Shaun Christie-David's parents came to Australia fleeing civil war in Sri Lanka. By age 13, he knew he wanted to be a banker. But life inside the world of money and Maseratis was nothing like he'd imagined

Shaun Christie-David's family migrated to Australia during the Sri Lankan civil war.

The family's three sons grew up in a house full of home-cooked food and love, with dishes like 48-hour Mudcrab on the menu at Christmas.

In 2019, Shaun set up Colombo Social, a restaurant giving jobs to refugees and people seeking asylum, serving food straight from his mum's cookbook.

Starting the restaurant was a sharp turn in his own life.

Shaun had left Sydney's Western suburbs at 18 determined to make a lot of money in the finance world. 

But at 28, at the pinnacle of his career in banking, a trip to Sri Lanka changed everything.

Further information

Learn about Shaun's restaurants and social enterprise work at Plate It Forward 

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