
Languages spoken: fluent in English, Malay, Tamil, Cantonese and Indonesian.
Zainon Mohamad Kassim
Country of birth: Singapore.
What culture/s do you identify as: Indian Muslim.
Languages spoken: fluent in English and Malay. Basic in Tamil.
Amit Mehta
Cultural background: Indian
Languages spoken: Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and English
Profile video
Ankur Verma
Cultural background: Indian
Languages spoken: Hindi, Marathi and English
Profile video
Astit Olszowy and Richard Olszowy
Cultural background: Indonesian and Polish
Languages spoken: Indonesian, Dutch and English
Profile video
Balli Singh
Cultural background: Indian (Punjabi)
Languages spoken: Punjabi, Hindi and English
Read biography
Elvie Yap
Cultural background: Chinese
Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Malay and English
Profile video
Hyejin Um (Grace)
Cultural background: Korean
Languages spoken: Korean and English
Read biography
Israa Sedda
Cultural background: Arabic-Muslim
Languages spoken: Arabic and English
Read biography
Jayaseelan Marimuthu
Cultural background: Malaysian
Languages spoken: Tamil, Malay and English
Read biography
Karunakaran Kutty Veluthakkal
Cultural background: Singaporean
Languages spoken: English, Hindi and Malayalam
Read biography
Kirtida Shah
Cultural background: Indian
Languages spoken: Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and English
Profile video
Luul Ibrahim
Cultural background: Somali
Languages spoken: Somali and English
Profile video
Dr S Zaung Nau
Cultural background: Myanmar
Languages spoken: Myanmar (Burmese) and English
Profile video
Dr Sadhana Bose
Cultural background: Indian
Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi and Sanskri
Read biography
Santhye Subramaniam
Cultural background: Malaysian
Languages spoken: Tamil, Malay and English
Read biography
Selam Tegegn
Cultural background: (Ethiopian – Eritrean) Sub-Saharan Africa
Languages spoken: Amharic, Swahili and English
Read biography
Simrat Kaur
Cultural background: Indian
Languages spoken: Hindi, Punjabi and English
Profile video
Syed Muzaffar Ahmed
Cultural background: Bangladeshi
Languages spoken: Bengali and English
Profile video
Syeda Maisara Muzaffar
Cultural background: Bangladeshi
Languages spoken: Bengali and English
Read biography
Vijayakumar Vijayaratnam
Cultural background: Malaysian
Languages spoken: Tamil, Malay and English
Read biography
Wageesha Gamage
Cultural background: Sri Lankan
Languages spoken: Sinhalese and English
Read biography
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