2020 International Day of the Girl Webinars

Note – this webinar series has now concluded! To view the recordings, please visit our Resources page.

Reflect – Grow – Thrive!

As a young women’s organisation, we are passionate about supporting young women’s development! We are delighted to deliver this ten-part webinar series in the leadup to International Day of the Girl 2020.

Access to these webinars is free for YWCA members – and membership is free! Sign up as a member today. Sessions are charged at $2.50 + platform fee for non-members. 

Accessibility note – all sessions will be closed-captioned using an auto-plugin.

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All sessions

DateTime (AEST)SessionPresenter
Mon 5 Oct11.30amBeyond Bath Bombs
Self-care, resilience, mental health and managing burnout
Sacha King
Mon 5 Oct4pmCareers vs Jobs
Finding passion in your work
Elizabeth Knight
Tue 6 Oct1pmWe Have to Talk
Navigating challenging conversations with difficult people
Carly Findlay, Sara Saleh and Tessa Caramia
Tues 6 Oct7.30pmPowerful Public Speaking with Impact
Assertiveness and communicating your message
Lucille Cutting and Nkechi Anele
Wed 7 Oct2pmPeople Power
How to get into activism and advocacy
Tal Fitzpatrick, Cat Nadel, Miller Soding and Neha Madhok
Wed 7 Oct7.30pmIt’s Our Future
Climate justice is a feminist issue
Varsha Yajman, Ella Simons and Natalie Isaacs
Thu 8 Oct11.30amRespectful Relationships
Identifying red flags and preventing gender-based violence
Khadija Gbla, Dr Natasha Alexander and Romy Listo
Thu 8 Oct4pmGender Equality in the Workplace
Knowing your rights at work
Professor Rae Cooper AO
Fri 9 Oct12.30pmAction, Not Words
How to be a good ally
Belle Owen, Swathi Shanmukhasundaram and Georgie Vine
Fri 9 Oct4pm(CANCELLED)
Decolonising Feminism
Centering BIPOC voices in the feminist movement
Manal Younus

Presenter bios and session information

1: Beyond Bath Bombs – Self-care, resilience, mental health and managing burnout

Session 1: Beyond Bath Bombs – Self-care, resilience, mental health and managing burnout

Sacha King in conversation with Julia Goodall

Instagram might tell you that ‘self care’ is about bath bombs and sheet masks – but there’s so much more to self-care and resilience! In this webinar, social worker and counsellor Sacha King of Two Two One will have a conversation with Julia Goodall about what resilience, self-care and mental health looks like for young women, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Sacha will discuss the importance of staying connected to people, culture and place for mental, physical, spiritual and social health.

Presenter: Sacha King

Sacha King is passionate about people understanding mental health and Australian communities being more mentally well. With a background in community mental health and counselling and degrees in Psychology and Social Work she saw a gap of best practice and functional mental health awareness and training in the community.

Sacha King is the founder of Two Two One Mental Health Charity, a mental health prevention organisation that helps people speak confidently about mental health and aims to show you that mental health and wellbeing doesn’t have to be a bore. In 2020 Two Two One Mental Health Charity has trained over 1500 people in mental health education, worked with 16 schools, had over 200 mental health consultations with the community and produced over 20 videos discussing mental health. Now more than ever, together we can all improve our wellness.

Julia Goodall

Vice President, YWCA Australia and YWCA Young Women’s Council member

Julia designs and scales social impact initiatives through innovative leadership, human centred design, curiosity and optimism. Julia has project managed Australian Red Cross’s humanitarian response to COVID-19 and works to design and develop strategic solutions to prepare people for the impacts of disasters. Previous roles with Red Cross have included management, youth resilience and community engagement through which she has developed strong relationships across sectors and driven a culture of volunteer leadership.

In a voluntary capacity, Julia has led strategic projects for NGOs, these have included youth-led organisation Big Week Out, women’s leadership organisation Spence Club and sporting events.

