Yassmin Abdel-Magiel

Yassmin Abdel-Magiel's Biography

Yassmin Abdel-Magied  questions why we don’t hear more diverse voices in our communities, in our politics and in the media. She leads by example, breaking moulds and smashing stereotypes at every opportunity, all over the place. Yassmin is an enigma: a mechanical engineer, a highly articulate social commentator, incredibly stylish and, by her own admission, a raving petrol head.

Debut author at 24 with the coming-of-age-memoir, Yassmin’s Story, the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year advocates for the empowerment of youth, women and those from racially, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.  Yassmin is passionate about making 'diversity' the norm. At age 16, she founded Youth Without Borders, an organisation that empowers young people to realise their full potential through collaborative, community based programs. 

Yassmin was named one of Australia’s most influential engineers by Engineers Australia, and has been recognised for her work in diversity by the United Kingdom’s Institute of Mechanical Engineers. The youngest woman named in Australia’s 100 Women of Influence by the Australian Financial Review in 2012, Yassmin was the Young Muslim of the Year in 2007 and Muslim Youth of the Year in 2015.   

A sought-after advisor for federal governments and international bodies, Yassmin currently sits on the Boards of ChildFund, The Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) and the domestic violence prevention organisation, OurWatch.  She is the Gender Ambassador for the Inter-American Development Bank and has represented Australia through multiple diplomatic programs across the globe.

You can also find Yassmin presenting on TV, currently hosting ABC's weekly show, Australia Wide.  She is a regular on Q&A, The Drum, The Project, and internationally on the BBC.  On radio, Yassmin is a regular on Triple J's Hack, Radio National, and moonlights as a casual broadcaster on ABC Local.   She is the host of the motorsport podcast Motor Mouth,  and is the host for the groundbreaking documentary The Truth About Racism, due for release in March 2017.  Yassmin's TED talk, What does my headscarf mean to you, has over 1.5 million views.

Yassmin has written extensively, her writing appearing in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, AFR, The Griffith Review, Huffington Post and others.