About Michael Elwan

My name is Michael Elwan. I’m the founder of Lived Experience Solutions (LEXs), a PhD candidate in mental health, an accredited social worker with over 15 years of experience, and a national and state advisor on mental health transformation. I’m also a husband, father of two, and the proud parent of a little boy named after my late mother.

 

But none of these titles explain why I do what I do.

 

My story begins in Alexandria, Egypt, shaped by deep trauma, caregiving, and profound loss. Raised by my grandparents - my first experience of unconditional love - I lost them both within a year. At fourteen, I became my father’s carer after a massive stroke left him blind. He had been a proud Air Force General and war veteran. For two years, I became his eyes, his hands, and his only support. He died when I was sixteen. Soon after, I cared for my mother through her long battle with mental illness until she ended her life.

 

I carried that history in silence. In my culture, grief was private, masculinity meant endurance, and vulnerability was seen as weakness. What I now understand as trauma was, back then, simply life.

 

That chapter of my life could have broken me. Instead, it became the beginning of everything I now stand for.

 

When I migrated to Australia in my late twenties, I arrived alone - with no family, no safety net, and English as my second language. What I did bring was purpose. I began again from the ground up: volunteering, working night shifts in residential care and youth work, studying in every spare hour, and slowly building a life shaped by service and meaning.

​

Today, I hold qualifications across mental health, psychology, leadership, and business, including:

​

• PhD Candidate (Mental Health) - Charles Sturt University, Australia 

• Master of Social Work (Specialisation: Counselling for Loss & Grief) [Credit] -  University of New England, Australia 

• Diploma in Psychology (Merit) -  Austin Peay State University, USA

• Graduate Certificate in Mental Health (Credit) - Australian Catholic University 

• MicroMasters in Organisational Psychology (High Distinction) - University of Canterbury, New Zealand 

• MicroMasters in Business Leadership (High Distinction) - University of Queensland, Australia  

• MBA (Distinction) - Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK

• Bachelor of Business (Accounting) - Alexandria University, Egypt

​

Over time, I moved into senior leadership roles, managing multimillion-dollar service portfolios, leading multidisciplinary teams, and supporting thousands of people each year across mental health, suicide prevention, and community services. My work has contributed to national and state reforms, including suicide prevention policy, peer workforce development, and culturally responsive practice.

​

I currently serve as a national and state advisor on multiple high-level governance and policy groups shaping Australia’s mental health and suicide prevention systems. My work spans areas such as lived experience leadership, cultural inclusion, and systemic transformation.

​

In 2025, I was honoured to receive the WA Mental Health Award - Lived Experience Impact & Inspiration, sponsored by the Mental Health Commission. The judges recognised my contribution to sharing stories of recovery with community, leaders, and policymakers, expanding access for CaLD and faith-based communities, and building pathways for genuine co-creation in mental health systems.

​

That same year, I was deeply honoured to be named a Finalist in the AASW National Excellence Awards for Social Worker of the Year - a national recognition of lived-experience leadership and contribution to the advancement of social work in Australia. I was also recognised as a Finalist for the Sir Ronald Wilson Leadership Award,  the Barbara Hocking Memorial Award, and the WA Mental Health Awards' Lived Experience category before taking home the win. I was also nominated for Community Citizen of the Year.

 

I’ve had the privilege of speaking at national conferences including the National Suicide Prevention Conference, WA Mental Health Conference, WA Peer Supporters Network Conference, the Finding North e-Symposium, and to contribute as Writer-in-Residence with the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation, an initiative of the University of Melbourne funded by the NHMRC.

​

My written work has appeared in national and international publications, including The Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (Cambridge Press), and reaches thousands through my website and LinkedIn community of over 4,000.

​

But despite all this, my heart remains in the community.

 

That’s why I founded LEXs - an independent practice rooted in lived experience, cultural humility, and a deep belief in human dignity. Through counselling, coaching, consultancy, and public speaking, I help people and organisations make meaning out of pain and create systems that hold us - not harm us.

 

If you're looking to work with someone who understands trauma, relationships, migration, caregiving, identity, and grief - not just in theory, but in lived truth, and backed by over 15 years of frontline and leadership practice - I'd love to connect.

 

Let’s build something transformational together.