15 years on: Stepping Into Alumni
15 years on: Stepping Into Alumni’s full circle moment
From: AND – Australian Network on Disability
From joining AND’s Stepping Into internship program 15 years ago, to being in a position to host Stepping Into interns, Deb Heron has had quite the journey.
In 2005, Deb applied for the Stepping Into program in her penultimate year of study as she knew that having work experience helped in achieving employment. Due to being unsuccessful in attaining any internships, she feared it was because of her disability.
“I was applying for lots of roles and would apply against 80 other applicants at times and the feedback I was getting was that I was fine but just not the strongest candidate. It was always in the back of my mind ‘am I putting people off because I display differently?’” said Deb
Through the Stepping Into program, Deb is now proud of her disability and feels that it is something that makes her unique.
Currently working as an Assistant Director at the Disability Royal Commission, she believes she wouldn’t be able to have the same impact if she didn’t have a disability.