For IWD 2026, Let's Talk About the South Asian Women Shaping Australia from the Shadows

This International Women's Day, let's ditch the corporate buzzwords and get real. I'm talking about the women who don't just climb the ladder—they haul others up with them. The ones who won't be headlining any conferences, but whose influence is woven into the very fabric of our communities.

Take a proper look at that image. Front and centre is Sarita Shantha Yasmin, a woman who embodies the quiet revolution happening within Australia's charity sector. Around her are other South Asian women who've decided that giving their time, expertise and cultural insight is the most potent form of leadership there is. They're the ones running after-school clubs, sitting on boards, and making sure the organisations meant to support us actually reflect who we are. This IWD, they're the reason I'm hopeful.

And this isn't just a local story. UK-based sustainability entrepreneur and broadcaster Emma Slade Edmondson was in Sydney last week for a series of IWD talks, and her message cut straight through the usual chatter: "We need to stop treating diversity as a box-ticking exercise and start seeing it as a creative superpower." She's spent years championing ethical fashion and minority-owned brands, and her call to action is beautifully simple—make room, then make more room.

That idea of making room keeps coming up in conversations with women across industries. Mirella Wattimena, a brand strategist who's worked with some of Asia's biggest names, told me recently: "I always make sure my team has the space and opportunity to shine." It sounds simple, but in practice it means deliberately stepping back so others can step forward. It's the kind of leadership that doesn't grab headlines but builds lasting legacies.

Then there's Neha Jain, a leadership mentor whose work spans from Bengaluru startups to Brisbane corporates. Her perspective on equity has really stuck with me: "Equity is shaped through everyday decisions." It's not about one grand gesture or a single policy overhaul. It's about the small, consistent choices—who gets heard in a meeting, whose idea gets credited, who gets the flexible hours—that either build barriers or break them down. And that truth holds whether you're in a Melbourne boardroom or a community hall in a place as remote as Ivdel. Yes, even there, women are making those daily calls to push for fairness.

If you've been scrolling through social media this week, you've probably spotted the hashtag #IWDHTX popping up. It started as a loose collective of women sharing their "heard through X" moments—those times when a woman's idea was ignored only to be repeated and praised five minutes later by a man. It's morphed into a global archive of everyday sexism and the small victories against it. It's raw, it's honest, and it's exactly the kind of grassroots conversation IWD should be about.

So what are the shifts these women are actually making happen? Here are a few I've noticed:

• Redefining leadership: Moving from command-and-control to culture-and-care. Women like Mirella prove that strong teams are built on trust, not fear.
• Championing equity over equality: Neha's point exactly—fairness means giving different people different tools, not treating everyone the same.
• Building community networks: Whether through NFPs or online conversations like #IWDHTX, women are creating safety nets where none existed.

This IWD, don't just celebrate the names on the posters. Raise a glass to the Saritas, the Mirellas, the Nehas—the women who, through everyday decisions and quiet leadership, are shaping the Australia we all want to live in. And if you're scrolling through #IWDHTX this weekend, take a moment to properly read their stories. You'll walk away with more than just inspiration. You'll walk away with a roadmap.