RAMS PODCAST: Women’s advocate, RRR consultant, Social Innovator, Rechelle Leahy.

On Episode 2 (Series 1) of the Regional Movers and Shakers (RAMS) podcast, I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with Rechelle Leahy, Co-Founder of RegionalCollab, National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) Vice President and one of AFR’s 100 Women of Influence in 2019.

(L-R) RAMS host Ed Campbell with Rechelle Leahy, Co-Founder RegionalCollab.

During the interview Rechelle spoke of her genuine desire to help RRR Australia thrive and describes herself as an Advocate rather than a politician or lobbyist. She talked about the challenges in getting our politicians to understand the unique needs of RRR Australia and the need to develop the ability to get her message across in 15 minute sound bites, telling real stories, to gain traction.

"The issues for rural women are levels of disadvantage that we don't think about, and revolve around access - access to education, access to childcare, access to transportation to get to work or to School.”

Her advocacy work through NRWC currently includes a food security survey to determine the disparity in costs of doing the weekly shop is for RRR families, and 'why when we grow the food, is it so expensive to buy?'.

On Co-Founding RegionalCollab she decided that ‘If I'm going to make change happen, I'm going to have to do that myself’ and that the core capability of RegionalCollab is to amplify voices of RRR Australians. You'll hear the drive she has to make a difference, particularly around social benefit to community and the creation of jobs which supports entire families, in this case refugees finding their way in regional NSW.

As you'll hear, Rechelle has had a challenging pathway to RegionalCollab. She lost her husband to cancer several years ago, an experience which ensured a deep understanding of the disparity in services for those in the bush.

You can contact her via the RegionalCollab website, Facebook or their highly active Instagram account.

On Episoe 2 of RAMS, Ed interviews Rechelle Leahy, Co-founder of Regional Collab, one of AFR's 100 Women of Influence (2019), Social Entrepreneur and Vice President of the National Rural Women's Coalition. She talks about what makes her tick, why rural, regional and remote (RRR) is important to the economy and gives some great insights for both startups and existing businesses.

And if you've got someone we should be talking to and telling their story, let us know.