I’m deeply humbled to share that I’ve been featured in the WA Mental Health Commission’s Understanding Lived Experience  series, where I speak about organisational readiness and lived experience leadership  - and what it truly means to commit to the WA lived experience peer workforce . As an Egyptian-Australian mental health professional and someone whose life has been profoundly shaped by trauma, caregiving, loss and cultural dislocation , I’ve come to understand that chang

Award-winning social worker and PhD researcher Michael Elwan joins the ALIVE National Centre as Writer-in-Residence, bridging lived experience, culture, and mental health research.

I’m incredibly humbled to share that I’ve been nominated for the Innovative Practice & Research LiFE Award  as part of the 2025 Western Australia LiFE Awards , hosted by Suicide Prevention Australia. This recognition means a great deal to me - not just professionally, but deeply personally. The LiFE Awards  (Living is For Everyone) honour individuals and organisations making impactful contributions to suicide prevention. To be acknowledged alongside so many dedicated advocate

Award-winning social worker and national advisor Michael Elwan is a finalist for the Mental Health Leadership Award 2025, recognising his impact on multicultural mental health in Australia and lived-experience leadership.

I’m honoured to share that I’ve been featured in UNE News  in an article titled Inspiring Change from the Ground Up , highlighting my journey from lived experience to leadership in mental health and suicide prevention. The story traces my early life in Alexandria, Egypt , where I became a caregiver at 14 after my father - a former Air Force General - was left blind by a stroke. Following his death, I cared for my mother, who lived with severe mental health challenges, until h