A guest post from Jennifer Okolo, who is a therapist and the founder of She Aspires.
Tag: CALD
VIEW: Our mental health system must reflect the great cultural and linguistic diversity of the Australian population
In Australia, people from a CALD background have a significantly lower level of access to mental health care and support in the wider community, with many not seeking help or support. Following his recent appointment as Multicultural Mental Health Ambassador for the Northern Territory, Mathews David shares his views on the value and role of mental health programs and policies for CALD communities.
ADVICE: CALD engagement requires diverse leadership
With a quarter of Australians born overseas, almost half with at least one parent born overseas, and nearly 20% speaking a language other than English at home, it’s clear Australia is a multicultural country. However, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians have been underrepresented across various industries, and miscommunicated to during times of nationwide change including the current pandemic. In this interview, Costa Vasili, founder of EthnoLink Language Services, shares his journey building the business over the last ten years, his observations of CALD engagement during this time, and his advice for business and political leaders looking to effectively communicate with people of CALD backgrounds.
PEOPLE: How Yemi Penn bent her own reality
As well as being an engineer, gym owner and author, Yemi Penn is a business coach and is passionate about helping others become their authentic self. In this interview, she shares why she is passionate about empowering and supporting others who are focusing on what they ‘should’ do, and how she is setting out to change the stat that one in three people are unhappy with where they are in life. She also shares her views on diversity and inclusion, and how her experiences as a woman of colour have impacted her approach to business today.
PEOPLE: From loathing chemistry to completing a PhD in environmental geochemistry – Silvana Santomartino
Women account for less than 30% of global researcher roles and, despite an increased need in scientists’ expertise during the pandemic, female scientists have been quoted significantly less often than male scientists. In this interview, Founding Director or PSK Environmental, Silvana Santomartino, shares how she became interested in environmental science and established her own business.
ADVICE: Understand and embrace engineering’s human factor – Trang Pham
Trang Pham, Civil Engineer at Aurecon and Chair of Women in Engineering Queensland at Engineers Australia, has had a varied career across retail, business, public service, and engineering in the private sector. She is passionate about representing and driving further diversity across STEM industries, particularly engineering, and recognises the challenges vary from organisation to organisation.
PEOPLE: Esha Oberoi’s climb from high school dropout to CEO
Today Esha Oberoi sits at the head of a 550+ staff, multi-million dollar business and has been recognised for her achievements as a Winner in the Indian Australian Community Business Award for Small Business and a Finalist in the Telstra Young Business Women of the Year Awards in 2014. But her journey to success wasn’t without challenges.
ADVICE: How to develop and foster cultural intelligence
Wesa Chau, CEO of Cultural Intelligence, shares why she started her consultancy, the challenges she faces at work, and her views on unconscious bias and how to manage it in the workplace.
VIEW: Adjusting your work to others leads to a dead-end
Valentin Zhmodikov moved to Australia from Russia in 2014, with a passion for photography that has evolved since childhood. In this interview, he shares where that passion came from, and how it drives what photography he does and doesn’t do today.
ADVICE: Breaking the bamboo ceiling
Annick Ah Lan is the Chief Operating Officer of Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, but had to overcome a range of racial stereotypes to get there. Annick is passionate about getting more women on boards, and believe strongly in the importance of recognising everyone has something valuable to bring to the table. In this interview, she shares her experiences with meeting and surpassing the bamboo ceiling, and how she has thrived in male-dominated industries ever since.
ADVICE: Seek out a mentor, be a mentor, and be visible
Chahida Bakkour has had an extensive career in technology, engineering and aviation. Today, as well as being an A/g Service Design and Alignment Manager for Airservices Australia, she believes strongly in the importance of encouraging women to join and empowering women to thrive in male-dominated industries.
Echo Chamber Escape 