Julia has served as a Director of YWCA since 2018, a member of the Young Women’s Council since 2019 and a Director of YH and YNH since 2020, having previously collaborated with YWCA Adelaide on youth resilience and leadership projects. Julia has also served on governance committees for Spence Club, Lockington Horse Trials, the Pony Club Association of SA and in Ex. Officio capacity for the Red Cross South Australian Youth Advisory Committee.

2: Careers vs Jobs – Finding passion in your work

Session 2: Careers vs Jobs – Finding passion in your work

Presented by Elizabeth Knight

Passion is what turns a job into a career – when you have a sense of purpose in your day-to-day work and when you set goals that you work to achieve. In this session, we’ll discuss how to find your passion in the work that you do, how to follow your passion to another career path, and how to share your passion with others. Along the way, we’ll give you tips on networking, applying for jobs, and continuous learning and education.

Presenter: Elizabeth Knight

Meet Elizabeth Knight, a 21-year-old with a big dream to transform our education system and how we prepare young people for their futures! She is the founder of Purposeful, a social enterprise helping young people to find direction & create meaningful future pathways for themselves. During her time at university she was a Director at Bloom, a youth-led incubator that acts as the catalyst for early stage founders to begin their entrepreneurial journey in WA. She is passionate about having powerful conversations that shake up the way people think and has had many epic opportunities to do just that through her roles as a Fogarty scholar, TEDx presenter and BCG Scholarship recipient.

Facilitated by Taylor Perrin

Taylor is a qualified joiner, project manager and estimator from Queanbeyan, NSW.

She enjoys deep sea diving and marine biology, jazz and hip hop dancing, and has a passion for dogs safety, wellbeing and rights worldwide through her fundraising and awareness of the Soi Dog Foundation.

She was awarded the National Association of Women in Construction’s Tradeswomen of the Year in 2018 and has since spoken on many panels and in high schools about women’s leadership and diverse career pathways.

Her main goal is to spread awareness among school aged girls about the range of possibilities, skills and financial independence on offer in the construction and trade sector – and to save as many dogs and sharks as she can!

Taylor is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

3: We Have to Talk – Navigating challenging conversations with difficult people

Session 3: We Have to Talk – Navigating challenging conversations with difficult people

Panel discussion featuring Carly Findlay, Sara Saleh and Tessa Caramia

We Have to Talk. We can’t always avoid challenging or difficult conversations, but we can work on navigating them with active listening, mindful communication, and engaging with intent. In this panel event, Carly Findlay is joined by Sara Saleh and Tessa Caramia as they discuss their own unique approaches to navigating these challenging conversations with difficult people.

Panellist: Carly Findlay

Carly Findlay OAM is an award-winning writer,  speaker  and appearance activist. Her first book, a memoir called Say Hello, was released in Australia in January 2019. She is also editing Growing Up Disabled in Australia with Black Inc Books, out in February 2021.

Carly works part time as Melbourne Fringe’s Access and Inclusion Coordinator. She writes on disability and appearance diversity issues for news outlets including the CNN, ABC, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and SBS. She was named as one of Australia’s most influential women in the 2014 Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards. She has appeared on ABC TV’s You Can’t Ask That and Cyberhate with Tara Moss, and has been a regular on various ABC radio programs. She has spoken at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Writers Festival, the University of Western England and Melbourne University – to name a few.

She organised the history-making Access to Fashion – a Melbourne Fashion Week event featuring disabled models. She has a Masters of Communication and Bachelor of eCommerce. Carly identifies as a proud disabled woman. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Panellist: Sara Saleh

Sara Saleh is an Arab-Australian human rights activist, community organiser, writer, and poet living on Gadigal Land (Sydney). A longtime campaigner for refugee rights and racial justice, Sara has spent the last decade working with grassroots community and international organisations in Australia and across the Middle East. 

