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Develop, support, promote disability leaders

Tag Archive: Disability Leadership Institute

  1. DLI members in the news – August 2024

    Jane Britt – For a deafblind woman like me, the NDIS changes are a blow. I fear for my future.

    Cat Walker – ‘Last-minute homework vibes’: Inside Shorten’s NDIS reforms

    Megan Spindler Smith – An NDIS reform bill has passed through parliament, but disability advocates want it scrapped

    Mark Pietsch – SBS News

    Megan Spindler Smith – PWDA Devastated by NDIS Amendment Bill Passage

    Carol Taylor – Quadriplegic fashion designer axed from company she thought she ‘co-owned’

    Katie Kelly – The path to the Paralympics

    Disability Leadership Institute – Why employers need more data about disability in their workplace

    Debbie Heron – Appointments to the Administrative Review Tribunal and Administrative Appeals Tribunal

    Caroline Bowditch – Roadmap to Success – Learning Module 1, Finding Your Mentor

    Katie Kelly – Aspiring Olympians get help to access top level coaching

    Sarah Langston – The Deep Dive, Helping out Neurodivergent Parents through The ANPA.

    Katie Kelly – New England athletes on path to Olympics

    Lisa Stafford – Griffith awarded more than third of Future Fellowships

    Christina Ryan – The disability royal commission demanded extensive change. Are the government responses big enough?

    Megan Spindler Smith – PWDA Responds to Gov’s Disability Royal Commission Reply

    Lisa Cox – ABC, Netflix, Screen NSW and Unilever partner with Bus Stop Films for the Inaugural Driving Change Summit in November

    Shane Hryhorec – Travel blogger Shane Hryhorec helps wheelchair users to explore the world, but not without ‘challenges’

    Christina Ryan – Government reveals response to disability RC

    Akii Ngo – ‘My existence is a resistance’: Akii Ngo on non-tokenistic representation and intersectionality

    Yasmine Gray – Breaking barriers: Yasmine’s journey to revolutionise accessible tourism

  2. DLI members in the news – March 2024

    Yenn Purkis – TEDx Canberra, Autigender and allyship

    Shane Hryhorec – Disability advocate Shane Hryhorec says he was ‘patronised’ and ‘humiliated’ on Virgin Australia flight

    Frances Kupke Smith – Organisers accused of falsely promoting Bill Shorten’s attendance at NDIS conference

    Dan Stubbs, Colleen Furlanetto – Disability Commissioner visits Shepparton

    Debbie Heron, Disability Leadership Institute – Forging a new trajectory: leader Debbie Heron joins Life Without Barriers as co-CEO intern

    Shane Hryhorec – Council wins inclusivity award but shuts accessible toilet

    Muthu Didi – Outrage over insensitivity in ‘Ihusaas’: a hopeful step towards acceptance and inclusivity?

    Shane Hryhorec – Uphill challenge as beach users with disabilities call on governments for equal access to Australia’s coast

    Shane Hryhorec – Uphill challenge as beach users with disabilities call on governments for equal access to Australia’s coast

    Akii Ngo, Ruth Bonser, Haidi Badawi – Leading Change: Disabled Women, Gender Diverse Reflect on IWD 2024

    Shane Hryhorec – One in five Aussies miss out on beach fun due to accessibility issues

    Emma Bennison – “Stressful and humiliating”: Blind disability charity executive abandoned at airport

    Kat Reed – ACT Budget – disability groups call for whole of Government disability response and boost to struggling disability advocacy services

    Simon Darcy – Is the travel industry ageist

    Haidi Badawi – Empowering Disabled Women on International Women’s Day

    Belle Owen – The one major reform needed to improve Access Taxis

    Carly Findlay, Christina Ryan, DLI – It Is Still Legal To Pay Disabled People Below Minimum Wage

     

    Lisa Cox – Ignite Change through Connection: A night of inspiration and action

    Shane Hryhorec – Aussie beaches missing one ‘simple’ thing causing thousands to miss out

