The City of Greater Geelong, in partnership with the Women in Community Life Advisory Committee (WiCLAC), has celebrated the extraordinary contributions and leadership roles of women across the region in the lead up to International Women's Day.
The 2025 Women in Community Life Awards recognised 22 women* nominated across three categories: Leadership and Advocacy, Human Rights, and Strengthening Healthy Communities.
The annual awards were first held in 2016, and acknowledge the contribution of women to the Greater Geelong community, particularly highlighting their impact on the promotion and advocacy for the advancement of gender equality.
The UN Women Australia theme for International Women's Day 2025 is March Forward.
The 2025 award recipients are:
Women in Community Life Award for Leadership and Advocacy: Teagan Mitchell
At just 21, Teagan has held numerous community leadership and advocacy positions.
Teagan sits on the Board of Directors at Read the Play and has served as a member of the Geelong team for the Victorian Youth Parliament.
In addition to this, Teagan is involved in local environmental advocacy through the Australian Conservation Foundation, which is challenging the decision for a gas terminal in Corio Bay.
Teagan has also co-authored a paper on local climate transition through the Real Deal for Geelong project.
Women in Community Life Award for Human Rights: Noor Al-Assafi
Noor is a passionate advocate for human rights and social justice, known for her leadership in Free Palestine Geelong (FPG) and Be Tru 2 Uluru.
As a founding member of FPG, Noor has organised rallies, vigils, and community events to raise awareness about global and local issues.
Beyond her activism, Noor is a dedicated social worker specialising in mental health, with experience in supporting First Nations communities, vulnerable women, and young people.
Noor's area of expertise is within self-harm intervention and prevention, where she integrates her Arab heritage by running self-harm support groups utilising henna body art as a therapeutic tool. Her work emphasises cultural safety, empowerment, and creating inclusive spaces, making her an inspiring leader and role model for marginalised communities.
Women in Community Life Award for Strengthening Healthy Communities: Azadeh Doosti
Azadeh has shown exceptional commitment to empowering refugee and asylum seeker women through numerous channels.
As a Community Hub leader at Bell Park North Primary School, she ensures that families receive essential services such as food relief, educational support and mental health assistance. She supports newly arrived women to access free breast screening services, to practise for and apply for their Australian driver licence and to be educated about Australia's voting system.
She ran a successful campaign to establish women-only hours at Norlane ARC.
Azadeh's work has fostered trust, empowerment, and inclusion for women in Geelong who face significant barriers to accessing essential services.
To be eligible for the awards, the nominee had to be a woman* living or working in the Greater Geelong region.
*Also refers to cis and trans women and gender non-binary people.
