A bit more about Ruby 

Having spent the first three years of high school at the local school in Wagga Wagga, she moved to Sydney to attend Ascham School as a boarder in year 10. Her years at Ascham granted her the privilege of a wealth of knowledge, opportunity, recognition of potential and so much more. She notes that among the most significant things she walked out of Ascham with was resilience, emotional intelligence and strong friendships. 

She absolutely loved life as a boarder despite the occasional ‘Mum I want to come home’ phone calls. She was chosen as a student mentor and in her senior years, elected as the Glenrock House Chairman. Her leadership involvement extended to being a boarding prefect, student support prefect and a member of the houses and sisters committee. She would voice issues when she felt necessary, actively engaged in the community in any way that she could and was a role model and source of comfort and support to many. 

Following her years at Ascham she moved on to study a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication, sub-majoring in Marketing at the University of Technology, Sydney and living on campus at St Andrew’s College, within the University of Sydney. Here she was elected among other things as the Cultural Representative, a Pastoral Care Leader and as a Student Mentor, which involved working as part of various leadership teams in conjunction with College officials to problem solve, implement progressive cultural change and remain true to institutional values. 

In her role as a pastoral care leader, she completed Mental Health First Aid training to effectively be able to support and respond to peers who sought advice, mentoring or support. She lent her time and advice to many people whether it was in the context of friendship issues, family struggles, finding balance or sexual encounters. She also initiated a weekly wellbeing and mindfulness program within the college, which was the first of its kind to be welcomed by the students – enthusiastically changing the culture in an appealing way. 

She has volunteered alongside the Eastern Suburbs School Leaders for Youth organisation and in 2019 spoke at their inaugural event ‘After the Bell.’ She presented to 800 parents and school teachers sharing how she remained grounded through experiences of peer pressure and the challenges and natural consequences of decision making that are a product of being an adolescent in the 21st century. Her involvement with the organisation was on the back of time spent as a boarding coordinator at one of Sydney’s leading boarding schools where she developed and implemented a Wellbeing Program in the Boarding School, where from observation and research, she noticed a gap in the genuine support for students and envisioned an achievable solution. 

Further abroad, she spent two months working as a camp counsellor at Camp Vega in Maine, USA where she was the mother, sister and friend figure to the 16 eleven-year-old girls with whom she lived in a bunk room with. Her time at Camp Vega - surrounded by close to 400 girls between the ages of 8 and 16 - furthered her desire to develop something that would benefit the mental health of young girls. Being removed from social connection and the simple luxuries of our everyday lives fostered a shift in perspective and an appreciation for living in the present and encouraging positive and respectful relationships among the girls, which started with their own sense of self and belonging. She more recently spent a month in India teaching English in Government Schools and dabbling in Female Empowerment in Fort Kochi. 

Closer to home in Wagga Wagga, she has volunteered at Belisi Wellbeing and Equestrian Centre with people of disadvantage and disability assisting alongside program coordinators to deliver programs to troubled youths. She also works as a support worker for children with autism. 

She is currently completing graduate study in psychology with UNSW, slowly learning to play the piano and developing Womn-Kind.

Enough about me, we would love to hear from you.