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Get to know your old scholar community. Each month we'll introduce you to an old scholar so you can get better acquainted with your peers.

31 October 2023

Zoe Jones (2001) is a senior policy director, lawyer and certified project manager. Zoe is passionate about driving the change required to foster equality and inclusion in workplaces, by providing strategic thought-leadership and delivering practical initiatives addressing a range of discrimination and harassment. She pursues this in her current role as Manager of Workforce Strategy Projects at BHP, and prior to that as Director of the Sex Discrimination Team at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Zoe lives on a property in the Adelaide hills with her husband Dominic, their two daughters Darcy and Hazel - and a number of horses and dogs!

What is your favourite memory of your time at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½?

It’s hard to pick just one, although I think the Marree Trip was such an important experience. Recognising and respecting First Nations peoples’ knowledge, cultures, stories and languages will help us move together towards a better future.

What is your biggest career highlight?

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, and in March this year accompanied her in a series of international engagements including as part of the official delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN in New York, in high-level discussions at the Whitehouse, the International Labour Organisation in Geneva and Houses of Parliament in London.

My favourite thing to do in Adelaide is…

On warm summer evenings, going for rides through Kuitpo Forest - my husband and I ride our horses, and our two daughters ride their bikes.

Name three places that are on your bucket list...

The Gardens of Versailles, the Kimberley (on horseback) and (more of) the Greek Islands.

What inspires you?

Nature. People’s capacity for kindness.

If you could have coffee with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

Michelle Obama. I admire her work, and the way she goes about it. She would have some incredible stories to tell!

Name a dish that reminds you of your childhood...

Greek stuffed tomatoes.

A piece of advice that you would like to pass onto your children?

Uncover what lights you up and pursue it wholeheartedly.

What is a talent you wish you had?

My daughters are learning the violin – it would be nice to have had some musical talent to offer them!

Song you can listen to on repeat?

Dance the Night – Dua Lipa.