Our Ambassadors

JOEL EDGERTON

Joel Edgerton is an Australian actor, Hollywood director, writer and filmmaker. Hailing from Prospect, New South Wales, he graduated high school in 1991 before attending the Nepean Drama School at the University of Western Sydney. 

 

Joel’s starring roles in Hollywood include Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, the Star Wars franchise and more recently, the thriller Red Sparrow, alongside Jennifer Lawrence. He has also written and directed his own films, including The Gift. 

 

Joel has been an Ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation since 2013 and has visited our program work in Nepal, Ethiopia and regional Australia. He has also hosted major gala fundraising events in Los Angeles, raising the profile of The Foundation in the United States as well as raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

“I’m very passionate about what’s going on with The Fred Hollows Foundation… There’s something very special about the organisation [that is] not just trying to tackle the problem on one level, but it’s trying to tackle the problem by setting up an ongoing infrastructure, which I think is really important.”

AMITABH BACHCHAN

Amitabh Bachchan is our SEE NOW ambassador. He is an Indian film actor, producer, television host and former politician. He first gained fame in Bollywood in the early 1970s and is now known as the undisputed ‘Godfather of Bollywood’. 

 

Amitabh became The Foundation’s Global Ambassador for the SEE NOW campaign, in 2018, urging people across India to get their vision checked.

 

“Vision problems are extremely common in India… The basic lack of understanding and awareness of how eye health works leads to stigma about simple and easy treatments and people not finding out about the availability in their area of quality eye care services.”

SHANIERA AKRAM

Shaniera Akram is the “Aussie Princess of Pakistan” and wife of Pakistan cricket legend, Wasim Akram. Born in Melbourne but now Pakistan-based, Shaniera is a fierce social justice advocate. 
 

In 2019, Shaniera joined The Foundation’s global campaign to end avoidable blindness by becoming an Ambassador with a particular focus on her adopted country and on gender equity in eye health. Shaniera has visited our work in Chichawatni in Pakistan’s Punjab Province to see patients undergo cataract surgery organised by The Foundation. 
 

“Restoring sight to people in countries such as Pakistan isn’t just giving the gift of sight but restoring one’s position in their community and giving them back their dignity and livelihood. Fred Hollows does exactly that and I am so proud to be working with them.”

SUSIE O’NEILL

Susie O’Neill OAM is an Olympic Gold Medallist and one of Australia’s most successful swimmers – holding the record for the most Olympic medals of any Australian woman. Nicknamed ‘Madame Butterfly’, Susie achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career and has been an Ambassador for The Foundation for almost two decades. 

 

In 1997, Susie was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to sport and in 2002, she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Each year Susie presents the Fred Hollows Humanity Award to students in her home state of Queensland and has visited some of Australia’s Indigenous communities to see The Foundation’s work. 

“Knowing that communities like Brisbane still care about the extraordinary work that The Fred Hollows Foundation does, is incredibly moving. It makes me proud to be a Queenslander, seeing communities rally together for a vital cause such as restoring sight.”
 

RAY MARTIN 

Ray Martin AM is a legendary and well-respected Australian journalist, entertainment personality and a good friend of Fred Hollows. 

 

Ray and Fred Hollows first met in 1980, when Fred and his wife Gabi were finishing up the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program. Ray was working for 60 Minutes and Fred agreed to participate in a story to raise awareness of the terrible living conditions and eye disease rates in remote Indigenous communities. 

 

In the 1990s, Ray was made The Foundation’s first Chair and has continued to provide unwavering support for our work ever since. In recent years he traveled to Bangladesh to report on the plight of the Rohingya refugees and The Foundation’s work to restore their sight. 

 

“I have said it many times – Fred and Sir Donald Bradman are the most remarkable men I have ever met.”

KRIS FADE 

Kris Fade is a radio host with Virgin Radio Dubai. As Dubai’s number one radio DJ, Kris is usually interviewing celebrities and musicians for the enjoyment of his 1.5 million radio fans. 

 

He has won awards for ‘Best Radio DJ’, ‘Best Personality’ and is on the list for the ‘Hot 100 Legends’.
 

In 2019, Kris travelled to Nepal with The Fred Hollows Foundation to highlight the work that The Foundation does to a new audience in the United Arab Emirates.
 

“Over the beginning of Ramadan, I’ve been lucky enough to see first-hand what [The Foundation] does. I have travelled to see their work in Nepal and what I saw during that trip was truly amazing.”