Athena Savvas

I am currently holding 4 roles. I co-run a Volunteer Adventure social enterprise, MyGapYear Travel, where I am the Assistant Director, Volunteer Coordinator and Adventure Tour Leader in Cambodia. I have with MGY Travel going on to 5 years, having tour led over 250 volunteers across over 20 trips to Cambodia and Vietnam. I am also the founder of Meet Her, a small business that connects young women with seasoned career professionals, industry leaders and all inspiring people in mentorship. Meet Her boutique events are a direct response to the unique challenges faced by women when striving for their career aspirations.

Additionally, I am a Fashion Recruiter for UMENCO, working to support the premium fashion space in Australia as well as being a retail assistant at MJ Bale.

Prior to my current roles, I have had a homemade dumpling business, worked in freelance sales having sold paraben-free make-up, keyless access locks, franchising marketing business and mortgage broker services. I’ve also been a kitchen-hand, waitress, van driver and chef for Helen’s Catering for 3 years. Across my 4-year degree, I also tutored 4 students at High School all in various years.

I graduated 2019 from UNSW with a Distinction in both a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Criminology and a minor in Politics. Prior I was a student at Port Hacking High School, Class of 2014 and School Captain.

Since high school, I’ve spent an intensive amount of time in volunteering positions for multiple organisations including MyGapYear Foundation, Love Mercy Foundation and the Red Cross Blood Service. These opportunities have developed my communication skills, particularly verbal and presentational, due to being in an ambassador and representative role to the community. My organisational abilities have been honed in since my first fundraiser in 2012 at Cronulla, Light the Night, where at 15 I was the lead organiser of a group of other 15/16-year-olds who hosted the entire event and thanks to local support were the largest community-run Light the Night in NSW.

My work in the volunteer space saw me recognised in 2014 as the winner of the Zonta Club of Botany Bay’s Young Women in Public Affairs Award (YWPA) 2014. My application went on to district level that then saw me being awarded with the YWPA of District 24 and then one of the ten winners of the International YWPA 2015. Previously I’d also been a finalist for the Sutherland Shire Young Person of the Year award in 2012.

At University my academic achievements led to me being placed on the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s List for academic excellence and receive the Social Science Prize for the best performance in Criminology.

Keynote topics I am able to speaker include but are not limited to, leadership, women in leadership, youth leadership, youth engagement, alternative (life) pathways, volunteering, travel, voluntourism, diversity and inclusion, the youth voice, networking, inspiring action, sales, small business, dreaming big and purpose-driven action.