Sara’s poems have been published in English and Arabic in SBS Voices, Australian Poetry Journal, Meanjin, Cordite Poetry Review, Bankstown Poetry Collections and global anthologies A Blade of Grass, Making Mirrors, and Solid Air, an Australian and New Zealand spoken word anthology. She has performed nationally and internationally, from New Zealand to New York, and her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, SBS, and the ABC. 

She is co-editor of the recently released anthology, Arab-Australian-Other: Stories on Race and Identity (Picador 2019), a seminal collection of creative essays, memoirs, and poems which brings together 23 writers of Arab-Australian backgrounds. 

Sara also sits on the board of Australia’s largest advocacy organisation GetUp! and is a proud Bankstown Poetry Slam ‘Slambassador’.

Panellist: Tessa Caramia

Originally hailing from the south-western region of Western Australia, Tessa (she/her) is a queer woman with a life-long passion for championing the needs of the LGBTIQ community.

Interested in fostering respectful relationships (with an education in gender studies, psychology and sexology under her belt), Tessa is most in her element when helping to empower others to create positive change in their respective communities. Working within not-for-profits both domestically and internationally for more than a decade has taught her how to fuel an individual’s fire for change and foster an enduring sense of positivity within her work.

Outside of Minus18, Tessa has an affinity for travelling with the world of Fringe Festivals and allows this side-hustle to justify her deep love for all things glittery and whimsical. When she’s not under the big top, Tessa feels most at home by the ocean – but can be tempted to sit still almost anytime by a stack of books and a rainy day.

Facilitated by Zahra Al Hilaly

Zahra’s name means “flower” in Arabic – a reinforcement to her that she will continue to grow change from the grass-root levels; like the way that flowers grow, blossoming into something beautiful. Zahra believes that storytelling in every art form, is the route to changing this world.

Identifying as a marginalised minority herself, she believes that it is adamant to ensure the intersectional identities across the globe are accentuated in modern day media. Zahra hopes to one day be the modern-day Joan of Arc or Mary Wollstonecraft – where she will revolutionise feminism for our women of colour!

Zahra is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

4: Powerful Public Speaking with Impact – Assertiveness and communicating your message

Session 4: Powerful Public Speaking with Impact – Assertiveness and communicating your message

In conversation with Lucille Cutting and Nkechi Anele, founders of The Pin

Everyone has a story to tell, a voice to be heard, and a message to share. In this session, the founders of The Pin, Lucille Cutting and Nkechi Anele, share their journey in creating Australia’s most diverse discussion platform and reflect on the lessons they have learned on the best way to raise diverse voices and identities to challenge dominant narratives. As radio hosts and producers themselves, they have stories to share from the world of broadcast and online journalism!

Presenters: Lucille Cutting and Nkechi Anele

Lucie and Nkechi met in a library, and their lives have never been the same since.

Lucie Cutting grew up in country Victoria, before moving to Tasmania, becoming a radio producer and presenter for ABC Radio Hobart. Lucie has spoken at the Tasmanian Writers Festival on the topic of racial and cultural questioning and written for publications such as Island Magazine and Victorian Women’s Trust.

Nkechi Anele grew up in Melbourne and has spent over a decade in the Australian music industry as the lead singers in the band Saskwatch touring and performing nationally and internationally. Creatively Nkechi has lent herself to the stage and screen and has also been included in publications such as Bri Lee’s latest book Beauty, Letters of Love, and Her Sound, Her Story.

Nkechi and Lucie created The Pin in 2015, as a discussion platform about race, identity and culture through an Australian lens. The idea for The Pin manifested out of long conversations between the two friends who both identify themselves as biracial Anglo-Celtic-Nigerian Australians. With the changing narrative around social identity politics and race in Australia, the two sort out to document the lived experience of BIPOC people, build a bank of knowledge and foster a community for all people could grow and discover.

In 2020, The Pin is under the sole directive of Lucie Cutting, supported by a team of creative and talented volunteers.

