Disability advocate and social entrepreneur Anja Christoffersen didn’t grow up seeing enough disability representation in leadership, but this has only motivated her to be that change for others.
“I really struggled to identify as disabled because when disability representation started to be seen, it was really just people who were wheelchair users,” says Christoffersen, who has a less visible disability called VACTERL Association, a cluster of defects affecting multiple body systems.
“I didn’t necessarily feel like my disability was valid, or that I was disabled enough, and I definitely didn’t see that representation at all in leadership,” she tells Women’s Agenda.
Since then, Christoffersen has become the representation of leadership that she wished she’d seen more of as a young disabled person.
A woman of many roles, Christoffersen is the founder and CEO of the Women with Disabilities Entrepreneur Network, a space for women with disabilities to start and build their careers as entrepreneurs.
She’s also the founder and CEO of Shh!t Happens, an eco-friendly Australian made essentials company, sparking conversations to support the 20 per cent of Australians with disabilities-, and the 90 per cent of whom have disabilities that are ‘invisible’ like Christoffersen.
“I feel like now, more and more people are acknowledging that invisible disabilities exist,” she says about the progress she’s witnessing through her work.
It’s this progress and passion that has seen Christoffersen recognised as the QLD winner of Women & Leadership Australia’s 2025 Australian Awards for Excellence in Women’s Leadership. She’ll be accepting the award and speaking at the Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium in Brisbane on the 30th of May.
“Receiving this award motivates and astounds me,” Christoffersen says ahead of the ceremony. “Even though I’ve grown and done some incredible things, I still feel like little old me; the scared child in a hospital bed hoping for a better future for myself and others on a similar path.”
“Being an award-winner acknowledges that careers built on the principles of advocacy and social change are valuable, and this in itself is game changing. What we view as leadership is changing, and that opens up an incredible world of possibility for marginalised communities.”
Leadership built on passion
As a young person with a disability, Christoffersen held a complex relationship with Australia’s healthcare system that ultimately led her to platform her experience for the sake of improving lives.
Having seen first-hand the system’s successes and failures, Christoffersen says that initially she wanted to become a doctor but found her unique skills were better suited to advocating in other ways.
“As a young person, I couldn’t imagine a greater joy than being able to positively contribute back to the system as a doctor,” she says. “I had to pivot when I came to terms with my inability to provide the consistency of care people require, due to the challenges presented by my dynamic disability. I realised that I could contribute in other ways, through my most valuable asset – my lived experience.”
When Christoffersen started her first business to improve the social and economic inclusion for people with disability, she had a perspective-changing moment when she was told by someone in the industry that “it was incredible” how much she cared about the cause.
“I naively thought everyone did,” she reflects. “But quickly [I] learnt that what is a job for others, wasn’t for me – it represented my life and wellbeing, and that of those I care deeply about.”
“The biggest barrier I have overcome is one within myself – the desire to ‘make people care’, whether that be about the welfare of the disability community, or how we are able to make true social and economic progress for marginalised communities through business.”
Over the years, Christoffersen has honed her ability to articulate the urgency for change, but it wasn’t always easy. When people didn’t listen to the challenges she was speaking out about, she remembers having to navigate “perpetual burnout and survival mode”.
“It took me time to learn that I should speak without the need to be heard, but to express myself – knowing that it is still valid and important,” she says. “The message only has to resonate with one person for a ripple effect of change.”
Expanding advocacy careers
Amid the instrumental change that Christoffersen has already led, her vision for a more equitable future reveals there’s even more impact to expect.
Her first focus is on building more pathways for ‘advocacy careers’ through valuing and professionalising lived experience.
“Often those we idolise as creating incredible change (especially from great adversity) drive themselves into poverty as their work is valued socially but not economically,” says Christoffersen. “I hope that the taboo of making money hand in hand with social change is removed, so we can keep more passionate people doing the work they love that benefits us all.
Her second focus is around creating a disability owned business ecosystem, which she notes has been modelled by the indigenous-owned business sector that have a certification and committed procurement spend from government and corporates to those businesses.
This kind of business model, Christoffersen says “enables us as consumers to exercise the power of choice to support the causes and communities that are important to us.”
A driving factor behind the creation of her brand SHH!T Happens, Christoffersen says a disability-owned business ecosystem “has the potential to shift the economic power towards the disability community, so we have true and independent choice and control and can drive the solutions to our own challenges”.
Anja Christoffersen will be speaking at the upcoming Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium in Brisbane on Friday 30th May 2025. Tickets to the event are available here.