Terese Edwards, an Icon of Change in Australia

Icons of Change International Awards 2026 Terese Edwards Chief Executive Officer, Single Mother Families Australia Incorporated Former Chief Executive Officer, National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, Australia (2009–2024) SDG Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality Changemaker for Single-Mother Families, Economic Justice, and Policy-Driven Advocacy (Australia) For more than five decades, Terese Edwards has been a steady force behind one of the most structurally disadvantaged yet socially critical groups in modern societies: single mothers and their children. Since 1973, her work has combined frontline engagement, national policy leadership, and global advocacy—demonstrating that sustained service, when paired with institutional influence, can reshape systems at scale. As Chief Executive Officer of Single Mother Families Australia and former CEO of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, Terese has led with a governance-first, people-centred approach. She engages daily with single mothers navigating complex and often fragmented support systems, ensuring that lived experience is not treated as anecdotal input, but as core policy intelligence. Under her leadership, advocacy moved beyond representation to structural reform—bringing the voices of single-parent families directly into national decision-making processes. Terese’s influence extends deeply into policy architecture. She has served on high-impact national bodies, including the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, where she contributed to shaping frameworks addressing gendered poverty, workforce participation, and economic abuse. Her published work—spanning academic papers and policy-focused writing—has strengthened the evidence base for reform and reinforced accountability within public institutions. On the global stage, Terese has positioned single-mother families firmly within international development and human rights discourse. She has spoken at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2019 and 2024, represented Australia at the 1st Global Symposium on Single-Parent Families, and contributed to the inaugural International Collaboration Against Economic Abuse. These engagements reflect her ability to translate national advocacy into global learning, while anchoring international dialogue in practical, implementable solutions. Her leadership has been consistently recognized, including induction into the South Australian Women’s Honour Roll in 2023 and the Unsung Hero Award in 2019. Complementing her professional impact is a strong academic foundation: a Master’s in Public Administration, postgraduate qualifications in Management and Public Policy, and the recent submission of her PhD—signalling a lifelong commitment to evidence-informed leadership. In the context of the United Nations–designated International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, Terese Edwards exemplifies service-driven leadership embedded within institutions. Her career illustrates how advocacy, when sustained over time and strategically aligned with policy systems, becomes a form of long-term volunteerism—one that delivers measurable outcomes, strengthens social cohesion, and advances gender equality. In 2026, Terese Edwards is honored at the Icons of Change International Awards for her enduring contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 5. Her work has advanced economic security, dignity, and voice for single mothers and their children—proving that gender equality is not achieved through rhetoric, but through persistent, informed, and courageous action. For her lifetime of leadership in championing single-parent families, influencing national and global policy, and translating service into systemic change, Terese Edwards is recognized as a 2026 Icon of Change for Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality. #IconsOfChange #TereseEdwards #Changemaker #SDG5 #GenderEquality #SingleMotherFamilies #EconomicJustice #PolicyLeadership #InternationalYearOfVolunteers #ServiceDrivenImpact #GlobalChangemakersAcademyAwards #RecognizingVisionEmpoweringTransformation