Occupation Community campaigner Website www.simonsheikh.com | Name Simon Sheikh | |
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Known for Former National Director of GetUp! Education | ||
Simon sheikh getup one plus one interview
Simon Sheikh (born 1986 in Sydney) was the National Director of the Australian political organisation GetUp! from 2008 to 2012. He was named the New South Wales Young Professional of the Year. and was a delegate to the economics stream of the 2020 summit.
Contents
- Simon sheikh getup one plus one interview
- Getup director simon sheikh collapses on live tv
- Education and career
- GetUp
- Future Super
- Political career
- Personal life
- References
Getup director simon sheikh collapses on live tv
Education and career
He was born in Sydney, and has ancestry from India, Pakistan, Britain, New Zealand and Australia.
He is the son of Michael Sheikh, an Indian-born Pakistani industrial chemist and inventor and British New Zealander, Rhonda Badham. He attended Camdenville Public School and later gained entry to Fort Street High School. He later studied Economics at the University of New South Wales, while working full-time in the Services Marketing team at Telstra and as a public servant at the NSW Treasury.
Sheikh represented Australia as the youth representative at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda in 2007.
In 2009 he was part of the Sydney Leadership Program run by Social Leadership Australia at The Benevolent Society.
GetUp!
He became National Director of GetUp! in September, 2008, at the age of 22.
He stepped down from being National Director of GetUp! on 27 July 2012, stating that he intended to avoid burnout. GetUp! claims its membership increased from 270,000 to 610,000 during his four-year term. 80,000 people donated to GetUp! in the 12 months up to July 2012. He is succeeded as director by Sam McLean.
Future Super
Sheikh is managing director of Future Super, an ethical superfund, which he cofounded with Adam Verwey.
Political career
Sheikh was a financial member of the Australian Labor Party for two years from 2004 to 2006, while the party still listed him as member until 2008, an affiliation he did not disclose until 2013.
In 2012, a few months after stepping down as National Director of GetUp, Sheikh successfully ran for pre-selection in the ACT as an Australian Greens Senate candidate for the 2013 Federal Election. There was some controversy during the preselection, with another candidate Kate Hamilton calling Sheikh a "celebrity candidate", and Greens Leader Christine Milne apparently endorsing him.
In 2013 The Australian reported that Simon Sheikh was a financial member of the Australian Labor Party from 2004 until 2008. Later, Sheikh clarified that he was a financial member from 2004 to 2006, while the ALP still listed him as a member until 2008.
In April 2013, it was claimed by students that Sheikh promoted his candidacy and his Greens membership during two political science lectures at the Australian National University and that his wife had sought to recruit campaign volunteers. Sheikh characterised the incident as, "a storm in a teacup". His wife said she had, "made a mistake".
Sheikh was an unsuccessful Australian Greens' Senate candidate for the Australian Capital Territory in the Australian federal election, 2013.
Personal life
In November, 2011, Sheikh married Australian climate activist Anna Rose.