Impact Story - Ashleigh Stearns
“People are never just one thing. Everybody has a lived experience… I can’t separate my experience as a woman, my experience as a queer woman, my experience as a queer, disabled woman… For me to feel included and welcomed and safe in a workplace, you have to acknowledge all of those things about me.”
Ashleigh Stearns, 34, based in Melbourne/Narrm, is the Equity and Lived Experience Lead at Life Without Barriers. She is a queer and proudly disabled woman, and a leader in the disability inclusion and LGBTQIA+ spaces. At the core of her leadership is a belief that true workplace inclusion means recognising the whole person by acknowledging and respecting their gender, sexuality, disability and more.
In her role at Life Without Barriers, Ashleigh leads the development of the organisation’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, manages employee networks and works to address structural barriers such as policy and accessibility. She also contributes to the Disability Employment Catalyst (DEC) in partnership with The Achieve Foundation, supporting employers and managers to confidently and effectively employ people with disability.
Ashleigh is also working to shift how disability is understood and discussed in the workplace. She acknowledges that many people are unsure how to engage with the concept of disability.
“I often question why people reject the disability label,” she says. “I quite often say disability is not a dirty word. Please use it…”
She emphasises the importance of creating safe spaces for all people with disability, and reminds others that most disabilities are not visible and may not be immediately apparent. She also encourages both employers and employees to reflect on internalised ableism, which can result in underestimating how broad and diverse the disability community truly is.
“Globally, people, when they hear ‘disability’, think accessible parking. You know that little blue and white wheelchair icon. Physical disability, I think, comes to mind most often… but disability is very broad. We are talking about people with mental health conditions, chronic illnesses, neurodivergent employees…”
As Ashleigh’s job title suggests, she harnesses lived experience, both her own and that of employees and employers across the programs she facilitates, using these insights as the foundation for shaping diversity, equity and inclusion at Life Without Barriers and through their contributions to the DEC.
“We are really focusing on embedding lived experience perspectives in everything that we do,” says Ashleigh.
Ashleigh acknowledges the diverse lived experiences of the people she works with and stresses that each person’s experience is unique, personal, and multi-faceted. However, she has often come across a lack of shared understanding about what ‘disability’ really means, both in the workplace and beyond. She says that while Life Without Barriers is ahead of many organisations, there’s still room to foster a broader understanding of the many different ways disability can present itself in the workplace.
“People often view disability only through the lens of those we support,” Ashleigh explains. “They do not consider that the person sitting at the desk next to them could also have a disability.”
Unfortunately in many workplaces, even within the disability sector, narrow perspectives like this have the potential to lead to discriminatory or ableist attitudes from employers and result in isolation or internalised self-doubt for employees with disability”
“Not feeling disabled enough… it is like this insidious form of imposter syndrome.” Ashleigh adds.
To combat these challenges and build an even more inclusive workplace culture, Ashleigh advocates for a trauma-informed, person-centred approach and says that “creating cues that signal safety is key”.
Her own story reflects how inclusive environments can make a difference. “I work remotely. There was never an expectation to go to the office, which can be really stressful from a sensory perspective.” That flexibility both supported her needs, and communicated the trust of her organisation.
Representation is another vital piece of the puzzle says Ashleigh, “Having a disabled leader means you do not have to explain yourself or justify your experience.” It sends a powerful message that disability is not something to overcome, it is something to value and Ashleigh is leading the way in helping make better representation of people with disability a reality.
Within the context of the Disability Employment Catalyst (DEC), Ashleigh is focusing on using the lessons of lived experience, both hers and others, to ensure that the program is successful. “My commitment is that we make this work,” she says. “This is not going to go in a drawer and never be looked at again.”
Her aspiration for the DEC moving forward is simple. “The bottom line is seeing more disabled people employed. I want people with disability to show up authentically as themselves at work and have open conversations about what they need.”
Ultimately, for Ashleigh, change does not come from checklists or training alone. It starts with listening to the real, messy and multifaceted experiences of people with disability. As Ashleigh puts it, “Labels are for jam jars, not for people.”
