Interview with Meagan Shand for International Day of People with Disability 2024

By Ariel Wee, Advisor, Diversity Inclusion and Belonging, People and Culture and Meagan Shand, Equity and Inclusion team, Student Life and Community

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations (UN) day observed internationally, which promotes community awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability. The theme for IDPwD 2024 is Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future. In this interview, Meagan Shand, an experienced disability leader and Advisor Equity and Inclusion, Student Life and Community, reflects on her leadership journey, how this is linked to her tertiary studies, and qualities such as resilience.

Hi Meagan, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a Curtin graduate, and recently joined Curtin as an Advisor in the Equity and Inclusion team, my position is responsible for management and co-ordination of Curtin’s Disability Access and Inclusion Plan.

I am also an experienced disability leader, coach and mentor, and I am committed to building a resilient and thriving disability community.

Were you living with disability when you were studying at Curtin? What challenges did you face then?
I acquired my disability when I was studying a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion at Curtin, it happened on semester break, when I was travelling on an overseas holiday. I very clearly remember the day I came back to university after going through rehabilitation. I was standing at the bottom of the stairs at the School of Population Health, Building 400. Looking up and feeling anxious about taking the next step, I felt vulnerable and alone as I slowly climbed those stairs.

It’s interesting to look back on this experience, I had very limited support returning to university over twenty years ago. The services and commitments we have at Curtin today, such as AccessAbility Services, the Curtin Access Plan and the Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) didn’t exist. I suppose fewer people with disability were expected to make it to university back then.

Coming back to Curtin as an employee this year, it feels like I have come full circle. Since returning to the campus, I’ve had some good disability support as an employee. There’s still a way to go, but it’s positive to see how far disability access and inclusion has come.

What other memorable experiences do you recall coming back to University?
In one of my units, we were required to plan a health promotion project, and I used my real-world experience to create a project plan for improving health and well-being for people with disability.

Upon graduation I submitted that project to Lotterywest and Healthway and secured funding to deliver the health promotion initiative that I designed at university. In the process, I created my own employment opportunity straight out of university, which was a great start to my career in the not-for-profit sector.

Wow. What happened after that?
I also established a disability-led community action group for people with physical disabilities. Together we advocated for change, working with government to influence policy and review services as well as establishing a peer support program.

I was motivated to make a difference and took on other leadership roles, including joining the Board of Recreation Network Inc (now Inclusion WA) and leading the development of statewide guidelines for inclusion in community sports and recreation for local governments.

In 2001, I received a Centenary Medal of Australia for my disability leadership. The Centenary Medal of Australia was awarded to people who served Australia, for example community volunteers, and those whose achievements in science, research or the arts made a notable impact at a national or international level.

This medal launched my leadership journey and I continued to step up, taking on the role of President of the WA Branch of the Australian Health Promotion Association, and convening the 18th National Australian Health Promotion Association Conference at the Perth Conference & Exhibition Centre (PCEC), in 2009.

Giving the opening address at the Conference, was another defining moment for me, I remember standing at the PCEC looking out on the Derbarl Yerrigan, and reflecting on just how far I had come. I recalled that moment when I stood at the bottom of the stairs on that first day back at university, feeling vulnerable and alone, now I felt strong and courageous as I walked into the auditorium to deliver my speech.

How did you feel about being recognised for your achievements as a leader amongst people living with disability?
Humble and curious. I reflected a lot on how I reached this point in my career after experiencing such a big setback, I was amazed at my own strength and capacity and what I had achieved in a relatively short period of time.

I had met a lot of people who had been through similar challenges, who struggled to get back up. I began to question what enabled one person to succeed, where others struggled to thrive? The word that kept coming to mind for me, at the time, was resilience.

Then, a unique opportunity crossed my path, and I was able to combine a few of my passions into a research project: resilience, art and community. I enrolled in a Masters of Social Science at Edith Cowan University to explore and understand resilience. I chose this pathway because they offered a two-year Masters by Research at the time.

