PHOTOS BY BREEZE MATHEW
Spotlight: International Women’s Day – In Balance – Lunch at Bloom
Last Thursday the newly formed Gender, Equity, Diversity & Impact (GEDI) Committee hosted their first event – ‘International Women’s Day – In Balance’ over delicious food and inspiring conversation at Bloom. Jasmine Placentino, Co-chair of GEDI and Director of Parabolica, joined Hannah White, founding Adelaide Design Week board member, to lead the insightful conversation with Elaine Chia, CEO of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
Framed around the global International Women’s Day theme “Balance the Scales”, the informal discussion offered a raw and relatable conversation around the challenges women face concerning diversity, inequality, balance and navigating career breaks. As well as our responsibility and opportunity as designers, to create meaningful impact within our communities and the spaces we inhabit with dignity and thoughtfulness.
As an Asian Australian woman representing just 6% of the arts sector, Elaine is a powerful reminder of what can happen when women back themselves. Elaine highlighted the positive silver linings that can emerge through perseverance, leadership and being open to opportunities. Elaine has significantly contributed to the arts, exemplifying diversity and culture, such as the establishment of MPavilion, which commissioned Tadao Ando to design a MPavillion in Victoria, encouraging thought around design. Sagaciously, Elaine expressed the importance of staying true to who you are and trusting yourself. For perhaps it is when we advocate for each other and ourselves, we continue to challenge conformity and inequality, thus allowing a seat at the table for everyone, creating a supportive environment to encourage growth.
Elaine reflected on the challenge of achieving balance with a humorous analogy, referring to her habit of buying beautiful cookbooks that she rarely uses. From this, she coined the rule “buy one, set one free,” suggesting that perhaps whenever a new opportunity enters our lives, we should also consider letting something go. In a broader sense, she proposed that creating balance or opening ourselves to new opportunities often requires releasing what no longer serves us in order to grow and to find a new ‘balance’.
When discussing impostor syndrome, Elaine admitted it is something she still experiences and that it may never completely disappear – but that’s okay. Instead of trying to eliminate it, she emphasised the importance of backing yourself and recognising that confidence does not always mean being the loudest person in the room. There can be power in quiet observation and thoughtful contribution. By placing yourself in the right environments and opportunities, she suggested that your voice will emerge naturally—and when it does, you will know it is right.
Elaine also highlighted the importance of staying present and grounded in our core values. Even on days when everything seems to fall apart, she explained that you can still consider the day a success if you remained true to what matters most to you. Letting go of what you cannot control allows space for unexpected and sometimes serendipitous outcomes.
In design practice, she reinforced the responsibility designers hold to shape the world positively, encouraging that by designing with accessibility and user experience in mind, we ensure that people’s experience remain at the centre of every decision.
Considering WGEA’s 2024-2025 recent reporting, identifying that the construction mid-point employer gender pay gap is 23.8% (Employer gender pay gaps report 2024-25, 2026), conversations such as this are incredibly important. This, is all the more reason to keep advocating, keep speaking up and challenging what it means to be successful.
Just as Elaine encouraged; take a moment to be present, to reflect on all you’ve achieved and allow yourself the space to do something just for you. Perhaps it is in the moments when we feel most imperfectly unbalanced, that we should pause and ask: ‘what can I let go of to grow? How can I nourish myself?’ instead of reminding ourselves of everything we’re not doing, or how we think we’re falling behind. If we learn to trust and stand beside ourselves, it may be then that we find a new kind of balance—beautiful, imperfect, and entirely our own.
Sarah Meyer
SA GEDI Committee Member
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