Launched in 2022, Realise. Inspire. Support. Energise. (RISE) will be finishing in June 2026. This visionary project aims to build pathways to leadership for women from culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) backgrounds. It was designed to identify and break down systemic barriers and to assist organisations in supporting women in middle management to reach senior leadership positions within their organisations.
RISE is a collaborative project between Diversity Council Australia (DCA), Settlement Services International (SSI) and Chief Executive Women (CEW) and is funded by the Australian government Office for Women through the Women’s Leadership and Development Program (WLDP) 2022-2026.
The RISE project worked with 25 organisations across Australia to implement organisational change interventions to help address systemic and organisational barriers and support progression to leadership positions.
Explore initial findings from the RISE Project, including progress on implementation, key learnings and emerging participant outcomes.
Why do we need the RISE project?
We know that CARM women face structural barriers when it comes to career advancement. DCA’s research has shown that CARM women in leadership in Australia are few and far between as systemic barriers remain in place. The research highlights that although CARM women are ambitious, capable, and resilient, they still experience a range of entrenched systemic barriers in Australian workplaces. These include:
- being assessed against biased leadership models
- not having access to influential social networks where promotion decisions are often made
- not having their voices or lived experience centred.
This is why the RISE project worked with organisations and CARM women to support them in designing and implementing lasting organisational change interventions that will address the root causes of the barriers that CARM women face.
Collaborate to create change
The 25 participating organisations of the RISE project were provided with the following elements to effect change:
- an organisational self-assessment tool (ASSESS to RISE), completed by an internal project team and 15 CARM women in middle management in each organisation. The tool diagnosed key systemic barriers locking CARM women middle managers out of leadership.
- an Action Plan template provided a strategic framework for organisations to create their own strategic action plan. DCA provided high level support with creating the action plan and organisations drove the implementation of the plan. Organisations are were able to take part in a community of practice with other participating organisations.
- a suite of training programs including DCA’s Racism at Work training program, SSI’s Cultural Responsiveness training program, and CEW’s Leadership Development training program
- a Support Model for advancing CARM women’s leadership skills provided 15 CARM women in each organisation with coaching, mentoring, sponsorship, and a career advancement plan, to better leverage their leadership skills and progress in their careers.
Participants, supporters, and staff of the RISE Project at the final networking event in Melbourne.
News and updates on RISE
Explore more resources
Culturally and Racially Marginalised Women in Leadership
This ground-breaking report re-examines the state of play for culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women in leadership.
Centring Marginalised Voices at Work
This framework provides practical guidelines on how organisations can centre the voices of people with lived experience of marginalisation in D&I change.
Cracking the Glass-Cultural Ceiling
This report explores why so few culturally diverse women reach top leadership positions and what organisations can do to better recognise their skills and ambitions.
Capitalising on Culture and Gender in ASX Leadership
DCA tracked the extent of cultural diversity among women in leadership in ASX companies from 2004 to 2015. How well did organisations do?