Selba-Gondoza Luka

Selba-Gondoza Luka is founder and CEO of Afri-Aus Care Inc. In addition to being a trained Mental Health Clinician, Selba’s work at Afri-Aus Care has also seen her become a grassroots community leader and impassioned advocate for ending family violence and implementing the NDIS within the African Australian community.

Afri-Aus Care is a not-for-profit organisation that provides culturally appropriate support services to at-risk African Australian youth, their families, and the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community at large. Selba-Gondoza takes a bottom-up strength-based approach to her work and delivers essential services through the concept of UBUNTU and the Positive Change Model, a theory of change that she established. She has been an innovator of positive crime prevention strategies that promote social cohesion by emphasising connections between community members and stakeholders. Following this methodology has seen Selba-Gondoza co-found the Black Rhinos Basketball Club, the UBUNTU Peer-to-Peer Restorative Family Youth Program, and the Empowering African Woman: UBUNTU in Practice initiative.

Selba-Gondoza’s engagement with key community stakeholders has empowered her to be a strong and effective advocate for CALD peoples. Selba-Gondoza is a Charter Member of the Rotary Passport Club of Melbourne and has served as the Deputy Convenor for Police Victoria’s African Australian Community Taskforce. She also holds positions on the University of Melbourne AREiA Advisory Board, the Department of Health CALD Health Advisory Committee, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Volunteer Strategy Committee, and the Victorian Multicultural Commission Regional Advisory Committee – to mention just a few.

Selba-Gondoza’s leadership within Victoria’s CALD community has been recognised through awards such as the Rotary Phonse Tobin Award and the VMC Meritorious Service to the Community in the Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence. More recently, Selba-Gondoza was awarded the 2021 Citizen of the Year by the City of Greater Dandenong.