The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is proud to announce the second edition of its ‘Dynamic Australians Contributing to the UN System’ series. This edition expands the collection to eight profiles, celebrating the extraordinary breadth of Australian contribution to the United Nations — from peacekeepers and diplomats to refugee advocates, policy architects, and community builders.
2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations Association of Australia. The Dynamic Australians project honours both milestones, with an ambition to gather 80 remarkable Australian stories, spanning every way an Australian can contribute to the UN system.
The series spans the full arc of Australia’s engagement with the UN — from founding figures who shaped its earliest values to leaders active today. Through interviews and research, each profile explores motivations, key achievements, the challenges faced, and messages for future generations.
The eight Australians featured in this edition include:
- Leanne Smith, whose journey from watching The Killing Fields as a child led to a career as a UN Human Rights Field Officer in Afghanistan, diplomat in the Balkans, and today Chief Executive of the Australian Human Rights Commission.
- Jennifer Ashton, whose Quaker upbringing and a life-changing trip to Cambodia ignited a UNHCR career spanning Asia and Central Asia, helping more than 250,000 people gain citizenship and protecting 20,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.
- Dr Donnell Davis, UNAA National President and urban climate governance expert, whose career spans maritime law reform, 13 years as Australia’s Representative to UN Habitat, and current leadership of a Soroptimist International program that reached 88,287 women and girls across the Asia-Pacific in 2025.
- Brian Gleeson, who led the global restructuring of over 135 UNDP country offices, helped establish UN Women, and served as head of UN operations in Libya — a career of institutional reform grounded in human connection.
- Rod Henderson, who served 22 years in the Australian Army before completing three UN peacekeeping deployments to Timor-Leste, now CEO of the Australian Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Veterans’ Association and author of Stop Screaming I Am Scared Too.
- Jessie Street (1889–1970), the only female advisor to the Australian delegation at the UN conference in San Francisco in 1945, whose advocacy secured the inclusion of ‘sex’ in the UN Charter’s anti-discrimination clause.
- Ronnie Wilson (1914–2016), one of the first Australian women to work for the United Nations, known for her rapport-building and contributions to peacekeeping missions across China, Indonesia, and Kenya.
- Narelle Townsend (1927–2022), who served the United Nations for 40 years across UNDP and UN Habitat, championing youth involvement in urban planning and leaving a legacy of fostering sustainable communities.
The UNAA hopes that this series will inspire Australians, celebrate the nation’s contributions to the UN, and encourage the next generation to address global challenges through the UN system.
The ‘Dynamic Australians Contributing to the UN System’ series is proudly supported by our Patron, Her Excellency The Governor-General Ms Sam Mostyn AC.