International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women in leadership who are driving change and shaping communities, and those women and girls who are supported through for-purpose initiatives.
Mentoring students to success
Renee Chakaodza, a literacy specialist at the Y WA, is a powerful role model in the education space. Her work through the Y WA School ReadY Program is empowering educators and creating better educational outcomes for children across the state.
From a young age, Renee knew teaching was her calling. Her first students? Her four younger siblings. What began as childhood fun grew into a lifelong passion for helping others succeed. “Teaching offered a way to make a difference in the lives of my students,” she said, a belief that has driven Renee throughout her career.
After years of teaching in primary schools, Renee shifted her focus to professional learning, supporting educators both locally and globally. Through her experiences, she found mentorship from inspiring women who guided her to see leadership as a collaborative effort, one that fosters strength through support and inspiration. This insight has shaped the way Renee leads today at the Y WA, focusing on lifting others and building strong, empowered teams.
Now as a literacy specialist for the Y WA School ReadY Program, Renee is dedicated to preparing children for school and lifelong success. She oversees the Literacy and Language domain of the program which uses proven methods in early literacy and oral language to give children the best possible start in education.
Renee is committed to coaching educators through the Y WA School ReadY Program.
As part of her role Renee also provides professional development, creates resources, and engages families to support children’s growth. Renee is deeply committed to coaching educators, helping them feel equipped to nurture the children in their care and improve language and literacy outcomes.
Her work has already achieved notable milestones: she’s provided professional learning for over 50 staff members, conducted more than 30 coaching sessions across the state and welcomed media to share the program’s success.
“I love that despite challenging circumstances at times, the staff always found a way to make it happen,” she shared, emphasising the resilience and dedication of the educators she supports.
Despite the successes, Renee acknowledges the challenges she faces as a woman in leadership, particularly moments of self-doubt. The fear of making mistakes or how she’s perceived can be daunting, but she has learnt to view these moments as opportunities for growth.
“Learning to reframe failure as a stepping stone to success has helped me build self-compassion,” she explained. This mindset has allowed her to continue leading with confidence, even in difficult moments.
Renee has shared the success of the Y WA School ReadY Program with media.
For Renee, leadership is about lifting others up. Her advice for the next generation of female leaders is clear: “Believe in yourself and each other. Let’s build an inclusive, supportive environment where women can feel confident to take risks and encourage colleagues.” She’s passionate about mentorship, emphasizing that no woman is an island and that together, we are stronger.
Moving forward, Renee is continuing to shape the future of the Y WA School ReadY Program in the Literacy and Language domain. As her journey unfolds, she will continue to empower, inspire, and create a brighter future for all children and educators across the state.
Advocating for change in the public sector
Orla Latawski is a powerful example of young women in the public sector shaping the future. Working for the WA Government, she is driving policy change and ensuring all voices are heard.
Orla’s journey began with the Y WA Youth Parliament, a non-partisan program that empowers young people aged 15 to 25 to address key issues and create change. It was here that Orla discovered her passion for public policy and the legislative process, particularly through her work on a bill to criminalize online sexual harassment.
"Our bill passed with unanimous support – the first time in Youth Parliament history," Orla recalled. This success played a key role in the creation of the Criminal Law Amendment (Intimate Images) Act 2019 (WA), demonstrating how a passionate young woman, advocating for change, can influence real-world policy.
Orla Latawski is committed to empowering young voices and driving policy change.
Orla’s commitment to empowering young voices continued as she joined the Youth Parliament Taskforce in 2019 and 2020, before returning as the program coordinator in 2021 and 2022, mentoring the next generation of leaders.
Through her experience with Youth Parliament, Orla learned the value of collaboration and diverse perspectives. She has since applied these principles to her work in the public sector, where teamwork and innovation, no matter your gender, are crucial for effective policy development.
Mentored by influential women including former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Orla has embraced a collaborative mindset and believes that success comes from working together, considering different viewpoints, and approaching challenges with flexibility. This approach has shaped her work on initiatives such as serving on the inaugural Ministerial Youth Advisory Council, where she collaborated closely with the Minister for Youth to address policy issues affecting young people.
Orla with the Youth Parliament Taskforce.