Facilitated by Sharifah Emalia Al-Gadrie

Sharifah Emalia Al-Gadrie is a community development worker and artist based in Nipaluna/Hobart. Emalia is a Project Officer at A Fairer World, Treasurer for human rights advocacy group, Citizen and elected member of the YWCA Young Women’s Council.

Currently, she also works as an assistant curator and community programmer for Salamanca Arts Centre. Her multidisciplinary creative practice explores identity, gender politics, connection and cultural heritage. She is informed in her work and her creative practice by intersectional feminism.

Emalia is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

5: People Power – How to get into activism and advocacy

Session 5: People Power – How to get into activism and advocacy

Panel discussion featuring Tal Fitzpatrick, Cat Nadel, Miller Soding and Neha Madhok.

We all have issues that we’re passionate about – climate justice, racial and gender equality, disability rights, economic security and social supports – and we can do something about it! On this panel, craftivist Dr. Tal Fitzpatrick is joined by Cat Nadel, Miller Soding and Neha Madhok as they discuss different ways in which people can have their voices and opinions heard as activists and advocates.

Panellist: Tal Fitzpatrick

Tal Fitzpatrick is an artist, researcher, craftivist and community development worker based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. In 2018 Tal completed a practice-led PhD research project titled ‘Craftivism as DIY Citizenship: The Practice of Making Change’ at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

Driven by the power of craft to solicit the sharing of stories Tal’s work looks to drive positive social change by engaging people in complex conversations. Along with collaborators such as Dr. Kate Just and Stephanie Dunlap, Tal has led several global participatory craftivism projects including the @covid19quilt project (2020) and the #UDHRquilt project (2016-2018). 

Panellist: Cat Nadel

Cat Nadel is a Co-Director of Tomorrow Movement, a movement of young people fighting to end the influence of big business on our politics and win a tomorrow with good jobs, great public services and a safe climate for all. Cat first cut her teeth in campaigning at university, where she was part of the student powered campaign that got Monash University to divest $450 million from coal.

Before co-founding YOUNG Campaigns (the organisation behind Tomorrow Movement), Cat spent four years as a climate campaigner at Environment Victoria. This role involved working with communities in the Latrobe Valley, Westernport Bay and suburban Melbourne to build power for strong climate policies and a just transition.

Panellist: Miller Soding

Milller (she/her) is a charming, non-binary redhead who was born and raised in Melbourne. Her love of event coordination started in the arts industry. Studying a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Drama and Creative Writing, Miller spent a lot of her early twenties producing theatre in fringe festivals, hosting magazine launches, performing her original music and organising highly competitive board game nights.

After Miller had graduated, she spent five years working in a number of different roles in the events, marketing and engagement spaces in the higher education sector.But something was missing, and she didn’t quite figure out what until she left that life behind and took on a casual Workshop Presenter role at Minus18. It was here that Miller realised working in the LGBTQIA+ community sector was exactly where she wanted to be.

Miller is proud to be the coordinator of Minus18’s colourful and life-affirming events. It’s the young people in attendance that keep her inspired, and her focus is always on accessibility, safety and making each event more memorable than the last.

Neha Madhok

Panellist: Neha Madhok

Neha Madhok has over a decade of experience in Australian political campaigning and is driven by the power of grassroots organising to win tangible outcomes for social justice. 

Neha is a National Director at Democracy in Colour – a national organisation for racial and economic justice led by people of colour. Neha was a Senior Campaigner at 350.org Australia, worked on the Yes campaign for Marriage Equality, and was a Digital Campaigner across Australian union movement. She currently sits on the boards of NEXUS Arts in South Australia and 350 Australia. 

Facilitated by Maninder Kaur

Born and raised in Tropical Far North Queensland and recently relocated to Sydney, Maninder Kaur is a young Sikh Australian activist.  Maninder has represented her local electorate at the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament and completed the global Education Perfect Science Championships in the top 1% of competitors. Currently, Maninder is studying a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) majoring in microbiology and genomics at the University of Sydney.

