Keeping women safe and sheltered

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position?

I always find this an interesting question, because if you’d told me fifteen years ago that I’d be running a successful, innovative organisation working on cutting edge solutions for domestic violence and homelessness, I would have been surprised. But I’m very happy to be here! A significant chunk of my career has been in operations, service delivery, legal and policy in the Australian Public Service in and around issues for women, children and families. But it was the opportunity to run Elsie Women’s Refuge in 2011 which made me realise I’d come home to where I truly belonged. When your office is in the middle of the home where women and children escaping abuse are living, you don’t have the opportunity to look away.

I quit my APS career with its security and career trajectory (and juicy 17.5 percent superannuation) to join a not for profit startup with a desk and a phone – because I believed in the mission, the vision and the Board I was working with. I’m still there 12 years later, and still every bit as committed!

Take us through a typical day of work for you.

I don’t think there’s any such thing as a typical work day! This is one of the reasons I remain so excited and energised by what I do. A day might involve getting together with the whole WCS team to discuss key Shelter Network events and environmental opportunities and challenges, a visit to a prospective shelter or housing property, a consultation meeting with government on proposed new legislation in the domestic and family violence space, or monitoring the implementation of existing legislation, having a meeting with an MP or Minister, or talking with a philanthropist about our work and why it matters. I might talk to a fellow sector CEO, work with one of the Boards I chair, or have a debrief with a colleague who really ‘gets it’. I also have the privilege of doing speaking engagements quite often. I absolutely love the variety, challenge and change in my work every day. All of it is underpinned by a firm commitment to making the systems in Australia easier for women and children affected by domestic violence and homelessness, and everything I do seeks to push towards that vision of a future.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?

I’d say my biggest personal challenge was leaving security behind and taking on a new job (my current role) at a time when I was a single parent of two pre-school children and had just taken on a Sydney mortgage on my own. It was a terrifying leap out of my comfort zone, and I had a lot to juggle. But I also fully believed in the mission and backed myself to succeed. A lot of people talk about balance. I think balance is over-rated. I was a better mother by doing fulfilling work that engaged all of me.

One of the biggest organisational challenges we’ve faced in recent years was COVID and the associated lockdowns. We were supporting a shelter network that is very dependent on local community engagement and fundraising for ongoing operations. All of those community events basically dried up overnight. Our incredible shelter staff were also acting as a fourth emergency service during those lockdowns. So many women and children were trapped with abusive partners 24/7. Making sure people were aware of our services, and reconfiguring the way we delivered support to them, safely, took a huge and concerted effort by a lot of people.

There are plenty of other challenges, big and small, which crop up every single day. I always like to look for the opportunities they present. Our whole community capacity building model of shelter development grew out of a time when a reorganisation of our sector created a gap for specialist services for women. Plenty of people told me in the early days that ‘this model will never work.’ Challenges fire me up to prove people wrong – and we have.

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

I would tell myself to stay true to my values. I’d be compassionate to my younger self and explain that the things that made me feel weird and out of place as a younger worker have actually proven to be my superpowers as I’ve gone along. I’d say that grit, perseverance and sheer hard work are worth more than an ATAR or an IQ score or a qualification if you want to make a tangible improvement to other people’s lives. And I’d tell myself I’m at my best when I’m deeply connected to work that has meaning for me.

How do you unwind after work?

I don’t know that I ever really ‘unwind’. I’m hopeless at relaxing. I tend to plunge as deeply into my out-of-work interests and obsessions as I do with my work. I recently found exercise I don’t hate in Pilates, I dance, I snorkel, I swim in the ocean and walk in nature. I’m also a true Gen X kid raised on ATARI, and have never stopped gaming. These days it’s mobile games like Pokémon Go or Monster Hunter. My partner and kids are very tolerant of my hyper-fixations, and there are a lot of them!