Meet our 2025 Fred Award winner
2025 Humanitarian of the year
Marie Tesoriero
The Fred Hollows Foundation is proud to recognise Marie Tesoriero as the 2025 Fred Hollows Humanitarian of the Year.
Marie is a passionate disability advocate and unstoppable fundraiser whose creativity and determination inspire people across Australia and beyond.
Born with multiple disabilities and undergoing three major surgeries as a child at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, Marie’s early experiences shape her lifelong commitment to giving back. Through her social enterprise, Made by Cool Marie, she creates and sells unique art and craft pieces, donating proceeds to help sick children and the hospital that once cared for her.
Marie has raised more than $16,000 for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, with her creations reaching supporters in Germany, England and the United States. She also fundraises for Meals on Wheels, Guide Dogs Australia, Parkinson’s NSW and Northcott Disability Service, and volunteers on the Bayside Council Disability Inclusion Action Plan Working Group.
“I want to improve the lives of people with a disability,” Marie says. “Even though I have a disability, I am able and worthy. To this day, there are still people who see a person with a disability and think lesser of us. I want to show that we are capable and worthy.”
2024 Fred Hollows Humanitarian
Vi Bui
Sumner local, Vi Bui, is a much-loved pillar in her Brisbane community, offering free hearing services to homeless adults and children, refugees, and underserved individuals.
Vi’s commitment extends to improving hearing health, enhancing quality of life and fostering a sense of dignity and inclusion.
In her own time, Vi personally transports people to social gatherings, as she believes in the importance of connection to enhance the quality of someone's life. She also offers essential care like aural hygiene and hearing aid batteries, serving as a lifeline for many without access to support.
2023 Fred Hollows Humanitarian
Suzie Ratcliffe, South Australia
Suzie Ratcliffe is the Director and Co-Founder of a not-for-profit organisation called Leave A Light On.
Leave A Light On was inspired by the memory of her sister Joanne Ratcliffe, who was kidnapped from Adelaide Oval on August 25th, 1973.
After Joanne’s disappearance, her parents would leave the porch light on, in the hope that if she came home, she would know they were waiting for her.
Growing up in a family with a missing child, Suzie knows the pain of ambiguous loss that occurs without a likelihood of reaching emotional closure. This experience has led her to dedicating her life to connecting with and supporting the families of missing people.
After also having lost both her parents and her brother, Suzie was diagnosed with triple negative breast carcinoma in July 2022. Her mother would always say to her when growing up that you must keep putting one foot in front of the other. That legacy, along with the hope that she gives others, continues to carry her forward.
Annually on the 21 October, Suzie asks people to leave a light on in memory of the many missing persons across Australia. This symbol of hope reassures families their loved one will never be forgotten.
2022 Fred Hollows Humanitarian
Muzafar Ali
Muzafar is an Afghan Hazara photographer who left Afghanistan after the Taliban targeted his family.
He ended up in Indonesia with almost 10,000 stateless Afghans - stranded when Australia stopped refugee arrivals in 2014.
He set up the Cisarua refugee learning centre and dedicated himself to organising education for the many stranded children who were not allowed access to Indonesian schools.
Muzafar and his family were granted permanent residency and moved to Adelaide in 2018, where he devotes his time and energy to supporting the Learning Centre and raising awareness of the families still stranded.
To this day, Muzafar regularly returns to Indonesia to ensure, in person, that the work carries on.