Though Orla is grateful for the growing representation of women in public service, she recognises that there is still much work to be done. “Young women in particular face a lot of pressure to be everything to everyone and to say yes to every opportunity that comes our way - perhaps because women for a long time have had to prove themselves worthy of a seat at the table,” she said.
Over time, Orla has learned the importance of balance, self-care, and selecting opportunities that align with her values. Her advice to young women entering the public sector: “Be your own fiercest advocate.” She encourages them to trust in their abilities, seek guidance from trusted mentors, and seize opportunities even when faced with self-doubt.
Looking ahead, Orla is dedicated to making a real difference for all women, and she hopes Australia will continue to create spaces for young women to have their voices heard.
Empowering women in crisis
Jenny Tartaglia, head of nutrition education at Foodbank WA, is dedicated to improving the health of people at risk of experiencing economic and social disadvantage. Her work at Foodbank WA is centred on inspiring people of all ages to get excited about healthy eating and cooking and to improve the dietary intakes and health outcomes of children.
She works alongside many strong female leaders at Foodbank WA, including CEO Kate O’Hara. “I think women provide a good balance and perspective within the leadership team and this provides an environment that creates collaboration. It is a real inspiration to me to be among such strong and driven women,” she said.
“It is inspiring being surrounded by this group of strong women who are intelligent, passionate and not afraid to question ‘why’ to improve what we do. Foodbank celebrates all employees that demonstrate our values of collaboration, respect, responsibility, compassion and integrity, and over the years I have seen the number of women in leadership roles increase and that is wonderful.”
Foodbank WA's leadership team.
Research indicates that women in our country, and more specifically our state, are in crisis and facing financial hardship. Foodbank WA’s annual customer survey revealed that 77 per cent of its customers are women.
It is well known that female wages are lower than men’s, making it more difficult to keep up with ongoing cost of living pressures, particularly those that relate to housing, groceries and utilities.
Compounding this is the fact that women tend to occupy the most insecure forms of employment, such as part-time and casual roles, as these are often the job types that businesses pull back on when conditions get more difficult.
The Financial Wellbeing Collective recently released their Financial Wellbeing in WA Snapshot 2024 report which showed that women are disproportionately impacted by financial hardship and often find themselves seeking help. Women are often the ones to bear the brunt of overseeing the household budget and are typically the primary caregivers.
The report found 63 per cent of women report being in financial stress, 74 per cent are in food stress and 71 per cent experienced utility bill stress in the last financial year.
“For more than a year now, we have partnered with the Wellbeing Financial Collective who are on site at our premises every day and can provide a referral to shop with us on the spot and provide access to other organisations who provide further assistance in other areas if required, ensuring we can do our best to provide a wrap-around service. Food insecurity is rarely an issue on its own,” Ms Tartaglia said.
Supporting women and girls in WA
Across its nutrition education programs, Foodbank works with a broad range of groups supporting women and girls, including girl’s football academies through Clontarf, and delivering nutrition education programs to teen mothers through a teen parenting program.
Foodbank also regularly works with a variety of parenting organisations and child and parent centres that facilitate playgroups, including young mum’s playgroups, and other parenting support services which are a wonderful support network for all women in the community, in particular CALD women.
Foodbank’s nom! children’s program is aimed specifically at parents and grandparents with children or grandchildren aged 0-5. There is a large representation of women who attend these programs, with 93 per cent of participants in 2024 identifying as female.
Foodbank WA runs a nutrition education program called nom!
In addition to this, Foodbank works closely with charity partners that support women in a range of situations which can leave them in financial, and in turn, food stress. These issues include but are not limited to domestic violence and mental health issues.
Thanks to a partnership with the Department of Justice, for many years Foodbank has worked closely with Boronia Pre-release Centre for Women which aims to offer support to low-security women prisoners preparing for reintegration into the community.
The pre-release program provides housing in an environment that closely mirrors life outside of prison it attempts to allow for a less traumatic transition back to normal life. Staff help facilitate training of the prisoners and try to arrange employment on their release in conjunction with local businesses as a measure to prevent recidivism.
“We are very lucky to have six ladies from Boronia volunteer with us on a regular basis. The ladies do a variety of jobs which help them learn warehousing and customer service skills while contributing to the community. This program has seen job progression for a few of the ladies who have now become permanent staff.”