Maninder is passionate about education, social justice, climate change, rights of refugees and addressing the global wealth disparity. She has a strong drive to see social change and is inspired by the journeys and determination of leaders like AOC.

Maninder is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

6: It’s Our Future – Climate justice is a feminist issue

Session 6: It’s Our Future – Climate justice is a feminist issue

With Varsha Yajman, Ella Simons and Natalie Isaacs.

Climate change is a global challenge that burdens all humanity, but not equally. Women are uniquely affected due to economic vulnerability, care responsibilities and lesser access to resources. At the same time though, women are uniquely empowered to have an impact in the fight for climate justice! In this session, School Strike for Climate organiser Ella Simons is joined by Varsha Yajman (Australian Youth Climate Coalition) and Natalie Isaacs from 1 Million Women to discuss the role that young women and girls can play in the climate justice movement.

Presenter: Ella Simons

Ella Simons is a 13 year old School Strike 4 Climate organiser and climate activist. She is currently in year 8 and has also organised with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. 

Presenter: Varsha Yajman

Varsha Yajman is a first year university student who has been part of the climate movement since year 11. She is an organiser with School Strike for Climate and is the current Schools Coordinator for the AYCC.

Presenter: Natalie Isaacs

Natalie Isaacs is the founder and CEO of 1 Million Women, a global movement of women and girls who take practical action to fight dangerous climate change by changing the way they live. Since launching 1 Million Women in 2009, Natalie has dedicated herself to empowering women to act on climate change through the way they live. Under her leadership, 1 Million Women has grown from scratch into a movement of over 965,000.

Through her mission, Natalie has empowered tens of thousands of schoolgirls and hundreds of thousands of women to change the way they live. A former cosmetic manufacturer, her own climate change journey from apathy to action cuts through the complexity of this vital 21st century challenge, and delivers a simple message that resonates with women and girls of all ages. Natalie’s philosophy for 1 Million Women is that real behaviour change begins with personal action; and that women and girls living privileged lives in wealthy nations like Australia can be powerful leaders of change by acting to cut waste and pollution in their own daily lives.

Facilitated by: Matilda Webb

Matilda Webb is a passionate community advocate for climate justice, gender equality and mental health, raised in the ACT. Matilda’s passion for climate justice has led her to be an organiser for School Strike 4 Climate, a Schools Coordinator for ACT Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and a Board Member for SEE-Change.

For her work in the environment space, Matilda won 2020 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Award for Environment and Sustainability. Matilda is currently empowering young womxn across Australia as a member of the Young Women’s Advisory Group (YWAG) to Equality Rights Alliance and standing up for youth as a member of the ACT Youth Advisory Council. In her spare time, Matilda can be seen taking walks with her dog in the local nature reserves.

7: Respectful Relationships – Identifying red flags and preventing gender-based violence

Session 7: Respectful Relationships – Identifying red flags and preventing gender-based violence

Panel discussion featuring Khadija Gbla, Dr Natasha Alexander and Romy Listo

Violence against women, or gender-based violence, is a serious and widespread problem in Australia – but it is preventable. In this session, Khadija Gbla, Dr Natasha Alexander and Romy Listo will share their own experiences of gender-based violence and provide their advice in recognising the red flags within relationships, and the defining characteristics of respectful relationships.

Note, this session comes with a trigger warning for discussions of gender-based violence.

Panellist: Khadija Gbla

Khadija Gbla is a high profile, passionate and inspiring African Australian woman who uses her powerful and inspired voice to advocate equality and inclusion. Khadija was born in Sierra Leone, spent her youth in Gambia, and as a teenager put down roots in Australia. Khadija was just 3-years-old when the war broke out in her country and 10 years later they attained refugee status and resettled in Adelaide.

Khadija is the founder of The Desert Flower Centre Australia which specialises in providing holistic, comprehensive gynaecological and urological reconstructive surgery and trauma informed care for women impacted by female genital mutilation.

