The Arts and Culture Medal in honour of Carla Zampatti winner is Lena Nahlous.
This award recognises the achievements of an individual who has promoted cultural understanding and artistic endeavours within or between communities of different cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds.
Lena Nahlous has been a social change advocate and inspirational leader for over twenty years. She promotes cultural understanding for artists, creatives, communities, and audiences from multicultural, refugee, and migrant backgrounds.
Lena’s path began with her own early experiences of race-based discrimination at the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. This ignited her lifelong commitment to social justice, human rights, and the amplification of marginalised voices.
As a multifaceted leader in Australia’s arts and cultural sectors and a driving force for innovation, Lena has developed training programs for artists, communities and creatives from culturally diverse, refugee and migrant backgrounds and young people.
Lena is currently the CEO and Executive Producer of Diversity Arts Australia, where she also hosts ‘The Colour Cycle’ podcast. She serves as a Non-executive Board Member for Monkey Baa Theatre Company.
From 2003 to 2009, Lena served on the NSW Government Arts Advisory Committee and was an Australia 2020 Summit Delegate. Her expertise has been instrumental in guiding these organisations toward more inclusive practices.
Lena’s work with Diversity Arts has positioned the organisation as a leading voice on issues of equity and inclusion in the arts.
An experienced CEO, producer, curator, artistic director, and facilitator with a long-term commitment to racial equity in the arts, screen and creative sectors, Lena drives sector-wide change through strategic partnerships, research, and innovative projects that empower artists as advocates.
In her former role as Executive Director of Arts and Cultural Exchange, Lena established initiatives such as the Arab Film Festival, the Switch digital media centre, and Artfiles, an artist employment and brokerage program.
Lena’s recent noteworthy achievements include Diversity Arts’ Shifting the Balance Report, a transformative Creative Equity Toolkit, a groundbreaking Pacesetters project and ‘Fair Play’, a capacity-building program.
Lena’s work has had a strong focus in Western Sydney, where she has been the driving force and passionate advocate for arts and cultural initiatives, which amplify traditionally excluded or marginalised voices and stories. In 2020, she won the Western Sydney Woman Leader of Change Award.
Lena has also been nominated and a finalist in multiple awards, including the Zest Awards Hall of Fame and Best Project categories (2023), the Pro Bono Australia 2022 Impact 25 Awards, and the Australian Podcast Awards. In 2007, she was a finalist in Equity Trustees CEO of the Year Awards. Lena also received an Asialink Fellowship in 2006 and two Ian Potter Fellowships in 2008 and 2002. She received the 2008 Australian Business Arts Foundation Margaret Lawrence Scholarship.
In 2024, Lena was awarded a Churchill Fellowship. Through this Fellowship, she aims to research and develop a digital cultural archive that will meticulously chronicle the historical contributions of culturally diverse and migrant artists and creative workers.
Lena is passionate about empowering future generations of artists, particularly those from historically and culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) backgrounds.
Lena is highly respected by her peers and in the community. She has guided hundreds of culturally, linguistically, and racially diverse young people across various sectors. She strongly believes in mentoring and says the core principle that drives her is to “always take others with you.”
Her journey exemplifies an unwavering commitment to equity and preservation.
“I work in the creative sector because storytelling and the arts have the power to be transformative and to change how people experience the world. My work has had a focus on amplifying voices traditionally excluded from the mainstream arts, screen and cultural sectors,” says Lena.
In the future, Lena envisions Australia’s cultural tapestry being fully represented in our institutions, on our stages, in our books, and on our screens. Until then, she is committed to laying the foundational work necessary to bring about structural change and realise this vision.
