Zahra Al Hilaly
Zahra Al Hilaly is Australian lawyer, journalist, and policy practitioner with eight years of experience working at the intersection of human rights, climate justice, and gender equality. Deeply committed to amplifying the voices of young people and marginalised communities, Zahra has built a career bridging grassroots movements and global policy spaces to drive meaningful change.
As the Manager of Social Policy and Campaigns at NAPCAN, Zahra currently leads Australia’s largest child protection campaign and works closely to address national gaps in protecting child rights in Australian legislation. Zahra is the former CEO of Oaktree, Australia’s largest youth-led international development organisations, where she led programs supporting young people across the Asia-Pacific. She has served on the Board of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, helping to guide Australia’s largest youth climate movement, Missing Perspectives, a global media organisation amplifying women's voices, and is currently part of UN Women's Leaders Network. Internationally, Zahra currently consults for multiple global organisations, advising on issues ranging from UNFCCC climate negotiations to gender equality processes at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Zahra has been part of the CIVICUS Youth Action Team since February 2023. She is now seeking to join the CIVICUS Board to help defend civic space, strengthen movements in the Global South, and amplify excluded voices. With experience across governance, policy reform, and frontline activism, Zahra brings skills in strategic leadership, coalition building, and collaborative governance. As someone who has worked across institutional policy spaces and frontline activism, Zahra offers both governance experience and movement accountability. She wants to help strengthen CIVICUS’ role as a connector, and as a watchdog holding powerful institutions to account. She is passionate about strengthening CIVICUS’ internal governance too, ensuring the alliance models the equity, transparency, and collective leadership it advocates for globally.
With a refugee background from Palestine and Iraq, Zahra believes storytelling is a key to connecting people from all lived experiences and backgrounds. Her leadership has been recognised with honors including the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30, Western Australia Young Person of the Year, the Australian Women in Excellence recipient and many more. Zahra holds a Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Communications (Journalism), and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice.
1. What is your favorite quote by someone who inspires you?
"Without community, there is no liberation." - Audre Lorde
2. What skills are you most proud of or want to learn?
I’m proud of my ability to hold space, to listen deeply, build trust in hard-to-reach communities, and move between policymaking rooms and grassroots circles with authenticity. I want to deepen my strategic communication skills to shift power in polarizing environments and learn how to better navigate multilateral institutions to influence sustainable, intersectional change.
3. What is your vision for civil society?
I envision a civil society where power is not just redistributed, but reimagined, where marginalised communities are not seen as future leaders but as present ones. Civil society must be an ecosystem of care, courage, and co-creation, a place where Indigenous knowledge systems, diverse voices, and feminist praxis shape justice, safety, and systemic repair. It must challenge extractive norms, be intergenerational in its wisdom, and never forget joy as resistance.
4. What lesson(s) have you learnt from failure?
Failure taught me humility and alignment. From failing my first marathon, to moments where projects fell apart due to poor timing or fractured trust, I’ve learned that failure isn’t the end. It’s redirection. Often, the most transformative work comes not from avoiding failure, but from sitting in it, asking hard questions, and choosing to grow from what it reveals about who we are and what we stand for
