Founder and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre — on purpose, advocacy and movement-building.
Kon Karapanagiotidis founded the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne in 2001 with no staff, no funding and a borrowed office. Over the following two decades he built it into the largest independent human rights organisation in Australia, employing hundreds of people and supporting tens of thousands of people seeking asylum. The story of how that happened — and what he believes it teaches about purpose and persistence — is at the heart of his corporate speaking.
Kon is a lawyer, social worker, teacher and author, and his perspective on leadership is shaped by all of those disciplines. He speaks frankly about burnout, about the difficulty of sustaining work that runs into political headwinds, and about the kind of internal culture required to keep a mission-led organisation effective over the long term.
For corporate audiences, Kon is a strong fit for leadership programs, DE&I events, purpose-focused offsites and any audience whose work touches on social licence and social impact. His keynotes are warm, direct and practical, and they consistently shift how attendees think about what their own organisations could stand for.
Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM is a keynote speaker based in Victoria who speaks on diversity & inclusion, inspiration and leadership. Book through Executive Speakers Australia.
* How to lead with vulnerability, authenticity and values as a leader to create the culture you want.
* How to build a trusted and valuable brand that people invest in and support on scale.
* How to successfully lead and navigate your charity or business through complex and uncertain economic and political times.
* The importance of being intentional in championing diversity and inclusion in your workplace and a step by step guide on how to do it.
* Kon has championed gender and racial equality across his organisation with women making up 50+% at all levels of senior. leadership including at Board level and people with lived experience of being refugees making up 40% of his permanent staff again at all levels of his organization.
* How to create systemic policy, legislative and policy change at a national level. How to influence, engage, and convince those in positions of power to do what’s right.
* How to build community/corporate and government coalitions of change to shift community attitudes and bring people with you.
* The power of food to bring people together, create more inclusive communities and celebrate our culture and countries diversity.
* How to live sustainably, grow your own food, have a plant based diet and take care of the environment.
* Food and body image, how to re-author our relationship with food in health ways and enable it to be a source of nourishment and affirmation.
* How to inspire, mobilize and engage your workplace, investors, donors, community to make impact and change.
* How to build your own motivational story that inspires others to follow and trust you.
* How to motivate people through being vulnerable, authentic, passionate and idealistic as a leader.
* Masculinity and mental health – how do we raise a generation of boys and men to be vulnerable, seek help, love themselves and respect the women and children in their lives.
* Body image, self - esteem and masculinity, the mental health crisis facing boys and men and the way to create safe spaces for change.
Kon is also an experienced MC, both in small and large events.
Kon's presentation was exceptional. No slides, just speaking from the heart about his experience recognising that our life circumstances are a lottery and his personal commitment to building support services for asylum seekers and refugees.Serpell Primary School
We deeply appreciate your time and your wonderful speech to the broad audience. You and your organisation represent the cornerstone of the beliefs and values that we stand for and it is exhilarating and moving to have you address us.Former CEO, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
I just wanted to thank you again for your beautiful piece on Saturday night. I just listened to it on the website so can now appreciate why everyone was raving about it. You really thought about the topic and it felt not only thoughtful, but personal. The video of your talk at our Gala a couple of weeks ago has gotten an incredibly strong and positive reaction from our audience. Our web team were wondering if you would mind if they transcribed your speech from the video and turned it into an article on our web site?Programming Manager, The Wheeler Centre
Tell us about your event and our consultants will return a curated shortlist within one business day.