    Yenn Purkis – In Our Words, exploring the intersections of identity

    Disability Leadership Institute – How culture, confidence and capital bar the way to more women-led businesses

  3. DLI members in the news – December 2023/January 2024

    Melissa Hale – Melissa Hale is changing the game for deaf women in cricket

    Lisa Stafford – Disabled Travellers Face Discrimination: Seeking Change and Redress

    Shane Hryhorec – Glenelg’s accessibility beach mats open 24/7 across the next two weeks

    Lisa Stafford – Travellers with disability often face discrimination. What should change and how to complain.

    Lisa Cox – Representation shouldn’t be rocket science (paywalled)

    Shane Hryhorec – Beaches that roll out welcome mat for the less mobile

    Caroline Bowditch – Alter State igniting hope through Disability Leadership

    Shane Hryhorec – Disability advocates call for government investment to improve Australian beach accessibility

    Lisa Cox – Diversity in advertising and the high fashion glass ceiling 

    Shane Hryhorec – First-ever all-inclusive & accessible membership-based gym opens in SA

    Shane Hryhorec – Australia’s first inclusive gym opens in Port Adelaide

     

    December 2023

    Megan Spindler Smith – CEO internship, a first of its kind learning experience for all

    Kate Taylor – Speed dating with an inclusive twist

    Gemma Smart – CAPA board passes motion removing SUPRA voting rights

    Frances Kupke- Smith – Beyond barriers: Advocate sheds light on the challenges at disability expo

    Christina Ryan – The Drum

    Akii Ngo – Birthday party part of the search for inclusivity

     

    Jane Britt – Things I wish I’d known before an emergency — Notes on the Brisbane floods from someone who’s deafblind

    Disability Leadership Institute – Disabled voices leading the national conversation

    Tricia Malowney – Kinetic invests in enhanced accessibility in Melbourne

    Carol Taylor – The rise of adaptive fashion

    Disability Leadership Institute, Christina Ryan – People with disability recognised for making an impact

    Disability Leadership Institute – ABC features stories for, by and about Australians living with disability

  4. 2023 Finalists Announced, National Awards for Disability Leadership

    MEDIA RELEASE

    13 November 2023

    Finalists announced!

    National Awards for Disability Leadership.

    An outstanding field of 23 Finalists across 7 categories is announced today in the leadup to the National Awards for Disability Leadership. Recipients will be announced on 3 December 2020, International Day for People with Disabilities.

    The finalists illustrate the breadth of work undertaken by disabled people in pursuing equality and recognition for disabled people.

    The 2023 finalists feature a Walkley Award nominee, an appearance activist, an anti-segregation pioneer, an internationally recognised catwalk model, rights activists, a vaccination lobbyist, anti-violence campaigners, LGBTIQ change makers, educators, and film makers, amongst others.

    These Awards reflect what is important to disabled people and the ways that we are effecting change and pursuing equality for our community. They recognise outstanding achievements by individuals and organisations who have significantly contributed to advancing the status of disabled people.

    The Awards will be delivered across seven categories for outstanding achievement or outcomes by disabled people, reflecting the diversity of our community, and the intersectional nature of our lives, including The Arts, Change Making, Rights Activism, Innovation, Social Impact, Inclusion (for intersectional work), and the Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement.

