Ep#132: ‘Own it’: Empowering neuro-affirming workstyles and environments with Joey Ballantyne
Trigger warning: themes of mental health/sexual assault
Robin Edmonds from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts and Joey Ballantyne of Grit n Grace Collective talk about neurodiversity, developing a strong sense of self, and supporting people to learn and work in a way that helps them thrive.
When Joey Ballantyne, founder of Grit n Grace Collective, speaks about breaking the survive/burnout cycle, and her late autism diagnosis, it comes from the heart. Driven by her own experience, she started her own neuro-affirming professional development program, built to empower atypical women in the workplace.
In this special Work with Purpose conversation, Joey and guest host Robin Edmonds, co-chair and co-founder of the Australian Public Sector Neurodiversity Community of Practice and assistant director, Media Reform at the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, shed light on the experiences of neurodivergent women in the workplace, and the specific challenges they face. They also talk about ways to get to know yourself, and how managers can build inclusive team cultures that benefit everyone.,
Key tips
- Develop a strong sense of self and what you need in a work environment to succeed
- As a leader, give agency to your staff to show you how the work best. For example, ask people how they want to receive feedback
- Be clear about meeting purposes, take notes, and give people time to process.
Speakers
Joey Ballantyne
After a global career in management consulting and commercial diplomacy, Joey Ballantyne founded Grit n Grace Collective, a professional development coaching organisation specifically for neurodivergent folks. She was driven to this work after her own late autism diagnosis and now works to support other neurodivergent professionals to overcome persistent bouts of burnout to create sustainably successful careers.
Robin Edmonds
Robin Edmonds is assistant director, Media Reform at the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and the Arts. She was previously an adviser in the Inclusion and Diversity Team at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She is the co-chair and co-founder of the Australian Public Sector Neurodiversity Community of Practice. She has been co-chair of the PM&C Ability Network since 2021, and led a range of disability inclusion and accessibility initiatives across the department, including coordinating several multi-agency events in collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Attorney-General’s Department, Treasury, and others. Robin recently developed an inclusive communication guide for neurodivergent and diverse teams, which has been taken up by a number of agencies and manager programs. Robin uses her voice and lived experience to champion for disability, LGBTIQA+, and neurodivergent inclusion, and is passionate about embedding diversity in the future of the public sector.