Anna Rakoczy

Born
1980
Occupation
Business woman, Entrepreneur, Lawyer and Solicitor
Jurisdiction

Anna Rakoczy left a promising legal career behind to establish a business in the San Francisco area with ex-medical doctor, Chloe Chen. 'Homemade', a cooking program which focuses on making healthy food to lose weight, was launched in August 2013. It germinated as a project the pair worked on in a Stanford Business School class. After the class had ended, they continued developing the project.

Rakoczy orignally travelled to the United States, courtesy of a Fulbright Scholarship she received in 2011 in order to complete a Master of Laws at Berkeley University. Her thesis made recommendations for enabling Aboriginal Australians to achieve improved economic participations levels, in terms of income and employment outcomes.

Anna Rakoczy worked as a commercial litigation lawyer for seven years, and was awarded both the Australian Young Lawyer of the Year and WA Young Lawyer of the Year awards in 2008 for her outstanding contribution to the community and the legal profession.

While working as a lawyer, Anna focussed on strategies to reduce Aboriginal disadvantage in Australia, specifically through improved economic participation. Her experience includes acting as the pro bono lawyer for the Australian Employment Covenant and Generation One, national movements to support equal employment and life outcomes for Aboriginal people .

Anna has also volunteered in the Tiwi Islands Aboriginal community with the Red Cross, with the David Wirrpanda Foundation, True Blue Dreaming, the Burnaby Youth Prison and SHIFT, a New York based corporate social responsibility consultancy.

In 2012, Anna was awarded a John Monash Scholarship to undertake a Master of the Science of Law at Stanford Law School. Her focus was on considering the policies and laws which impact on the supply of food and resulting health implications, particularly for Indigenous peoples, minorities and underprivileged groups.

Sources used to compile this entry: Material Provided by Anna Rakoczy May 2015; http://www.homemade-cooking.com/.

Prepared by Nikki Henningham