Proudly Sponsored by
This award recognises an outstanding woman in leadership, a woman who has contributed positively to promoting women, communities or group development in WA’s African Australian community. The award acknowledges high level innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and a commitment to creating transformative change at a grass roots community level or beyond.
Azulant Akora
Nyat Mulugeta
Azulant Akora is a multi-award winning African Australian Designer that made history this past Haute Couture fashion week as the first indigenous African designer to showcase her work. She has been featured on Fashion TV, FF Channel, Fashion Feed and in the New York Post, Madame Figaro, The Australian Financial Review, Now Fashion, Fashion Magazine Italy, Grazia Italy, and numerous international publications.
She is a multi-award winner having more recently been the recipient of the 2017 Afritude Designer of the Year Award and the 2017 Afroshine Award for Designer of the Year.
Azulant strives to encourage and promote African youth engagement in the fashion industry through mentoring community participation and modelling. This has been demonstrated repeatedly when she provides opportunities for youth to part take in fashion week at different locations, globally.
She continues to make headlines with her work by being the first African Designer to show case on Fashion Week and is fully self-funded. Azulant is a role model for aspiring designers and continues to find ways to support youth, having recently launched a crowd funding campaign to meet the increasing demand for mentorship and support.
Rose Violet Arrey (CC, CP)
Nyat Mulugeta
Rose-Violet (Violet) is an awarded lawyer, social entrepreneur, community leader and volunteer.
Violet is Co-founder and acting Chairperson of Afritude Down Under Inc., a non-profit organisation that promotes socio-economic cohesion and inclusion of young fashion designers, artists and entrepreneurs from minority migrant communities; chairperson of Cameroonians in Western Australia Inc.; a member of the City of Wanneroo’s Multicultural Advisory Group, the WA Police Multicultural Women Network and the WA Police Leaver’s Multicultural Engagement Team, other professional bodies and until December 2018, coordinator of the African Leadership Initiative (ALI).
Violet is continually acknowledged as a role model for her leadership and empowerment of others in the community and legal profession. She is showcased in the Law Society of Western Australia’s “Lawyers Make a Difference” campaign debunking prejudice and stereotypes of the legal profession, launched in May 2019. In March 2019, Violet became the youngest of three African-Australians and possibly the youngest inductee into the Western Australian Women’s Hall of Fame for her commitment in empowering others in the community and legal profession.
She is recipient of the Women Lawyers of Western Australia (WLWA)’s 2017 Junior Woman Lawyer of the Year Award for leadership and contributions to making justice for women accessible despite challenging circumstances and barriers; and Celebration of African-Australians’ 2014 Captain Award. She was nominated by the WLWA’s Women in the Profession Committee for the Law Society of Western Australia – 2017 Lawyer of the Year Award (5 years
category).
Overlooking personal challenges and barriers, Violet supports community members by lending her professional expertise and knowledge of the law, as well as mentoring and championing individuals to achieve their best; whilst running simultaneously her law practice and community programs like the Federal Government supported “Volunteering is Belonging” that fosters integration and employability of young people from refugee and migrant
communities through volunteering.