    The National Awards for Disability Leadership are owned and run solely by disabled people (following the federal government stepping back in 2018), all nominees are disabled people and all those associated with the Awards are disabled people.

    https://disabilityleaders.com.au/disability-leaders/national-awards/  #DisabilityAwards2023

    https://disabilityleaders.com.au/disability-leaders/national-awards/2023-finalists/

  5. DLI Members in the news – October 2023

    Cathy Easte – Griffith launches the Deaf Space to support increasing community of deaf students

     

    Claire Pullen – Australian Writers Guild says no thanks to AI

    Claire Pullen – Good writing is human writing

    El Gibbs – To stop the abuse of disabled people, we know what needs to change (paywalled)

    Lisa Cox – Queenagers stand up and be counted

    El Gibbs – This Week – Disability Royal Commission

    Claire Pullen – Australian Writers Guild outlines position on AI

    Christina Ryan – Disability Royal Commission report handed down

    Christina Ryan – The Disability Royal Commission is about to report

  6. Our Strong Space

    Our Strong Space

     

    A large wave crashing over rocks.

    By Christina Ryan, DLI CEO

    Seven years ago the Disability Leadership Institute was established to address the yawning gap in disability leadership training and development in Australia. Previously, there had been about half a dozen “pilot” and once off programs, but nothing consistent and ongoing for disabled people to go to when they needed the development and support.

     

    As we celebrate this birthday it’s a great time to consider how far disability leadership has come, and to take stock of the DLI and its impact.

     

    The term “disability leadership” didn’t exist before we used it. At first it felt a bit awkward, but over the years it has become a descriptor, not only for disabled people doing leadership but about the way we do leadership. Within a couple of years the term was being used by the federal government, by the disability community and by a wide range of organisations.

     

    More importantly, the existence of terminology has also acted as a constant reminder that disability leadership is a thing and that disability leaders should be present. For a small, self funded organisation this has been a substantial impact which has spread ripples far beyond our immediate circle.

     

    From small beginnings, the DLI has grown to become a trusted source of expertise on disability leadership, disability diversity in organisations, and on disability leadership development. While we always intended providing some level of organisational development, our real purpose has been to develop and support disability leaders in their work.

     

    Membership has always been at the core of the DLI, and our members community and Member Groups are now seeing exponential growth as disability leaders across a wide range of fields find a space where they can relax and be themselves while working on their leadership development. Membership is only open to disabled people; it has become our own strong space. Within the last year the DLI’s premium membership has grown by 50 per cent, with more Member Groups being added including a new Network Chairs group to address a growing presence within the membership of chairs of employee networks.

     

    The DLI started with one Member Group, peer mentoring for mentors, to address the unmet need of experienced leaders for support in their work at the centre of succession planning for the disability movement. Member Groups now span the full range of career experience from Getting Started to Experienced Leaders and follow a group coaching model. Some of the Member Groups which started in the first year of the DLI are still going with the same membership – people who have very fully diaries and very little available time make sure that they attend every month because this is their “monthly berocca.”

     

    As a social enterprise the DLI has always drawn on our own community when recruiting for team members, consultants, and coaches. The DLI membership now spans all Australian jurisdictions plus disability leaders from around 20 other countries, so there are plenty of high quality specialists to be found. The DLI has become the go to place for locating disability talent with increasing numbers of organisations finding the National Register of Disability Leaders and using it successfully.

     

    Over seven years the DLI has developed and delivered numerous training programs, including our flagship programs the Future Shapers and Foundations of Disability Leadership. The Future Shapers alumni meets every quarter, and the Foundations program has just graduated another cohort. Our coaching program continues to deliver outcomes for leaders working to use their disability as an asset, often in high pressure environments. DLI Entrepreneurs supports numerous disability owned and led businesses to thrive.

     

    Our new program, the CEO Internship, is rapidly gaining interest as the outstanding success of the inaugural placement with Yooralla unfolds. Using a co-CEO model, and drawing on wrap around support, executive ready interns are changing the way organisations approach disability leadership and the way their leadership teams operate. This program is a game changer.

     

    The drive to grow Disability Leadership is just beginning and still has a long way to go before we achieve equality and a presence that matches our population levels, but we have arrived and there is no going back.

     

    Sign up for regular updates from the Disability Leadership Institute. 

    Christina Ryan is the CEO of the Disability Leadership Institute, which provides professional development and support for disability leaders. She identifies as a disabled person.