Can you tell me more about your research project on resilience?
My research focused on Understanding and Building Resilience with Art, I used narrative based research methods to explore the stories and experiences of eight women from diverse cultural backgrounds participating in a community mental health art program. Each women had experienced significant challenges and together we explored how participation in art contributed to resilience.

The best thing was … I got to immerse myself in their world for 12 months, and I got to actually do the art. I love creating.

We casted, painted and decorated body sculptures together, and I explored their experience through the art works created and the stories shared. As well as a thesis, I published a colourful story book featuring our art and stories. It was a unique and rewarding experience.

What did you learn about resilience? How does resilience relate to leadership?
At the time, popular theory suggested that resilience was the ability to “bounce back”, often using the analogy of a ball. Through my personal and professional experiences, and research, I began to understand resilience as something more complex.

First, I view personal resilience as the ability to stay strong during challenging times, it is not a simple matter of bouncing back to where you were before. This simplistic view of resilience minimises how complex and challenging the journey to resilience can be, sometimes we take two steps forward and one step back, we need to rest and recharge often, and other times we need to pivot and completely change direction. Growth and recovery are not simple linear processes.

Second, resilience is not just about the individual; I took a broader “ecological systems approach” to understanding and building resilience, which also considered the social and environmental factors, such as having a good support network. There are many factors beyond the individual that contribute to resilience.

In August this year, I participated on a diversity panel at the WA Women in Leadership Summit, our VC Professor Harlene Hayne spoke about her leadership experience at this event, along with other high-profile speakers including Australia’s first female Prime Minister the Hon Julia Gillard AC; the Rt Hon Theresa May, United Kingdom’s second female Prime Minister; and the Rt Hon Helen Clarke, second female Prime Minister to New Zealand.

I was surprised how often resilience featured in the narrative of the day. The Rt Hon Helen Clarke identified resilience as one of the key factors to leadership success, highlighting two key aspects:
• Being able to manage setbacks and challenges.
• Having a strong support network, “never stand alone” she said.

I echo the Rt Hon Helen Clarke‘s message and encourage all of our Curtin employees and students with disabilities to: surround yourself with people who truly believe in you and your abilities, and will help you rise up to the next level.

How about disability and leadership? What are your thoughts on the theme for IDPwD 2024 “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”?
In recent years I have been active in the disability leadership space. Over the years I grew my career reaching management and executive levels; in 2017 I stepped up to the role of CEO of Arts Access Australia, a small agile national peak body promoting access to the arts for people with disability.

I travelled across Australia and across the world showcasing disability arts, including staging the first international arts and disability forum in Berlin. Selecting eight Australian artists with disability to travel with me, I worked with the Berlin Senate, German Embassy, key national German arts institutions and local German artists with disability to create a 10-day disability arts exchange in Berlin. An article in the German press hailed the arts and disability forum as “the most accessible event of its kind.”

I have embraced the opportunity to lead some extraordinary projects and had the honour to work with some of Australia’s most spirited community and cultural leaders, and I am committed to sharing the wisdom and lessons learnt.

Recently, I was invited to join Australia’s first disability leadership coaching panel, the program offers one-to-one coaching for disability leaders at all levels, as well as people working with disability leaders and emerging leaders who want to improve practice and achieve more inclusive outcomes. I also helped to establish the inaugural CEO Internship Program, which provides a unique opportunity for high potential leaders with disability, with C-suite aspirations, to work alongside the CEO or executive team member of some of Australia’s leading organisations.

There is a growing body of knowledge of how disability leadership can be done, disabled leaders think and do things differently and that is good for innovation. The bottom line is, we have a lot to learn from disabled leaders and we need to value the unique contribution they have to offer and create more opportunities for them to lead.

I was pleased to see the Curtin Universal Design Sub-Committee adopt a co-leadership model and appoint Professor Katie Ellis as Co-Chair. Things are progressing in Universal Design at Curtin and it is good to see that the wisdom and knowledge of people with disability will be co-leading the way forward.