Panellist: Dr Natasha Alexander

Dr Natasha Alexander describes herself as a Black Bisexual British woman of Caribbean origin. She was born in the UK and has lived in Brisbane, Australia since 2014.

Dr Natasha ran away from government disability services to set up her own service called Consentability. This is an independent practice offering therapy, education and consultation to individuals with intellectual or cognitive disabilities and their support network in the area of sexuality, relationships, consent and safeguarding. 

With a strong sense of social justice, she works collaboratively with individuals, and is a fierce advocate for people’s rights to express their sexuality in an informed and empowered way. 

She is a sex positive, sex worker friendly, and kink aware clinical psychologist, and her approach is informed by systemic approaches and intersectional feminism. She is currently writing a sex positive handbook for clinicians working with people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities.

Dr Natasha sees herself as the frank and open ‘aunty’ that she wishes she had when she was a young woman. The sort of aunty that can talk about keeping safe while also reminding you that sex is supposed to be about connection, pleasure and fun. 

Having recently returned to dating she has noticed that the landscape is very different from 20 years ago. She has been learning first hand how to navigate consent and expectations in the world of online dating. She has learned how exploring her own sexual pleasure can help with knowing, articulating and protecting her boundaries.

Panellist: Romy Listo

Romy Listo is the Project Coordinator at Equality Rights Alliance (ERA), Australia’s largest network advocating for women’s equality, women’s leadership and recognition of women’s diversity. As a National Women’s Alliance, ERA brings together 61 Australian organisations with an interest in advancing women’s equality.

Romy has experience as a sexuality and relationships educator, and working on a range of projects promoting inclusivity, including with people of migrant and refugee backgrounds and LGBTIQAP+ identifying young people. She is a former member of ERA’s Young Women’s Advisory Group (YWAG) where she was part of the Let’s Talk research project on Sexuality Education in Australian schools.

Facilitated by Laura Burfitt

Laura is a student and advocate from Darwin passionate about tackling climate change, sexual violence and intimate partner violence – the greatest contributor to burden of disease for women aged between 18 and 44 years. Laura would like to see more men being active and proud participants in the fight for gender equality.

When she’s not studying for her Juris Doctorate Laura enjoys reading non-fiction, camping and exploring the NT and playing netball, the most supportive feminist sport out there ‘here if you need’.

Laura is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

8: Gender Equality in the Workplace – Knowing your rights at work

Session 8: Gender Equality in the Workplace – Knowing your rights at work

Presentation from Professor Rae Cooper

Best Wishes, Regards, Thanks, or Yours Sincerely? If you’re new to the workforce, the nuances of working life can be difficult enough to get a handle on, so what do you do when the issue you’re facing is significantly larger than choosing an email sign-off? In this session, our presenter will discuss some of the issues that young women might face in the workplace including parental leave, gender-based discrimination, workplace entitlements, wage theft, workplace bullying, unfair dismissal and more. Learn about your rights in the workplace and where to turn for more assistance if you face one of these situations.

Presenter: Professor Rae Cooper AO

Rae Cooper AO is Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney Business School where she is co-Director of the Women, Work and Leadership Research Group. She is an editor of the Journal of Industrial Relations, a member of the Executive of the International Labor and Employment Relations Association, and has published widely on all aspects of women’s working lives. Rae was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2019 recognition of her contributions to Australian workplace policy and practice.

Facilitated by Shaylee Leach

Shay is a creative professional, podcaster, community advocate & media student, from regional South Australia, now based on Kaurna Land (Adelaide). She has worked as a community broadcaster at Radio Adelaide for 7+ years, & co-founded queer program ‘Pride & Prejudice’.

Shay is passionate about advocacy & education for chronic pain health issues endometriosis & PCOS as well as industrial issues for women in the workplace. She is a proud supporter of the ongoing campaign for the full decriminalisation of sex work. 

