In June, SAGE was privileged to partner with the Gender and Education Association and Charles Sturt University to deliver the Association’s 24th annual Conference on Birpai Country, at Port Macquarie.

The organisers brought together a wide-ranging program to challenge attendees and created a powerful space to build our changemaking community.

Amongst the range of compelling keynote speakers were Wiradjuri geographer Professor Corrinne Sullivan, UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education and Students) Professor Kylie Readman, and rewilding teacher Gina Chick.

We were also privileged to hear from Research Scientist Dr Colleen MacMillan, co-creator of the Intersectionality Walk, exploring CSIRO’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy and the impacts made through the SAGE framework. Situating our work in the context of planetary polycrisis, Colleen identified the urgency of diversifying our workplaces and bringing the best minds on board.

The SAGE Symposium brought about some rich discussions and mountains of actionable ideas emerged at our workshop. A big thank you to our panellists, who shared insights about growing your sphere of influence to make systemic change: Reconciliation advocate Loren Collyer, neuroscientist Dr Alison Wright, equity specialist Dr Kieryn McKay, Superstar of STEM Dr Camelia Walker and feminist scholar A/Prof Gail Crimmins.