Internationally recognised youth and gender advocate Ashleigh Streeter-Jones knows the importance of setting boundaries in the day-to-day and not being afraid to say ‘no’.
As someone who manages chronic pain on top of her many different roles and responsibilities, Streeter-Jones is the latest to feature in our How I Manage My Health series examining how dynamic women from different career backgrounds manage their physical and mental health.
Founder and CEO of Raise Our Voice Australia, Streeter-Jones leads the social enterprise working to amplify the voices of young women and non-binary voices in politics and policy.
She has worked in advocacy and campaigns for nearly 10 years, with a focus on youth and gender, and was described by Forbes Magazine as a “youthful visionary”.
Recognised as a global thought leader, Streeter-Jones has written and presented on the importance of young people in the public sector for organisations such as the World Economic Forum and World YMCA. And she’s advocated for youth and gender equality at the Commission on the Status of Women as well as the United Nations.
In 2022, she was a guest speaker on former Prime Minister Gillard’s “Not Now Not Ever” speaking tour to mark the 10 year anniversary of the misogyny speech and was selected as one of 50 young global leaders to attend Davos at the World Economic Forum.
Street-Jones was also a finalist for ‘Agenda Setter of the Year’ in the 2022 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.
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Read Ashleigh Streeter-Jones’ full health profile below and get Women’s Health News in your inbox. Subscribe here.
In the morning, I…
Crawl out of bed at the last possible minute and put the kettle on before opening my laptop. I’ve always been a bad sleeper and as a result, I’m not a morning person – when I’m working from home I get up at 8.55am to be on my laptop at 9am and try not to do any meetings before 9.30am.
My exercise routine includes…
Making sure I get 11, 000 steps a day. As someone with chronic pain, challenges with sleep and a dynamic disability, I never know what my body will be doing/ how I will be feeling on a given day. At a bare minimum I try not to be too sedentary, and have set myself a rule that if I’m on the phone, I need to be up and walking (though this isn’t as easy when cameras are required!). While I dont get there all days, I’ve developed good habits and often find myself thinking about how much movement I’ve done during the day which is a great prompt.
My favourite workout is…
More often than not, I struggle to work out – this is often dictated by my pain levels, and what I feel able to do. It doesn’t help that I don’t enjoy exercise, and have difficulty finding a routine. My plan for this year is to start dancing again, it brings me so much joy and I need to set time aside to move in a way which works for me.
I find balance in…
I’ll be honest, balance is always a work in progress for me. I work a full time job, run and lead a social enterprise, am a writer and speaker, and have a number of volunteer positions on the side of that some of which are based in international time zones – and that’s without being a daughter, partner, sister, friend, any professional development, life admin and general down time. I rely a lot on my incredible supportive partner, who helps me keep the various plates spinning. More often than not, I feel like I’m dropping the ball – but as a basic boundary, I always set an aim not to work after dinner time.
My plan to get balance for 2023 is to say no more – if it’s not a heck yes and I’m not excited by the prospect of what I’m being asked to do, it’s a no. This won’t work in all situations, but success for me will look like doing fewer things to a better standard, and showing up and being more present for the people I love.
On health, I encourage women to…
Write your list of non-negotiables/ boundaries and say no. As women in particular, society asks so much from us particularly in terms of care and community care. We need to get comfortable and practice saying no (where we can – I acknowledge this isn’t always easy or possible).
Are you passionate about making a difference in politics, policy and gender equality? Raise Our Voice Australia is looking for volunteers until 27/01/2023– Get in touch with them here.