Hello, from me, for the first time as CEO of Women’s Health Matters.
I started in September after four years leading Hepatitis ACT, and I have spent my first weeks doing a lot of listening. Thirty-five years of advocacy, research and education on women’s health in the ACT doesn’t fit in a handover folder.
And what a time to arrive. On 10 September we marked WHM’s 35th anniversary with staff and Board members past and present, our members, sector colleagues and government, including Minister for Health, Dr Marisa Paterson, who spoke about what this organisation has achieved for ACT women. It was a good reminder that none of it happened by accident. It happened because women pushed: for the research, for the policy changes, and to be heard.
That work isn’t finished. Women, cis and trans, still face real gaps in health care, in research, and in access to services designed with gender in mind. I am looking forward to working with the team and Board to build on what’s here, and to push harder where it counts.
One ask: our AGM is on 19 November, and we are recruiting volunteer Board members. If you bring finance, governance, legal, strategy or communications skills and care about women’s health, have a look at the ad on Ethical Jobs.