There is no substitute for experience

Esha Oberoi

Position: Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Esha had a number of jobs in her early twenties that weren’t particularly meaningful to her. She had struggled with poor mental health and found herself feeling alone and sometimes helpless.

It wasn’t until she began working as a Carer in a nursing home that she found a sense of purpose through helping others. She realised many of the people she was providing care for actually didn’t need it full-time, but could’ve stayed in the comfort of their own home with a Carer visiting a couple of times a week.

This sparked the idea of loving, compassionate care service that would redefine the experiences of the vulnerable in our community, which was the beginning of Afea when Esha was 24. Over time she healed herself through her work and found a passion for helping others. Now Afea has grown to having over 500 Carers, helping 750 families a week through home care and also offers a number of other disability supports.

Gaurav Oberoi

Position: Co-Chief Executive Officer

Gaurav became a part of the Afea family in 2015 and has been responsible for a number of roles including COO, CFO and now Co-CEO. He has a background of extensive experience in sales and services management at Cisco and brought with him a wealth of operational know-how.

His motivation at Afea comes from an aim to create an organisation that delivers care that our community truly deserves, and to create a culture based on empowerment, accountability and teamwork that creates a superior service for our clients.

A constant focus of Gaurav’s is to continuously improve through innovation and challenging the status quo through sustainable and ethical solutions. Gaurav oversaw the creation of a number of new systems that improved efficiency, reduced Afea’s carbon footprint, created a safer working environment for Carers and an improved service for clients.

Hiyantha Kariyawasam (Sam)

Position: Finance Manager

Sam is a certified public accountant (CPA) and has been with Afea care services since 2012. He is always smiling and joking with his colleagues, and nothing is ever too hard to accomplish for him and his team.

He is very supportive to all of the people he comes in contact with. Around the office, he is the go-to man for anything to do with numbers, and also supports many of our clients through plan management, which helps reduce stress related to their plan admin and finances.

Sam’s biggest passion when he comes into work each day is providing the best service possible to all Carers, office staff and, of course, our valued Afea Clients. In his spare time, he loves spending time with his wife and two daughters.

Anna Lira

Position: Service Manager

Anna moved to Australia from the Philippines in 2011 and started working at Afea soon after. What she loves most is the people that she works with, and the culture of openness, trust and support. She gets a sense of fulfilment knowing that the work that we do at Afea genuinely helps people in the community.

Anna has been successful in a variety of roles at Afea, from receptionist to Care Coordinator, to Team Leader then onto a number of leadership positions including her current role of Service Manager where she looks after day-to-day operations and oversees the Coordination Teams.

When she’s not at work she and her husband enjoy simple things such as camping, going to the beach, swimming in natural bodies of water and embarking on bush and nature walks.

Aanchal Sharma

Position: People & Culture Team Leader

Aanchal has been in Afea’s People and Culture (HR) Team since 2017. She moved to Australia when she was 19 to explore opportunities in a new country and to gain some independence.

She loves her colleagues at Afea and the supportive culture that surrounds her. She’s also appreciative of the opportunities for personal development and the sense of satisfaction she gets knowing she’s giving back to the community every day.

Aanchal came to Afea, a family owned business, from a large corporation which she says took a bit of adjusting. She quickly started to love it though and has grown from being an internal recruiter to now leading the large P&C team.

In her personal life she is kept busy by a Master of Management (HR), but also finds time to switch off and enjoy the company of her husband.

Maria Babiera

Position: Partnerships & Alliances Team Leader

It was love that brought Maria to Australia, she moved here with her son to start a family with her new husband. She found living in a completely different culture sometimes confronting and challenging but saw it as an opportunity to gain new experiences that will make her more resilient.

Maria has a background of finance and in call centres, however, she found herself drawn to this industry because of her desire to help people. She loves working with others who share the same passion as her – making a difference in the community. She strongly believes in Afea’s mission to empower the vulnerable in the community to live their best lives.

Outside of work she loves spending time with her family and singing with her son – they are both super talented! Life was not easy for Maria growing up, but she stands by the belief that if you work hard and stay focused on your dreams, one step and a time, you will get there.

Raju Kandel

Position: Care Managers Team Leader

Raju joined the Afea family in 2017 as a Care Coordinator. The devotion he shows to his clients and strong desire to become an expert in the industry made him a natural choice for Services Team Leader after only a year. His ability to communicate with clients, internal and external relationships, and his leadership skills allowed him to progress to Care Managers Team Leader.

Raju is the person in the office you go to when you have a question about anything. Whether it’s to do with the NDIS or a hardware issue, his thirst for knowledge is never quenched and he will always find an answer. He is a natural-born leader who has a unique ability to focus his energy equally on the needs of his team members as well as his clients.

Outside of work Raju loves spending time with his wife (who also works at Afea) and beautiful young daughter who loves to laugh, sing and dance!