BUILDING SAFE FUTURES
Make your end of financial year the beginning of another woman’s financial independence.
New to the Australian market, Stella Insurance is a female-first, purpose-driven business created by women, for women. Stella is building a community to help educate, support and empower women to balance the gender bias in matters such as insurance – and life at large. Starting with car insurance, Stella designs products and customer experiences that prioritise women. It strives to partner with likeminded people and organisations to drive practical and progressive change.
Stella has recently partnered with Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC), which supports women and children in crisis to build safe futures. Together, they want to end gender-based violence in a generation.
At WAGEC, their 44 years of experience combined with research evidence from Our Watch, Australia’s national prevention organisation has identified that access to economic safety and financial independence are crucial to breaking the cycle of violence. Our Watch’s Change the Story framework for primary prevention of violence against women and their children shows that promoting women’s independence, economic security and decision-making in public life and relationships is essential to driving change. This is why WAGEC delivers the ACCESS program, supporting women’s independence through training, education and employment support.
As with all WAGEC programs, women supporting women is the core principle of ACCESS. Michelly De Almeida is a volunteer mentor who recently supported a WAGEC mentee to work towards financial independence.
“Sometimes all we need is one person who believes in us, who trusts us, so we can keep going,” she explains.
Throughout six months of mentoring, Michelly and her mentee worked to develop goals, tailor resumes and explore job opportunities. All the while her mentee, a single mother in WAGEC’s crisis accommodation, was studying full-time at university. Michelly says she was regularly blown away by her mentee’s resilience and dedication to her future and her family. “I had to constantly stop while we were talking over the phone to just say, “Girl, you are amazing.” As someone who had migrated to Australia, studied full-time and paved her way one step at a time, Michelly used her own experience to oer hope.
Small individual acts and support play a big role in supporting women to build a safe future for themselves and their families. WAGEC’s ACCESS program relies entirely on donations. You can make this end of financial year the start of another woman’s financial independence by donating today.