Ambassadors

Penelope is the Client and Community Engagement Manager at the Women’s Legal Centre ACT. She joined the Centre in early 2022, after nearly fifteen years in the Commonwealth public service. Before that she worked as a sessional tutor teaching children’s literature and creative writing and wrote a newspaper column about children’s books.

The opportunity to move into the community legal sector aligned with her values. In government she had worked mostly in human rights, with a focus on women, children, older people and disability rights. She worked on projects to address abuse, violence or inequality. Being able to use the skills she developed in government to help the Centre achieve its vision that women are safe, strong and in control of their lives has meant the world to her.

There is space for a really big range of skills. There’re opportunities that you might not think about. It’s not all about direct client service, it’s not all about specific social work or psychology or legal skills. There are places for pretty much every skill to help organisations serve people better and become better organisations.