The Hallowian - Volume I 2021 - Flipbook - Page 38
Elizabeth Mealey
A Career Advocating for Environmental Action
Elisabeth Mealey (Class of 1979) only spent two years
at All Hallows’ but three sisters and eight (soon to be
nine) nieces have trodden the halls of AHS since then.
Straight after AHS, Elisabeth studied at The University
of Queensland where she majored in Journalism,
English, and Government. In 1983, she left Queensland
and, for the past 38 years, has often returned to visit
family and friends. Journalism and politics were major
callings—first working at The Canberra Times, then on
the staff of a Labor Senator at Canberra’s Parliament
House, then at Sydney’s The Sun-Herald newspaper
where she became environment correspondent.
Writing about environmental issues became a turning
point in Elisabeth’s career—recognising that human
beings were threatening their planetary home became
an abiding call for action that has never faded.
In 1990, Elisabeth moved to London where she
freelanced for London and Sydney newspapers. But
something told her she needed to do more than
report about the threats to the environment—it was
time to do something about it. An ad in The Guardian
newspaper to work at Greenpeace led her on a fiveyear global adventure, during which she applied her
journalism and communications skills to the tasks of
highlighting environmental threats and telling the
stories of activists fighting nuclear waste dumping at
sea, whaling in the Southern Ocean, nuclear testing in
the South Pacific, and climate change. It was a time of
exploding concern about global environmental issues
and a fascinating era of technological development,
which allowed Greenpeace to capture and almost
instantaneously feed footage of its campaign work,
even from the remotest parts of the ocean (something
done from an iPhone now).
Returning to Australia, Elisabeth completed her
Masters in International Communications at Macquarie
University, then worked in Fiji with the World Wildlife
Fund, supporting a growing campaign against the
destruction of the region’s rainforests and reefs through
logging and mining.
In 2004, Elisabeth responded to another ad—this time
in The Australian, for a position with the World Bank—
the Washington, DC-based development institution.
After two years in the organisation’s Sydney office
focusing especially on the climate risks facing small
island Pacific nations, she moved to Washington, where
she has lived and worked since.
Now, she manages a team of World Bank
communications specialists who are connecting the
issues of climate change, international development,
environment, and health. After 17 years with the
World Bank, working in partnership with government
and civil society, communicating and advocating for
urgent change, Elisabeth is starting to see a shift. The
challenges to the planet remain but there are signs that
the world is finally heeding the message.
Photo below: Elisabeth (second from left) at a United
Nations conference in Nairobi in 2018
I find it immensely satisfying that ‘my school’
is represented in a charity that our family
started. I feel our charity aligns well with the
ethos and spirit of All Hallows’.
Dr Amy Illidge
A Mother’s Love, a Mother’s Determination
After graduating from All Hallows’ in 1994, Amy (O’Rourke) worked for many years as a radiation therapist.
However, when Jacob, the eldest of six children Amy shares with her husband Steve, was born with a
chronic medical condition and associated intellectual and physical impairments, Amy became increasingly
determined to do more to improve Jacob’s life experiences and outcomes.
In 2015, inspired by Jacob’s courage and tenacity, Amy began a full-time medical degree. At that time, she
had five children under seven. Number six, a COVID surprise, arrived after Amy graduated as a doctor.
She is now a medical registrar on the Physician Training program and was named a Health Hero by
Queensland Health in 2020, in recognition of both her medical achievements and her work for the
registered charity Fight4Balance, which Amy founded with Steve in 2018.
The aim of Fight4Balance is to fill a gap in wellbeing services for adolescent youth with learning and
intellectual disabilities who commonly suffer from low self-esteem, poor confidence and social isolation.
The F4B program provides them with much-needed adaptive and inclusive sporting and cultural activities.
Volunteer BUDDIES, the lifeblood of the program, are recruited from local private and public schools,
including All Hallows’.
Amy said, ‘If I think back to myself as a young All Hallows’ girl, I never would have imagined that I would
have been a doctor, happily married with six children whilst running a charity. It has certainly not been easy.
Having a child with a disability is challenging every day. It has changed both my own and my husband’s view
of the world. By contributing our small part, we hope that we can create some happiness and independence
for our son, our family and our community.’
To find out more, to volunteer or to donate to this amazing charity making a difference to so many lives and
families, visit:
www.Fight4Balance.org.au or https://www.facebook.com/Fight4Balance/
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The Hallowian | 2021
2021 | The Hallowian
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