Aminata Conteh-Biger, Founder and CEO of the Aminata Maternal Foundation, will address the National Press Club on 'Restoring Dignity to Humanity, One Woman’s Ultimate Purpose' in partnership with Women in Media.
Women in Media and the National Press Club of Australia are delighted to announce the winner of the Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalist’s Award for 2021 is Brooke Littlewood from Western Australia and will be presented at this Address.
Aminata Conteh-Biger is the Founder and CEO of the Aminata Maternal Foundation. A former refugee from Sierra Leone, she is a Special Representative for Australia United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Growing up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Aminata enjoyed a charmed life alongside her siblings and beloved father, Pa Conteh. Her life changed irrevocably when, as a teenager, she was kidnapped by rebel forces and held captive for months, used as a weapon of the bloody, violent civil war.
Granted refugee status in 2000, Aminata became one of the very first Sierra Leonean refugee women to settle in Australia. Since then Aminata has forged an impressive life in Australia, living by the core values of benevolence, gratitude and ‘giving back’, instilled in her by her father during her formative years.
She is on the Board of The Social Outfit and regularly speaks at corporates, organisation, universities, schools and community avenues to inspire the next generation to lead with purpose and implement change for good in their chosen path.
Aminata is also an author; her debut book, Rising Heart, was published in 2020 by Pan Macmillan Australia.
Aminata describes the Aminata Maternal Foundation as her life’s work. In 2016, Aminata travelled to Sierra Leone and cited the country’s maternal healthcare crisis with SBS Television Dateline’s award-winning documentary ‘Daughter of Sierra Leone’. Since forming the foundation in 2014, her organisation is striving to raise funds to provide a safe, affordable and high-quality service for mothers and babies to experience safe delivery during childbirth with their partners such as the Aberdeen Women’s Centre.
In April 2021, Aminata was the recipient of the Women’s Agenda Setter of the Year Award for her work with the AMF. She was a keynote speaker at the momentous 2021 Women’s March 4 Justice in Canberra. In December 2021, her dedication to her home country was recognised by the Celebration of African Australians NSW organisation with a Humanitarian Award.
Also in 2021, Aminata’s talents as a CEO led to an invitation for a full scholarship in the prestigious McKinsey Leadership Development Program. Aminata’s story has been featured in an array of media channels, including BBC World News, SBS Dateline The Conversation, The Project, ABC Radio National and The Australian Women’s Weekly and Marie Claire magazines. She now resides in Sydney with her husband and two young children.
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