Board Nomination Statements

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?

I am Gillian Victor. I go by the name “Gill” and the pronouns “she/her”.

I’ve spent my career as an ally and dedicated campaigner for people who are not treated equally by society, most often due to systemic responses. The last ten years of my career have been in the disability sector, where I’ve worked within the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities and more broadly across multiple disabilities.

Professionally, I’m a senior leader specialising in marketing and communications, using my skills to amplify the voice of people with disability in the public domain and in advocating for specific outcomes for the disability sector more broadly.

I am a perpetual student, particularly in leadership and organisational psychology, and a committed mentor, using my skills to support women to believe in their value, find their own voices, and not only find their place – but make their mark in their communities and workplaces.

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?

I share the values that WDV holds in relation to building the strength and voice of women with disability deeply.

I believe in the value of allyship, and the ways in which allies can raise public awareness of the need for – and value – of considering the experiences of others, especially women, who are so often overlooked, undervalued, and face barriers to participating meaningfully – yet who form the cornerstone of our society. These barriers are even more so experienced by women with disability.

A role on the Board of WDV would enable me to serve this community; make a mark on the broader community understanding of disability; and know that I’ve left a positive legacy through my work.

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?

• I’d love the opportunity to support women with disability to tell their own stories in the places that matter, to drive awareness of the need for and value of considering the experiences of women with disability in Government policymaking but also within organisations and the general community.
• I’d aim to drive membership numbers and engagement to support WDV hubs to self-organise and share skills and learnings within their local regions.
• I’d aim to bring my networks across different sectors to support WDV strategic goal achievement, thereby growing the reach of the interests of WDV membership.
• I’d aim to support organisational growth and sustainability through bringing sound governance principles and leading practices into the organisation, where relevant and of benefit.
• I’d aim to bring sound, supportive leadership and organisational development practices to support WDV to keep pace and plan of the needs of the future.

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?

There are no conflicts of interest currently. I am in a leadership role at Able Australia, which is a disability service provider. In the future, a potential conflict of interest may arise, if, for example, both Able and WDV wanted to apply for the same grant or funding pool. I understand the requirements of identifying and declaring conflicts of interest, should they arise, and would take appropriate actions early, should they occur.

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.

I bring ten years of leadership in the disability sector, advocating on behalf of people with disability to a wide range of stakeholders, including government and government agencies (i.e., the NDIA), public and private sectors. My experience has included systemic and individual advocacy with people with a wide range of disabilities (including LGBTIQA+, deaf and hard-of-hearing, CALD, and low vision), including those disabilities which are invisible and with high levels of public misunderstanding and need for education.

My career has spanned disability employment and accessibility of all types, in a range of applications. I bring expertise in working with the government to advocate to make communications accessible, supporting government to develop communications accessibility guidelines, as well as to support transport accessibility.

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board:

I bring senior executive leadership in the disability sector, leading the Marketing, Fundraising and Engagement functions, while supporting strategy development, organisational growth, and transformation to support sustainability, risk management, income development, community engagement and partnership development. This is backed by the completion of an MBA, my experience in numerous mentoring roles, and long and close interaction with board committees.

I have a broad range of skills in strategy and organisational development and have skills in stakeholder engagement and in the ability to bring together connections with similar interests, along with community engagement and marketing, fundraising, and public relations.

In terms of communications, I am proud to have developed accessibility guidelines for website and other communications – beyond WCAG guidelines – developing the world’s first bilingual Auslan-first platform. Moreover, I led the development of an underpinning communications methodology to support accessibility.

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?

In a world crowded with voices, a key challenge is in supporting women with disabilities by building their own capacity to navigate systems in which barriers remain.

So often the prevailing able-ism and prejudice against women is left unseen, unscrutinised and, in fact, internalised – even by women.
The opportunity here lies in building the capacity of women to identify these attitudes and the barriers that these attitudes create, and to support women to call out the attitudes and dismantle the barriers, constructively, through training, resources, and support at both a systemic and individual level.

When women with disabilities find their voices against these attitudes, the environment is created for these women to feel able to take up the opportunities that are out there, and have a voice at the table

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?

WDV has come highly recommended by a professional in the disability sector. I would welcome the opportunity to serve through WDV.