A guest post from Natasha Price and Adam Sheppard, Founders of InvincAble A.I.D.E (Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity & Education).
Tag: inclusion
PEOPLE: How Natasha Price is empowering people with disabilities
Natasha Price saw an immediate need for services that helped empower people with disabilities and also equipped businesses with the tools and knowledge needed to build inclusive workplaces. In this interview, she outlines why she launched InvincAble and what makes their approach to diversity and inclusion effective.
ADVICE: There is no excuse for not hiring people with a disability
As the global pandemic has forced many businesses to re-assess how they build and foster inclusive workplace environments, this interview with Karen Knight, Vision Australia General Manager Client Services, covers how businesses can be more inclusive for people with disabilities and the value of looking past stereotypes and misconceptions around working with disabilities to develop truly diverse workplaces.
VIEW: Ethnicity should be portrayed in its entirety, not just for commercial benefits
Aarti Bajaj is the creative director of groundbreaking production company, Wild Dreamer Productions. Bajaj recently rejected the words “white” and “brown” on the set of her major stage production, believing the terms to inhibit inclusiveness and diversity. She said her aim is to offer actors, dancers, singers and composers a platform to showcase their talent, without being hindered by their ethnicity. In this interview, Bajaj shares experiences from her career in production, and her views on the representation of ethnicity on screen.
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.
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.
ADVICE: Ask questions, leverage experts with lived-experience, and focus on the output not the disability
Lisa Cox is an author, presenter, consultant and advocate. She had an extensive career in corporate advertising before acquiring multiple disabilities and had to restart her career from scratch. In this interview, Lisa shares her experiences with re-joining the workforce with disabilities, how business leaders can overcome their misconceptions of accessible work environments to create inclusive workplaces, and how she has used her deep skillset in communications to become a high-impact disability advocate.
PEOPLE: “Education is a privilege and a STEM career is a huge step towards empowerment and equality” – Muneera Bano
Muneera Bano is a passionate advocate for women in STEM and is an active role model for the next generation via the various accolades and positions she holds, including a ‘Superstar of STEM’ for Science and Technology Australia, and the Go Girl, Go For IT 2020 Ambassador. In this interview, Muneera shares her views on driving diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.
ADVICE: Don’t be scared to initiate the conversations – Renee Thomson
Renee Thomson, a proud Wiradjuri woman and Co-Founder of Western Sydney Aboriginal Youth Leadership Network, believes strongly in the powerful impact effective community engagement can make, particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In this interview, she outlines what constructive change looks like and how she believes we can get there.
PEOPLE: “It was up to me to find my own community” – How Kera started Fibromyalgia Aotearoa NZ
Growing up with a strong support network and Maori community, Kera believes strongly in the power of role models and community engagement. In this interview, Kera shares why and how she started Fibromyalgia Aotearoa NZ, and her views and experiences with ableism.
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.
PEOPLE: Moving overseas because the Australian film industry was “playing it safe”
Ola Endress is an Australian actor an content creator who wanted to be the change she wanted to see on Australian screens. But after extensive attempts, she found her most successful path to being part of a diverse film and TV industry would be to move overseas.
VIEW: Diversity is not just about how one looks
Madison Page is a proud Wiradjuri woman, currently working in the construction industry as a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Advisor, while also modelling with WINK models. In this interview, Madison outlines her broad-ranging career, from studying marine biology to working with Aboriginal business leaders, as well as her views on diversity – or lack thereof – in the modelling industry.
ADVICE: Create a safe space for fear when looking to improve diversity
Michelle Redfern, Owner of Advancing Women in Business & Sport, believes a lack of diversity at the leadership level as well as throughout the industry is driving a resistance to change.
PEOPLE: How Courtney Blackman’s international career in music and fashion led her to Melbourne’s tech industry
Courtney Blackman has worked in London, Melbourne, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Costa Rica and more. Following a long and impressive career in the music and fashion industries, she recently shifted her career into the tech sphere and is now CMO at YBF Ventures.
