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The first time Kayshie Tilak Ramesh experienced racism was in year three. Later, despite being born in Griffith, NSW and raised in Bendigo, VIC, when she was the multicultural youth commissioner she was asked to share her refugee story.
Now, she’s changing systems, one conversation at a time.
In today’s conversation, Khayshie will share her recent experiences representing Australia at the United Nations Commission on the Status of women, how workplaces represent our greatest opportunity for systemic change, and we’ll dig into conversations about meaningful antiracism.
Khayshie’s resume is impressive: Senior Industry Fellow with RMIT FORWARD: The Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation, previous Multicultural Youth Commissioner of Victoria, Inaugural Youth Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo, Young Citizen of the Year, Law Student of the Year, she won the Premier’s Volunteer Leadership Award and Victorian Multicultural Award for Excellence: Service to the Victorian Community
Now, she runs her own consultancy, alongside a number of board and committee positions.
In this episode we discuss:
- Khayshie’s career progression and getting her first Board position age 18 through the Bendigo Bank program
- Using her experience to make complex systems understandable
- How we really make change in DEI
- Her work at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and what it taught her about negotiating for change
- How we work to maintain our position regarding gender equity – holding ground is worth celebrating
- Advocacy burnout and the challenge of questioning your employer
- Workplaces present our biggest opportunity for change, and training is our biggest avenue to drive change
- Antiracism, what it is, and how she brings it to her work
- What equity looks like, and the analogy of the running track
- Moving against the crowd rather than passively being drawn along
- Being polite and being liked are survival mechanisms in the workplace
About Khayshie Tilak Ramesh
Khayshie Tilak Ramesh is a lawyer by trade but a storyteller and educator by heart. She is known for weaving lived experience and strategic insights together to catalyse systemic and behavioural change.
Khayshie is a well-respected community leader with 10 years of strategy and governance experience across local government, legal, leadership, housing, health, education, mental health, youth, gender equality and multicultural sectors.
She proudly served two consecutive terms as the Multicultural Youth Commissioner of Victoria advocating for better outcomes for multicultural communities. As a champion of intersectional approaches to gender equality, Khayshie has also represented Australia’s gender equality priorities globally at the United Nations on multiple occasions.
Khayshie is a sought after thought leader, speaker and commentator within diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and intersectional gender equality spaces. Her deep understanding of people, community and systems enables her to change hearts and minds by making the ‘invisible’ visible. Her speaking style is characterised by relatable personal stories, enveloped in quick witted humour and sealed with practical calls to action.