WWDA LEAD WEBINAR SERIES - Webinar 3

Avenues of Support Webinar

We are excited to announce our next WWDA LEAD Webinar: Avenues of Support – Tips & Tricks to Avoid Burnout.

A common trend amongst the women, girls, feminine-identifying and non-binary people with disabilities is that we’re tired, overwhelmed, stressed and even at times, burnt out. Living with disability in a patriarchal society is challenging and getting the support you need can sometimes seem impossible.

This is why our upcoming webinar is all about self-care! The speakers will share their varied experiences and discuss how to prioritise our wellbeing and how to keep your cup full or filling it when it’s empty.

Our aim is to acknowledge the challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities, focus on what we can do to prevent burnout, and to help find our avenues of support for ourselves, each other, and our communities.

When: 14 July 2021 4pm – 5:15pm (AEST).

Speakers Announced!

Host: Akii Ngo (they/them)

(Masters of Social Work (in progress), GradDipCCM, B.HumNut(Nut&Diet), DipProjMgmt, CertIVTAE)

Akii is a disability leader and gender equity advocate passionate about disability rights and empowerment. They are a proud, young, disabled, non-binary femme and queer/bi person of colour. Akii is a first generation Aussie from a refugee background, who lives with multiple complex chronic illnesses and disabilities. A survivor advocate, board director and company secretary of Disability Justice Australia and sits on a number of advisory committees and working groups across Australia within the health and advocacy sector. In addition to advising and consulting for LGBTIQA+ rights, gender equity and trauma informed violence prevention (especially since many of Akii’s disability are a direct result of intimate partner violence). Akii was the recipient of the 2020 Australian Disability Leadership Awards in Social Change and the 2021 7News Young Australian of the Year Vic, Leadership Semi Finalist.

Akii is passionate about accessibility and universal design, representation and is a fierce advocate for people with chronic pain, chronic illness, and disabilities (visible and invisible) due to their own lifetime of lived experiences.

They are a qualified public health nutritionist and health promotion practitioner with over 10 years’ experience throughout Australia and overseas in capacity building, advocacy, policy, co-design and systemic health promotion practice. Akii has spent their entire career dedicated to making a positive and sustainable difference to the community.

Akii is also an internationally published model and believes in creating positive change and perception within the media, beauty and fashion industry for disabled individuals and communities.

Pauline Vetuna

Pauline Vetuna is a disabled person, writer/artist, community radio broadcaster, and caregiver born in Papua New Guinea and living/learning across the lands of the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung(Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation. They are one of the members of the Disability Justice Network and writers/artists collective Disabled QBIPOC Collective.

Mali Hermans

Mali Hermans is a Wiradjuri writer, organiser and community worker living on Ngunnawal and Ngambriland. As a disabled woman, Mali is deeply invested in disability justice work, committed to challenging ableism and its intersections with colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy and class. Mali is part of the WWDA team and a member of the Disability Justice Network.

Bobby Green

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Screen-Shot-2021-06-28-at-1.07.35-pm-1022x1024.png

Bobby [she/her] is a 35 year old autistic woman who owns and runs a feminist apparel business, and works part-time as a digital marketing strategist for a small Melbourne agency.

Bobby is passionate about creating safe and affirming ways for women and non-binary people to share their lived experiences, and creating an inclusive community that celebrates and empowers all of its members.

Bobby lives on Boon Wurrung land with her husband and three children and loves football, pizza, and facilitating heated discussions at family BBQs.

Monique Crowden

Monique is a passionate self-advocate and leader for people with intellectual disability in Tasmania. Along with her other commitments, Monique has been involved with the Speak Out Association of Tasmania and Women With Disabilities Australia for several years. In recent years, Monique has sat on advisory groups for a number of WWDA projects, including those which lead to the development of the Our Site website and the Sunny app; and is now representing her community on the WWDA LEAD Project Steering Committee. Monique also volunteers with her the local girl guides group, is a mentor for young girls with a disability and is passionate about inclusion and a truly inclusive society.