Image above: Mikaella Latimore from Life Without Barriers and Stepping Into intern, Georgia McBeath.
When Life Without Barriers (LWB) got involved with the Australian Network on Disability’s (AND) Stepping Into internships program, they were excited at the prospect of access to a new pipeline of talent. The fact that their first two interns continued to work at LWB after completing their internships proved the program was a resounding success. In fact, LWB is looking forward to hosting six more interns this summer.
LWB is a leading social purpose organisation working in more than 440 communities across Australia. Eager to attract and retain the broadest diversity of employees to fulfil their business needs, LWB put forward two internship positions to AND. Commenting on their motivation to get involved in the program, Mikaella Latimore, Talent & Attraction Lead, said:
‘At Life Without Barriers, we see the value people with disability can bring to our workplace and have taken every effort to ensure we can deliver a workplace that is accessible and welcoming to all.
‘Once our interns realised we’re here to support them with meaningful work, and that they’d be treated like the rest of the team, they noticeably grew in confidence and quickly flourished.’
University student and Stepping Into intern, Georgia McBeath, was thrilled to join such a welcoming team. In the past, she’d felt nervous about mentioning disability to employers for fear of discrimination, but her experience with LWB gave her more confidence to speak up.
‘It’s been great, I’ve learnt so much. I started in marketing within the Strategy and Engagement team working on digital and social media, then the Learning and Development team and Recruitment,’ said Ms McBeath.
‘I’m now on a twelve-month contract as a Communications Administrator within the Strategy and Engagement team.’
For LWB, the success of their Stepping Into experience is the result of the positive attitudes and skills of their interns, as well as the support and confidence they received from AND throughout the process.
‘The interns have brought a great education, a high work ethic and fantastic energy into their roles at LWB. It’s been this and their alignment with the LWB values that’s given them ongoing work,’ said Mrs Latimore.
‘AND matched us with interns well-suited to the roles and supported the team to understand workplace adjustments. They provided a fantastic recruitment process and made the process seamless.’
When asked whether she’d recommend the Stepping Into program to other employers, Mrs Latimore responded:
‘It’s a solid internship program with expert external support, that also contributes to diversity and inclusion and is a fantastic source of great talent – why wouldn’t you?’
