Australia Australia
Zeenia Dastur was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Communications (Public Communication) from the University of Technology Sydney and a Master of Science (MSc) in Environment, Politics and Development from SOAS University of London. During her bachelor’s degree, Zeenia completed a one-year global exchange programme in International Relations from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She pursued a career in communications and digital strategy, working in the luxury beauty and fashion industry in Milan and Sydney, where she was introduced to the practice of burning unsold stock in the name of brand integrity and exclusivity. After witnessing this destructive system and learning more about the fashion industry’s social and environmental impacts, she realised that she could no longer sit idle. It was time for a career change.
Zeenia then volunteered for artisan based sustainable fashion brands in India and Ghana to mainstream women’s representation and leadership within local communities and learn about circular economy design. Following her full-time volunteering experience, she completed her master’s degree in 2021. Currently, she works at the United Nations Environment Programme working in the Sustainable United Nations (SUN) Facility, which assists UN agencies globally to measure their environmental performance, reduce environmental impact and offset unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions.
Zeenia is also a certified meditation teacher through the Chopra Institute, and is passionate about mindfulness affecting social and environmental change.