Nikola Balvin - Project Coordinator 2005 – 2010

NIKOLA BALVIN joined RAS in 2005 and held various roles including Project Coordinator and Acting Coordinator. She has many valued memories of the activism and advocacy that defined her RAS membership, but her fondest is the collation of refugee stories as part of the Refugees 'Australian Stories' project. The aim of this project was to show the "human face" of refugees and asylum seekers who made Australia their home and the process was an enriching journey for Nikola, who herself is a former refugee. Nikola resigned from the RAS Committee in 2010 when she moved to overseas to pursue a career in international development. She still has very strong links to the issue of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and tries to contribute from afar as much as possible. Nikola has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Melbourne and continues to publish in the area.