You’re invited to attend Women in STEM Ambassador: Insights and Impacts, a virtual event to celebrate the impact and contributions of the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador initiative towards advancing gender equity and diversity in STEM fields. Hear from experts about the latest insights, tools, and programs that can support you to progress greater equity in STEM education and workplaces.
Date and Time:10 May 2024, 1:00pm to 4:00pm AEST
Format: Virtual
Cost: Free
This event, emceed by Akii Ngo, will share outcomes from 5 years of the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador initiative, and discuss the impacts on Australia’s workplaces, educational and research environments through three informative sessions.
Session 1: Enhancing diversity and inclusivity in STEM education.
Australia's Women in STEM Ambassador Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, Associate Professor Marnee Shay Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland and Cameron Rodgers, Head Teacher of Innovation at Sarah Redfern High School will discuss how STEM education can become more diverse and inclusive.
Session 2: From research to policy - cultivating diversity & inclusion in the Australian workplace.
Hear from UNSW Associate Professor Lisa A. Williams, Chief Investigator for the Women in STEM Ambassador’s grant, Padma Raman PSM Executive Director of the Office for Women at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Dr Richard Johnson, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council about the translation of research findings into policy.
Session 3: Informed decision making - measuring success and creating change in workplace inclusion.
Join Dr Isabelle Kingsley, former Senior Research Associate at the Office for Australia's Women in STEM Ambassador, and Dr Bree Gorman, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion specialist to hear about the importance of measuring and communicating success to advance the dial on workplace inclusion.
Akii (they/them) is an international multi-award-winning disability, gender equity advocate & violence survivor-activist, trainer and educator who is dedicated to and deeply passionate about human rights, accessibility, intersectionality, inclusion, advocacy and non-tokenistic representation. They are a proudly disabled, neurodivergent (Autistic, ADHD & CPTSD), gender-diverse trans non-binary and Queer/LGBTIQA+ person of colour (POC), from a refugee and culturally diverse background. Akii lives with numerous complex chronic illnesses, disabling chronic pain and various physical disabilities.
An established expert matter consultant, facilitator, writer, keynote presenter and also, an internationally published & represented model pushing to improve disabled, LGBTIQA+, mobility aid, POC and intersectional representation in the media, beauty and fashion industries. Recently Akii worked as the inaugural Sydney WorldPride Accessibility Manager and as a Senior Co-design & Engagement Advisor for the NDIA, leading and focusing on the NDIS LGBTIQA+ strategy.
They are on many committees, boards and advisory groups nationwide, including but not limited to being a Councillor on the Victorian Disability Council and on the National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioners’ Lived Experience Council, the National Autism Strategy’s Economic Inclusion Committee (working to improve employment outcomes for fellow Autistic and disabled people), on the Victorian LGBTIQA+ Taskforce and LGBTIQ+ Disability Inclusion Expert Advisory Group.
Akii is a qualified public health, policy, community engagement/development and health promotion practitioner with 14+ years of extensive experience. Possessing multiple relevant tertiary qualifications, including within the health sciences, and has varied expertise throughout numerous industries in Australia and overseas, dedicating their entire career to making a positive and sustainable difference to their communities and all marginalised/disadvantaged groups.
Bree Gorman is an experienced Diversity, Equity and Inclusion coach, educator and consultant with a focus on creating sustainable, meaningful change in Australian workplaces. Bree's expertise is in tackling systemic barriers to inclusion. They have worked with Universities, Government Departments and the corporate sector across a variety of industries. They have lived experience as a genderqueer bisexual, are neurodiverse and a parent to two children.
Cameron Rodgers is the Head Teacher of Innovation at Sarah Redfern High School, located in Minto, South West Sydney. As a young individual, he grew up in some of the most adverse regions of South West Sydney. Now a leading, award-winning educator, Cameron advocates for educational equity in low- socioeconomic areas, aiming to break down barriers in accessing the STEM field. He has developed a state-first STEAM program, focusing on individual student potential, whilst engaging with exclusive university and industry partners, to solve complex community issues using STEM principles. Cameron is now commencing his PhD in improving engagement in fields of zoology/ecology in low- socioeconomic areas, via the use of alternative pedagogy. In the future, he aims to develop an environmental school, allowing students to freely experience Australian native wildlife, and lead policy/curriculum towards achieving educational equity.
Isabelle is a renowned authority on gender equity with a PhD in impact evaluation. Her influential roles include Founder and Director of Loupe Consulting and Senior Advisor, Research & Evaluation at Science in Australia Gender Equity Ltd.
Isabelle's impactful equity research has played a pivotal role in shaping policies for equitable practices in Australia. Notably, her leadership in studies addressing gender disparities in the Australian research sector and the impacts of anonymisation have led to transformative policy changes. Isabelle also crafted the national STEM Equity Evaluation Guide and the STEM Equity Evaluation Portal — a digital evaluation tool and searchable repository of ‘what works’ for equity initiatives. Her advisory contributions extend globally, impacting UN Women, APEC, Australia’s Chief Scientist and Australia's governmental bodies.
Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith is the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador. She works with business, education and government to increase the participation of women and girls in STEM education and careers. An astrophysicist with 20 years’ research experience, Lisa presented ABC's Stargazing Live and regularly appears as a science media commentator. She is the author of five popular science books.
Associate Professor Lisa A. Williams is a social psychologist whose research explores the mechanisms of social and emotional wellbeing. Her current research projects address emotional experience in the context of close, prosocial behaviour, and blood donation. She is an advocate for gender equity—particularly in STEM—and currently serves as Associate Dean Equity Diversity and Inclusion in the UNSW Faculty of Science. She is Chief Investigator on the grants that fund the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador initiative. To her advocacy for equity she brings her knowledge of the science of stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice and is a staunch supporter of deploying best-practice initiatives using an empirically-backed approach.
Associate Professor Marnee Shay is an Aboriginal researcher, her people are from the Ngan’gimerri language group from the Daly River region in the Northern Territory. Dr Shay has an extensive externally funded research program which spans the field of Indigenous education, Indigenous policy and flexi schooling. She is deeply interested in the notion of Indigenous based evidence in informing policy futures.
Padma Raman PSM is Executive Director of the Office Women (OFW) at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Prior to joining OFW in September 2023, she was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety Limited (ANROWS) from 2021. In her time as CEO, Padma established ANROWS as the widely recognised leading authoritative voice on evidence to end violence against women and children.
Before starting as CEO of ANROWS, Padma was the Chief Executive of the Australian Human Rights Commission for 11 years. Prior to that she established and was Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Law Reform Commission for 9 years and served as a part-time commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission for 5 years.
Padma has a wealth of experience as a senior executive at both the state and federal level, and in 2018 was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding service leading significant cultural, technological and governance change. She has a Master of Laws by research focusing on the experiences of immigrant and Indigenous women under the Australian legal system.
Padma is also appointed by the Commonwealth Government as an independent member of the ANU Council and further serves on the Students Safety and Wellbeing Committee of Council.
Dr Richard Johnson was appointed acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council (ARC) in December 2023. He first joined the ARC in September 2022, taking up the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining the ARC, he was First Assistant Secretary, Social Cohesion and Multicultural Affairs, in the Department of Home Affairs. He has held a number of senior leadership roles in the Australian government, including representing Australia as Minister Counsellor (Home Affairs) at Australia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and international policy in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Richard has a PhD in the history of political philosophy.
