This week we share Yumi’s story.
Yumi is the CEO of the Older Women's Network NSW (OWN), where she has dedicated the past 7 years to advocating for one of society's most overlooked groups. Her journey to this role began as a peace and women's rights activist, with experience spanning communications, fundraising, advocacy and lobbying both in Australia and internationally. This includes work with a charity in Vietnam which provided support for trafficked children and women.
Yumi's advocacy work at OWN is deeply personal. As a migrant woman who faces discrimination, she understands firsthand how multiple forms of disadvantage can compound with age. Her lived experience with racism, ageism, and professional barriers has shaped her into a leader who sees the systemic gaps others miss.
In this story:
🌱 The hope paradox.
💪 From imposter syndrome to purposeful leadership.
🫶 Community change begins with empathy and kindness.
— Written by Sharon Brine and brought to you by Kintsugi Heroes and Women for Purpose.
Q: How has your personal experience informed your work advocating for older women?
A: I was living abroad for 12 years before coming back to Australia in June 2018. I was told it would be very hard for me to get a job. I mean: 1- I don't speak with an Australian accent, 2- I'm not caucasian, and 3- I'm older. Also, a lot of my most recent work experience was overseas.
But because I had to get a job, I applied to a few organisations. The Older Women's Network took a chance on me and I feel so grateful because it meant I was still able to work to support women.
Now that I'm working for older women, I can see that all the discrimination and all the 'isms' that women have to deal with—including women of colour—are compounded in your later years.
As women of colour, we have to work twice as hard to make an impression.
It's very difficult for people who haven't experienced racism to understand the impact of racism on one's life. Like getting passed over for promotions, for example.
If you come from a migrant background, it's even more difficult to get ahead. Let's say you've had a professional qualification from your own country, for example you were a doctor and you came to Australia. You cannot just slip back to being a doctor. Even though there's a huge shortage of GPs in this country, you've got to pass hellish exams that even local doctors struggle with. That leaves you doing other work that doesn't earn you the income to enable you to get an economic foothold here.
The reality of not being economically secure is especially felt once you hit your older years. You might find that you're left with very little savings, and maybe no home.
The intersection of all the different life challenges that you have to face when you are an older woman is huge, especially if you are a woman of colour from a migrant or refugee background.
Q: As a migrant woman yourself, do you ever sometimes feel a sense of imposter syndrome and question whether you belong in the room?
A: Absolutely, and it’s come down to racism and microaggressions - intentional or unintentional.
For example, I went to an event where I walked in with two caucasian colleagues, and of course I am the one who is visibly of colour. The host shook the hands of the two caucasian women but not me. It might seem like something very, very small but it leaves a mark.
You feel ‘less than’ when that kind of thing happens.
I suppose everyone wants to have an opportunity to be seen as a person with experience, with talent.
But migrant women can often be overlooked for someone else who is caucasian, who could be more articulate.
Then there is the added challenge of dealing with imposter syndrome - I’ve caught myself thinking “What am I doing here?” or “Others can put things in ways that are so much more brilliant.”
You always feel you have to fight that "less than" feeling.
I feel especially for younger women of colour so where I can, I want to try to give them opportunities and support them.
Q: When you think about where you are now versus those moments, what would surprise your younger self most?
A: My younger self had no idea where I would be at the age of 60. Did I ever think I would be in a situation where I can support older women into housing, into employment? No, I never imagined that would be the case.
My dream when I was younger was for a world without war and a world where women are not brutalised, especially in armed conflict. That was my dream.
The practical reality now is I help women not to be homeless, raise awareness about sexual assault among older women, and help them find work.
I never imagined this path, but it feels like exactly where I'm meant to be.
Q: Having spent years advocating for change, what has hope come to mean for you?
A: I think you need to have hope. It's what drives us, isn't it? Especially when we're working in sectors where the problems seem so complex and the political solutions seem so hard to reach.
But sometimes I feel that I am corrupted by hope because I hope too much, and it can be very disappointing when you don't get what you hope for.
For example, for the past few years here at the Older Women’s Network in New South Wales, we've been trying to advocate for a specialist homelessness service just for older women. We managed to get a parliamentary inquiry up. We managed to persuade parliamentarians who all said, “What a fabulous idea!”
But then when the rubber hit the road and we looked at the budget, there was no money committed for this initiative.
This is a necessary service, especially for older women who find themselves housing insecure and living in poverty at the tail end of their lives. For many of them, they've never engaged with the social sector or had to go to Centrelink for help.
What we’re asking for is common sense. And what we get offered, if anything, doesn’t really solve the core problem.
The people in power, whether it’s government or funders, get to decide the level of help vulnerable people deserve rather than providing what would actually work.
The other day, I misheard the phrase ‘at risk of helplessness’ as ‘at risk of hopelessness’. I couldn’t help but think how accurate that misheard phrase is for those of us who are trying our best to bring about change for the most vulnerable. It would be terrible if we couldn’t hold on to hope to do the work we do.
It’s frustrating. But we need to maintain hope. Even though that hope can feel like both the fuel and the burden.
Q: How do you respond when people dismiss older women's concerns as not their problem?
A: I think this is quite a common perspective. As younger women, we never think that one day we will be older. It's like it’s a foreign place that you don't want to visit and that you do everything not to visit. There are anti-ageing creams that you’re encouraged to use and all these stereotypes about ‘boomers’ and ‘Karens’ which make ageing frightening.
I think part of it is our obsession with youth and our lack of intergenerational connection as a society. We are internal migrants even within Australia—you might be born in Melbourne but now be working in Brisbane. That means you're away from your family connections, including your grandparents. So you’re somewhat separated from the process of ageing, and even the delights of ageing.
What I would like people to know about older women is that they’re worthy of having their rights respected.
They're worthy of being safe just like anyone else, and worthy of being seen just like anyone else—in all their variety, their status, and regardless of where they come from.
It would be great to have the full diversity of older women recognised too. We are a multicultural society. We come from all corners of the world, but we don't tap into that perspective that we are one humanity, regardless of where we live and where we come from.
We should have that empathy and support for older women not only in Australia but also those who carry pain and trauma around the world. And I’m referring specifically to the genocide taking place in Palestine which impacts women, children and older people. The older women there are undergoing incredible suffering too. That is something which distresses me a lot.
Q: So how do we actually build that understanding and care at a community level?
A: I would say that we should all nurture and grow our empathy, grow our kindness. And that's what we need to strive to do as a nation, as a community, as human beings.
If we do that, there will be a lot more understanding and assistance and less of the hateful trolling and discrimination and violence that we see.
If we as a community are kinder and more empathetic, we would channel our nation's budget to ensure that people are looked after.
Instead, our kids are going hungry. Women are sleeping in tents.
It is an upside-down world that we're living in.
Q: If readers could remember you with just three words, which ones would you want them to choose?
A: Nevertheless, she persisted.
Yumi’s mission continues, and you can be part of it.
Connect with Yumi on LinkedIn.
Support Yumi’s mission: Donate to the Older Women’s Network NSW.
Learn more about The Older Women's Network NSW.
There's something powerful about leaders who make you feel truly seen and heard. Stay tuned for Gillian Hunt’s story next week…