Championing Inclusion and Diversity: Derek Villaceran’s Journey to Karabena Consulting

Derek Villaceran
Junior Consultant Associate

Hi everyone, this is Derek Villaceran, one of Karabena Consulting’s newest additions to the team!

Australia is home to so many different people and cultures, making inclusion and diversity so important on so many levels. On an individual level, inclusivity and diversity is so important to me because I am the culmination of all the different life experiences and people that I have met - whether that’s being Filipino, growing up in Australia, learning French, consuming media from around the world, and working here at Karabena Consulting.

On a community level, inclusion and diversity is how people meet people with different backgrounds or interests, and how people learn about each other. On a societal level, inclusion and diversity helps us move towards an equitable world that listens to the diverse voices out there.

In one of my previous roles at Monash University, I was a peer facilitator with the equity, diversity, and inclusion team (formerly Respectful Communities). In this role, I facilitated, helped design, and evaluated various workshops with topics ranging anti-racism, having respectful relationships, and addressing gender-based violence. A common thread between all these different pieces was listening to people, having respect, and being supportive.

This experience equips me well to support Karabena Consulting’s work on reviewing the Victorian Disability Worker Commission’s policies and developing cultural awareness training modules. What makes me particularly excited about this work is that it will be informed by the experiences and voices of First Nations peoples.

As part of this project so far, I was able to experience one of the cultural awareness training workshops delivered by Jody Barney to the Commission. It was an insightful experience being able to learn about the experiences of First Nations peoples and people with a disability when interacting with institutional processes. I learnt a lot about the needs of First Nations peoples and people with disabilities, and was also able to draw parallels to my own culture and experiences. It was a thought-provoking and eye-opening experience and I hope this is one of many steps towards an inclusive and culturally safe Commission. My biggest lesson from this - ask “how come”, not “why”.