Sonia Sadiq Gandhi: The Business of Belonging
Entrepreneur. Connector. Changemaker. Since arriving in Australia as an international student, Sonia Sadiq Gandhi has built an award-winning marketing and events enterprise and a series of influential platforms connecting business, government and multicultural communities. At the heart of Sonia’s career is a remarkable ability to bring people together, driven by a belief in the value of connection, purpose and belonging.
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Founder of the India Australia Business and Community Alliance (IABCA) 
Fabrics of Modern Australia (FOMA) Showcase 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
As the Founder and CEO of Gandhi Creations, and creator of initiatives including Fabrics of Modern Australia (FOMA) and the India Australia Business and Community Alliance (IABCA), Sonia is one of those rare leaders with the ability to connect with everyone she meets. Warm, generous and quietly formidable, she has a way of putting people at ease. WEST experienced this firsthand, when Gandhi Creations seamlessly delivered The WEST Journal App launch event at NSW Parliament, bringing together Ministers, Parliamentarians, media, WEST Ambassadors and WEST community in the one room. Sonia shared her story with WEST, and how it has shaped her approach to both business and life.
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi with Anoulack Chanthivong MP 
India Australia Business and Community Alliance (IABCA) 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Founder of Fabrics of Modern Australia (FOMA)
Born in Hyderabad, India, Sonia’s family moved to Saudi Arabia when she was young. She spent her childhood years at an international school with students from around the world, an experience that formed an early foundation for the diverse multicultural lens that now defines her work.
After spending her formative years in the Middle East, Sonia returned to Hyderabad, where she attended a strict Catholic convent school. The discipline taught her structure and resilience, while growing up alongside her mother’s undiagnosed mental illness taught her empathy and adaptability - traits she still draws on in business today.
India Australia Business and Community Alliance (IABCA) 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Founder of Gandhi Creations 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi at the Motherland African Festival
Looking to forge her own path, Sonia moved to Australia. While completing a Master of Commerce at Western Sydney University, she worked graveyard shifts at a local petrol station, an experience she describes as her real introduction to the country.
“I couldn't understand Australian humour, I couldn't understand the accent. I always say to people, confidence isn't something that you arrive with, because I didn't. But it's something you build through action.”
Australia began to feel more like home when Sonia moved to Harris Park, Western Sydney. A melting pot of cultures at the time, she fondly remembers the community as multicultural, entrepreneurial and resilient. Sonia opened a small mixed-business shop in nearby Westmead, which became a place where people came not only to shop, but to talk.
“People came in for spices, for phone cards, for DVDs, but then they gave me their whole stories around their parents, migration, jobs, issues within the community. It was like a university degree for me. I don't think any university degree could teach me that kind of experience, which is trust, and the foundation of every successful business where relationships matter more than transactions.”
“So, everything that I build from Gandhi Creations to the platforms I've formed, can all be traced back to those conversations that happened in that tiny shop around building platforms for storytelling.”
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, MD Gandhi Creations, Founder FOMA & IABCA 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, MD Gandhi Creations, Founder FOMA & IABCA 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, MD Gandhi Creations, Founder FOMA & IABCA
Sonia’s sense of belonging deepened through volunteering at university. As she puts it, “the sense of belonging comes when you actually give back to the community.”
That philosophy continues to shape Sonia’s work today. She is an Advisory Board Member for Multicultural NSW and the Australia India Institute, and contributes to organisations including Cricket Australia and the Geographical Names Board of NSW. She believes diversity and multiculturalism are not only social assets, but economic advantages - creating access to global markets, international networks, cultural intelligence and new commercial opportunities for Australian businesses. As an Australia Day Ambassador for the past nine years, Sonia has travelled into regional communities across the country, a role she values immensely. For Sonia, these roles are fundamentally about connection, identity and belonging.
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi 
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, MD Gandhi Creations, Founder FOMA & IABCA
Sonia’s move into events began while working as an international student adviser, where she ran free workshops to help students navigate life in Australia. Through this work, she created opportunities for people to connect, recognising she had a talent for bringing people together. What began as a side hustle became a business, Gandhi Creations.
“I think that philosophy of connecting people, whether through business, culture, trade, or community, shaped the 20 years of work that came after, which is over 600 projects, I would say, delivered across Australia and internationally.”
From this mindset, each platform Sonia has built responds to a market or ecosystem gap. FOMA creates visibility and commercial pathways for emerging designers and creatives. IABCA connects businesses, leaders and governments across the Australia–India economic relationship, while through her work as strategic advisor and producer of the Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence (WSABE), small businesses gain access to profile, networks and new relationships. Across each platform, Sonia’s focus has been consistent: turning connection into economic opportunity.
Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Founder and CEO of Gandhi Creations 
2026 Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence (WSABE) at CommBank Stadium, Parramatta 
Fabrics of Modern Australia (FOMA) Showcase
For Sonia, a meaningful legacy means building institutions and platforms that outlast her. She sees Brand Australia as a major economic opportunity. Sonia believes by using Australia’s multicultural capability, international relationships and cultural intelligence, this will aid in strengthening trade, investment and engagement across the region. Her final words to WEST bring the story back to where it began:
“I would say that circumstances do not define your future. Different chapters of my life taught me resilience, empathy and courage, while entrepreneurship taught me possibility. Australia gave me the opportunity to turn those lessons into a life of purpose.”
“Because belonging is not something we find. It is something we create for ourselves, for others. So, when people feel they belong, extraordinary things absolutely become possible.”
WEST is proud to partner with Gandhi Creations, including community and cultural platforms such as FOMA, IABCA and WSABE as WEST Brand Partners, united by a shared commitment to building stronger and more connected communities.
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