Dr. Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-born migrant became the first Muslim woman to enter the Australian state parliament as she was selected by the New South Wales Greens to fill a position in the upper house of the state legislature.
Mehreen completed her Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore and Masters and PhD in Environmental Engineering at UNSW. She worked as a consultant in Pakistan before migrating to Sydney with her family in 1992. Mehreen Faruqi is Academic Director of the Master of Business & Technology Programme and Associate Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales (NSW).
Mehreen has more than 20 years of experience as a Civil / Environmental engineer and a sustainability expert. Much of her work has been about long-term strategic planning and policy and about real on-ground projects that improve and build communities such as waste management, cycle ways, restoring rainforests, building storm water infrastructure, sustainable energy generation, water recycling, climate change and partnering with local communities and businesses to improve the environment. All her work has focused on community participation in government and corporate decision-making.
She has worked in leadership positions with a number of diverse organisations including local government, multinational consulting firms and Universities, in Australia and internationally.
Manager Environment and Services at Mosman Council where Mehreen was responsible for leading Mosman Council’s Environment and Services department to ensure that sustainability and environmental management were incorporated into all of Council’s operations.
Mehreen is Director and Lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Studies UNSW, providing academic and strategic leadership to ensure the success and growth of the interdisciplinary Master of Environment Management program.
As Manager Natural Resources and Catchments at Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Mehreen established organisational arrangements to improve and integrate environmental management across Council functions.
Mehreen regularly goes back to Pakistan to work with universities and NGOs involved in sustainability projects.
She has also chaired a number of panels and committees on sustainability, water management, waste management for industry, local, state and federal government.
Mehreen is also a passionate community activist and has campaigned on a number of environmental and social justices issues including asylum seeker rights, public education and climate change. She is an active member of the Greens NSW and has been a candidate for a number of state elections.