Our story
Our vision
Our vision is a world which is alive and vibrant with human creativity and actualised potential, where black women can jazz flute on stage, where Asian rainbow cheese toasties abound, where a scarf is not a threat, where everyone has access to power (health, economic and social power) to blaze their own path and be celebrated for it.
Fun
We love our work and believe in the value of having fun while we work.
Learning
We are a learning organisation and are always striving to learn more and do better.
Integrity
We operate with the highest integrity. We do what we said we would do and we say what’s there. We deliver exceptional value to our clients. We take the time to do things right. We choose to work on projects that we care about and believe in and work with people that we respect.
Care and Repsect
We care about our people, our clients and our impact. We strive to move in the world with care and respect for body, mind and spirit.
Our Values
Why the name?
It’s easy to get disheartened when working in social change on issues such as violence, discrimination and disadvantage. It can often feel like we take one step forward and two steps back. That’s why we are in this for the long haul and our name reminds us of taking it one step at a time.
Red has often been used to negatively reference women and the feminine regularly in storytelling such as scarlet letters, red shoes and red riding hoods. It's also been associated with red tents, red threads and women's business. In some of our cultural backgrounds, red is the colour of luck and prosperity. We are keen to reclaim the colour red for strength, fortitude and fun.
So we’re walking this journey towards a more just, more equal world together, one red step at a time.
Our values
In construction
Digital Facilitator / Strategic Illustrator
Catherine Drysdale
Cat specialises in visual communication and workshop design. Highly accomplished in both graphic facilitation and traditional facilitation, Cat’s diverse corporate experience has given her a knack at translating complex ideas and concepts to clear and highly engaging storytelling artefacts. Cat’s portfolio of visual work includes graphic recording, animated video, illustration and infographics. Cat sits on the committee for Graphic Recorders Australia, the professional association for graphic facilitators.
CEO, Institute of non-violence
Hala Abelnour
Trained in Psychology and Social Work, Hala seeks to share ideas and knowledge that allow people to grow together. She is a strong advocate for anti-racism, gender equity and sustainable living. Hala is the founder and director of Global Echo Consultants, and the CEO and founder of the Institute of non-violence. Through these spaces she works with a team of experts to design and deliver niche training and other services focusing on:
organisations implementing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion; anti-racism; and the intersections between gender and race;
applying an intersectional feminist framework to family violence response; safely engaging individuals who use family violence
Founder, Yuimaru Partnerships
Zuleika Arashiro
Zuleika has over twenty years of experience with applied research, advocacy and policy analysis, in Australia and internationally. Following the Yuimaru concept, Zuleika's consultancy work is driven by shared goals, collaborative practices, and balance of power.
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Impact Economics and Policy
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Impact Economics and Policy brings together a group of expert economists and policy specialists with experience working for government, non-for-profits and big four consulting. Established at the start of 2022, our mission is to partner with clients for impact through providing robust evidence, fresh analysis and strategic communication to tackle Australia’s biggest public policy challenges.
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Kind Enterprises
Kind Enterprises works with employers, educators and government departments to design strategies for social cohesion and positive social impact. Kind Enterprises is led by CEO, Erfan Daliri, who is an author, educator and social change consultant. He is a JEDI specialist (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) and guides the company's program development and strategic consulting. Erfan has a Masters degree in Communication for Social Change and has 20 years of professional experience in participatory community development, social change consulting, anti-racism strategy, First Nations advocacy and settlement services. He is also a poet, motivational speaker and director of Newkind Social Justice Conference.
One Red Step supports the Newkind conference each year.
Collaborators
Stacey Ong (she/her)
Founder, leader, funmaker
Stacey has over 15 years’ experience working with government, corporate and NFP clients in social policy.
Prior to founding One Red Step, she was a Director in management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers focusing on social policy and was their national staff lead for cultural diversity and inclusion for three years.
Stacey is also the Interim Chair of Safe and Equal and Board Director of Melbourne City Mission. She sits on the Finance and Audit Subcommittee with Our Watch.
She was a 2019 finalist in the Women's Agenda Leadership Awards for Emerging Leaders in Professional Services.
Education
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Bachelor of Arts and Commerce, University of Melbourne
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Graduate Diploma of International Affairs, Australian National University
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Company Directors Course, Australian Institute of Company Directors
Joanne Shan (she/her)
Social Policy Consultant, spacemaker, platform creator
Joanne is a Tamil, Sinhalese and Burgher woman from the island now called Sri Lanka, made in Naarm on Wurundjeri Country. Growing up in the multicultural South East suburbs of Victoria, and then moving to the upper-class white suburbs of the Mornington Peninsula, Joanne saw the way the white dominant culture looked at her through a different lens, one that exploited her diversity to its advantage. She often felt too foreign to call anywhere home, constantly being asked 'where are you from'. This led her to Australian Indigenous Studies, Critical Race & Whiteness Studies at university and to spend the last five years working with organisations who value cultural dignity, and unlearning internalised racism, particularly with with young people.
Joanne works in community health making COVID messaging accessible so that all communities can feel informed about COVID and the vaccines. Joanne is also developing a culturally responsive coaching program for young people of colour, using narrative therapy as a tool for fostering a collective sense of belonging and identity that does not come at the cost of erasing First Nations Indigenous peoples.
Our team
"The reality is that we're not separate. We are deeply connected to each other, but how do we actually learn to celebrate that, to exercise that muscle, to recognize it?"
- john a powell
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"One Red Step started from a desire to change the current business model of consulting with our clients and staff. For our clients, I want them to have our team's full attention and expertise. We want to work side-by-side with our clients and their people on the challenging, problematic and intractable issues to create lasting and impactful social change.
We want to collaborate with different organisations, building impactful networks and connections across sectors and expertise to bring different approaches to social change. We believe that traditional approaches won't create the change we're looking for, and it's only by listening and working with different voices and organisations that we'll bring about change.
For our staff, I want us to work sustainably and focus on care and play. We want to commit to deep learning and listening and forget tokenism and compliance. We want to show up to do the deep work at the core of issues and generate sustained and impactful change."
- Stacey Ong, Founder