Empowering migrants and supporting migrants settle into Australia.
Who We Are
Our History
Lean In Inc is a not for profit community based organisation established in 2017 and is dedicated to empowering and supporting newly arrived migrants settle into Australia.
Our mission
The organisation is run entirely by volunteers who are passionate about Lean In Inc’s mission.
The team comprises of – Mrs Sue Advani Public Officer, Mrs Urvashi Arora President, Mrs Poonam Bhamgara Vice-President, Mrs Anu Srinivas Secretary, Mrs Geetha Gopinath Treasurer, and team members – Mrs Anjali Balani, Mrs Ekta Nankani and Dr Kiran Jassal.
Sumati Advani
Sumati Advani
Sumati Advani is a founding member and current Public Officer of Lean In Inc.
Sumati is a Community Advocate and has been actively involved in several community projects and fund raising activities over the past 30 years. Sumati has served as a White Ribbon Advocate. Sumati has served as a member of the Department of Home Affairs NSW. Women’s Reference Group using this platform to raise important issues of concern for the South Asian community.
In March 2017, Sumati was awarded the prestigious Local Woman of the Year Award for Strathfield which was presented to her at the NSW Government’s International Women’s Day function held at the International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour.
In her personal life, Sumati migrated to Australia 41 years ago. Sumati holds a Master’s Degree in Transport Economics (Macquarie University) and is a qualified Project Manager. Sumati has had a successful career as a Senior Executive with NSW Government. Currently she is the Director of SGA Management Consulting Services Pty Ltd. Sumati is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Macquarie Community College NSW.
Urvashi Arora
Urvashi Arora
Urvashi Arora believes in giving back to the community and is the current President of Lean In Incorporated.
Urvashi enjoys organising events. In the past she has planned multi-cultural corporate events like Diwali, Australia’s Biggest morning tea and other community events to raise funds for charity organisations.
Urvashi holds bachelor’s degree in Science and Education and is a motivated and experienced HR Professional working on large transformational projects in NSW Government. Being a qualified Change Manager, she brings in people and project management skill set to workshop planning and organising, connecting with newly arrived migrants to provide support in facing challenges and changes during their journey to settle in Australia.
In her personal life, Urvashi loves travelling, exploring new food places, reading and Bollywood.
Poonam Bhamgara
Poonam Bhamgara
Poonam Bhamgara is Career Pathways and Foundation Skills educator with more than ten years of experience working with CALD migrants of differing ages. The main focus of Career Pathways and Foundation Skills is addressing the linguistic needs to enable them to pursue their vocational and academic dreams.
Poonam brings her valuable knowledge to Lean In Inc assisting in shaping the workshops to help newly settled migrants achieve their dreams.
She is the current Vice-President of Lean In Incorporated.
Kiran Jassal
Kiran Jassal
Kiran Jassal migrated to Australia from Malaysia when she was 9 years old. She gained admission at Sydney University to study Medicine and then did her General Practitioner training. She has worked as a GP for over 25 years and has spent most of that time working with migrant communities. She has a special interest in Women’s Health and Mental Health.
Kiran has been part of Lean In Inc since its inception. Kiran is also an Executive Committee member of the Australian Indian Medical Graduates Association.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and 2 adult children.
Anu Srinivas
Anu Srinivas
Anu Srinivas migrated to Australia from India in 2016 with her family. She was a participant in our earlier workshops.
Anu holds bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and is a motivated and experienced project manager at a NSW government agency. Her first hand experience of the challenges for migrants in the job market is what drives her passion to help other migrants.
She is the current secretary of Lean In Inc.