Multicultural Hub Canberra managing director Zakia Patel was the special guest for the centre's International Women's Day celebration.

Ms Patel is a community leader with a passion for using her skills to support young people and marginalised communities.

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She has over a decade of experience working in the community sector and has also been in the SES for 11 years.

She is passionate about encouraging and empowering migrant women to volunteer in a predominately male dominated industry.

Ms Patel spoke about the meaning and history behind international women's day and explained its importance.

"It was 90 years since the International Women's Day started and we're still fighting for a similar thing," Ms Patel said.

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"Equal future for women.

"We need to acknowledge the strength women have and the critical role that they play in our community and workplaces."

The theme for this year's event is "choosing to challenge" and Ms Patel explained what it meant to her.

"As individuals, we're all responsible for the actions that we take," she said.

"Equally, we all have the right and responsibility to choose to challenge behaviour that we see, particularly in workplaces.

"I think we need to call out gender bias and inequality."

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To consolidate her point about gender inequality, Ms Patel spoke about her experiences with playing rugby league in high school.

"I was a part of the first rugby league team in year 8, but it took a lot of effort and lobbying to have it authorised," she said.

"We couldn't play rugby union because it's too rough.

"We weren't allowed to do a scrum too.

"There were many other things boys were allowed to do but girls weren't."

She concluded her speech with an inspiring quote from African American filmmaker Gina Carey.

"A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink."

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