Angelica Panopolous is a long-time campaigner and grassroots activist in the refugee rights movement. She’s passionate about protecting forests to tackle the climate crisis, and is currently a Councillor at a suburban Melbourne Council, having served as Mayor in 2023. Read on for our interview with Angelica!
What does your current role withVictorian Forest Alliance mean to you?I deeply value my role with the Victorian Forest Alliance for several reasons. The first is because I get to work with likeminded people across the state, and indeed the country, fighting for the protection and restoration of our precious native forests. I am so privileged to be able to work at an organisation that aligns with my personal beliefs and values around protecting the environment and looking after nature. I’m also inspired every day by the relentless activism and advocacy of the volunteers across our 40 member groups. These are the people that show up every day to hold the government and government departments to account, and are constantly pushing for better protections for our fauna and flora. Additionally, climate change is the existential threat of our time and protecting Victoria’s native forests, whilst also restoring the ones that have been decimated by decades of logging, plays such an important role in bringing down and storing carbon. By working at the Victorian Forest Alliance and supporting our member organisations fighting for the restoration and protection of Victoria’s native forests, we are doing our part to combat the climate crisis.
Take us through a typical day of work for you.
It truly depends on the day of the week! Most days will begin with clearing the inbox and then include reaching out to our existing and potential new members, organising and attending advocacy and stakeholder meetings, including with government departments and other forest groups, as well as helping guide the strategic direction of our Alliance. Some weeks will be busier than others with responding to breaking news and events. One recent example is where we saw logging occur in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges National Parks, resulting in the death of an endangered Greater Glider. In those moments, we mobilise quickly through alerts to our members and supporters, encouraging them to contact the Environment Minister, Steve Dimopoulos, and relevant people within the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV). We also support public actions like protests outside key politicians’ offices, such as Dimopoulos’.
If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?
Truthfully, I am still early in my career so would appreciate all the advice I can get! In terms of what’s guided me so far in my career, I’ve been driven to find work and volunteering opportunities that align with my values of helping both people and the planet. Having purpose-driven work means that I am in the privileged position to use my skills, experiences and interests to help make the world around me a better place. I hope that as my career progresses, I can continue to hold onto those values and no matter where I end up working in however many decades’ time it is somewhere with a purpose that helps people and the planet.
How do you stay motivated to work in this field?
There are two aspects to staying motivated in the environmental justice and activism space – it’s the people and the purpose of the work itself. I am so lucky to be surrounded by people who care so deeply about our native forests and the animals that call them home. It is their passion and dedication that act as inspiration and motivation to me. And then of course, there is the fact that I also care deeply about the work that I’m doing. So whenever there is a moment when I get too caught up in the detail of something or feel a bit side-tracked, it’s so useful being able to zoom out and remember why I’ve chosen this career path and why I’m actually lucky that I get to work to help protect and restore Victoria’s native forests.
What was the last thing you: Watched, Read, & Listened to?
Watched – Just started The Gentlemen on Netflix, currently reading Jade War by Fonda Lee and listened to Talk talk by Charli xcx.
