Simon Sheikh (born 1986 in Sydney) is the CEO of superannuation fund

Future Super Future Super is an Australian retail superannuation fund that offers superannuation services, focusing on zero fossil fuel investment and on holistically ethical investment with an emphasis on clean energy projects. Established in 2014, Future ...

and an Australian activist. He was the National Director of

GetUp! GetUp! is an independent progressive Australian political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in offline community organising. GetUp is an independent, ...

from 2008 to 2012. He was a delegate to the economics stream of the Australia 2020 Summit and was named the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Young Professional of the Year in 2007.The Punch biography
Thepunch.com.au. Retrieved on 2012-07-03.

Education and career

He was born in Sydney, and has ancestry from

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and Australia. He is the son of Michael Sheikh, an Indian-born Pakistani industrial chemist and inventor and British New Zealander, Rhonda Badham. He attended Camdenville Public School and later gained entry to

Fort Street High School , motto_translation = Each person is the maker of their own fortune , sister_school = Suginami Sogo High School, Tokyo, Japan , location = Parramatta Road, Petersham, Inner West Sydney, New South Wales , ...

. He later studied economics at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

, while working full-time in the Services Marketing team at

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX ...

and as a public servant at the NSW Treasury. Sheikh represented Australia as the youth representative at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

in 2007. In 2009 he was part of the Sydney Leadership Program run by Social Leadership Australia at The

Benevolent Society The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. The society is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose main goals include helping families, older Australians and people with disabil ...

GetUp!

He became National Director of ''GetUp!'' in September, 2008, at the age of 22. He stepped down from being National Director of ''

'' on 27 July 2012, stating that he intended to avoid burnout. ''GetUp!'' claims its membership increased from 270,000 to 610,000 during his four-year term. 80,000 people donated to ''GetUp!'' in the 12 months up to July 2012. He is succeeded as director by Sam McLean.

Future Super

Sheikh is managing director of

, an ethical superfund, which he co-founded with Adam Verwey. Future Super is an Australian retail superannuation fund that offers superannuation services, focussing on zero fossil fuel investment and on holistically ethical investment with an emphasis on clean energy projects. Established in 2014, Future Super services over 36,000 members Australia-wide and has over $1 Billion in funds under management.

Political career

Sheikh was a financial member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...

for two years from 2004 to 2006. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, Sheikh unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and ...

seeking election to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

represting the Australian Capital Territory.

Personal life

In November, 2011, Sheikh married Australian climate activist Anna Rose.Anna Rose biography
Annarose.net.au. Retrieved on 2012-07-03.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheikh, Simon University of New South Wales alumni 1986 births Living people Australian Greens candidates