Shay enjoys following politics, comedy and true crime podcasts and some of her favourite feminists include Celeste Liddle, Janet Mock and Sofie Hagan.

Shaylee is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

9: Action, Not Words – How to be a good ally

Session 9: Action, Not Words – How to be a good ally

Panel discussion with Belle Owen, Swathi Shanmukhasundaram and Georgie Vine.

The first step to being a good ally is to recognise the privileges in life that you benefit from – either directly or indirectly – and then to work on transferring and extending these benefits to those who don’t have it. The next steps? Join our panellists Belle Owen, Swathi Shanmukhasundaram and Georgie Vine in this session exploring what allyship means for people with disability, for people of colour, for First Nations people, for LGBTIQ+ people, and what you can do to be a good ally.

Note – Mehak Sheikh and Nayuka Gorrie were originally advertised to appear in this session but has had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

Panellist: Belle Owen

Living with physical disability since she was born, Belle Owen has been on a long and complicated path of unlearning internalised ableism and other unconscious biases. 

Having been immersed in varied areas of the disability sector, in multiple countries for the last ten years, her knowledge and activism comes from her experiences, and her current role in the social profit sector where she leads a project that delivers inclusion training to community organisations, not-for-profits and state and local government.

She is dedicated to empowering disabled people to find pride in identity, celebrate disabled excellence and take up the space they are owed while offering allies insight and concrete ways they can contribute to the disability justice movement, dismantling ableism in society and within. 

Belle shares her point of view and understanding of her community through informing and guiding in a way that has been described as ‘refreshingly unapologetic’. 

Panellist: Swathi Shanmukhasundaram

Swathi is a community worker, lawyer, Indian-born migrant and proud Tamil woman living in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. Raised by a passionate south-Indian Tamil family, she tirelessly advocates for the promotion of mental health and menstrual health literacy in refugee and migrant communities. She finds ways to invest her own lived experiences as a carer and disability advocate, in projects where community and identity are at the heart of everything.

Panellist: Georgie Vine

Georgie (she/her) is a proud Aboriginal woman belonging to the Bundjalung people of Northern New South Wales. Her passion for gender equality and defying social norms drives her to engage in discussions with individuals who don’t share her view. Georgie values debates and discussions that focus upon understanding and empathising with contradicting opinions in order to better comprehend how to approach change. 

Georgie believes change will always begin with education. She is passionate about women, young women and girls having aspirations in life that are not unconsciously tainted by what they may think is only possible for a man. She encourages positive discourse and constantly surrounds herself with people who can educate her more about the word.

Georgie refuses to be limited by the patriarchal confines’ society is built upon. She encourages you to own your sexuality, be proud of who you are. You are unique and you are powerful – so celebrate that. 

Facilitated by Alexandra Hatzivalsamis

Alexandra is a Darwin born, emerging leader who is dedicated to advocating for gender equality and the right to self-determination. Studying a double degree in Laws and Commerce, whilst working for the Northern Territory Public Sector, Alexandra is a member of Australia’s first YWCA Young Women’s Council.

Alexandra holds strong business capability across Government procurement, human resources, the community sector and multicultural affairs. Alexandra thrives in stakeholder and community engagement and is passionate about capacity building initiatives for women and young people.

Alexandra is a member of our Young Women’s Council.

10: Decolonising feminism: centering BIPOC voices in the feminist movement

Session 10: Decolonising feminism: centering BIPOC voices in the feminist movement

We’re so sorry, but this particular session of the webinar has been cancelled due to clashes for our valued speakers. We will aim to make a similar session available at a later date.


Lunette Fundraising Campaign

Lunette Australia are generously donating 100% of their profits on International Day of the Girl (Sunday 11 October) to YWCA!

If you’re in the market for a menstrual cup, make sure you head over there on 11 October to ensure your sale helps to benefit women, young women and girls across Australia.

We’re partnering with Lunette because we believe in ecological and economical period management, making it more healthy, sustainable and affordable for girls, young women and women everywhere.