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This conversation with Susanne Legena exceeded my expectations, and I obviously only invite people on who I expect will be interesting in the first place!
Susanne has dedicated her life to supporting equality and rights for girls, as CEO of Plan Australia. Susanne is a passionate feminist and champion of young people, and is navigating her big career whilst raising her own 12 year old daughter.
We covered so much in this conversation – from climbing 10,000 steps in Sri Lanka and the life lessons she took away about wanting to stop, taking small breaks, and the value of encouragement and support, to putting herself forward as CEO of Plan so that she would at least be the worst candidate, to the fact that whatever is for you can never really be lost to you – opportunities and the right thing, will come back around.
Susanne is enthusiastic, incredibly knowledgeable, and so relatable in the way she shares her passion. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did…
In this episode we discuss:
- Plan’s humanitarian approach working for equality for all girls
- Plan’s goals to support children and girls to Learn – to stay in education and have the chance to learn; Lead – to claim and own their voices; Decide – especially around marriage and body autonomy; Thrive – through economic independence
- Susanne’s proud work moments of working in communities with young people to change laws, for example Colombia’s child marriage laws changed last year, and Plan supported changing gender norms at a school food program in Cambodia, so the boys learned to garden and cook alongside the girls.
- Her own story of her husband not being allowed to work a four day work week
- She dove into the Gender Compass and views on gender equality in Australia – 17% are trailblazers who push us to do better, but the opposers group includes 1 in 5 men under age 35.
- The benefits that accrue to everyone when we focus on equality
- How she uses data and stories to shift norms and drive change, working directly with impacted and marginalised people
- How she recharges and “mines for joy”
- The importance of prioritising self care during your days
- We need to be a magnet, a mirror and a model of the world we want to see
- Her imposter feelings taking on the role of CEO at Plan
- A 10,000-steps hike she did in Cambodia, the physical challenge of it, and how she got through by resting, being encouraged by the group, doing 5 more then 5 more – and how that’s a metaphor for life
- Interviewing for the job you want not the job you have
- How we can reimagine leadership and reassess how we think about roles and flexibility
- Susanne’s belief that whatever is yours can never be lost to you – opportunities come back if they are the right opportunity
About Susanne Legena
Susanne Legena was appointed CEO of Plan International Australia in 2017 and has had more than 20 years of Senior Management experience in the public and not for profit sector working in community development, advocacy and social change.
Susanne is a passionate advocate and spokesperson for the work of Plan International Australia providing emergency response in partnership with local organisations and young people in more than 80 countries around the world. Susanne has seen first-hand the incredible work of Plan International in places such as Laos, Uganda and Zimbabwe and the importance of specific interventions for children and for girls especially for education in emergencies.
Previously she served on the ACFID Board for six years until 2022 and is currently Board Chair of the Emergency Action Alliance, and a director for CommUnity Plus a community development organisation in the West of Melbourne. Prior to joining Plan International Australia, Susanne was Chief of Staff to the Victorian Minister for Energy and Community Development – with responsibility for the whole of government strategy to tackle disadvantage.
Susanne has a BA from Finders University in Political Science and Sociology and a Masters in Professional Communication from Deakin University.