Building an inclusive and supportive community for women in regional New South Wales

Throughout Fiona Kable’s career, she has become increasingly aware that personal well-being and community well-being are “deeply connected”. 

“We can do all the individual healing work in the world, but if people return to lives where they feel isolated or disconnected, it becomes much harder to sustain that growth,” Fiona says. 

“That’s why community has become such an important part of my work.”

In 2024, Fiona founded an initiative called Conscious Women Connect. The movement aims to reduce loneliness and create genuine connection for women across the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. 

“It began from a simple observation,” she says. “So many women are surrounded by people yet still feel profoundly alone. We are busier than ever, but many of us have lost the spaces where we can simply gather, be ourselves and feel like we belong.” 

Today, Conscious Women Connect has grown into a network of regular gatherings across the region, all hosted by local women who generously open their time, businesses and sometimes their homes to create welcoming spaces for others.

Persian Baha’i woman Parvin Mansouri has participated in the initiative on several occasions. 

“Parvin had been looking for ways to be more connected in the community and responded with incredible generosity and offered her beautiful home,” Fiona says. “We hosted one of our women’s circles and then two rounds of my ‘Coming Home to Yourself’ workshop series. 

“Over time I came to know her, not simply as a venue host, but as a woman with extraordinary warmth, wisdom and lived experience.” 

In April, Parvin again opened her home and shared her refugee story. “It was the story of a courageous woman who had overcome immense adversity while holding onto hope, education, family and service,” Fiona says. 

“It wasn’t designed as a cultural event or a history lesson. It was an opportunity for one woman to share her life, and for others to receive it with open hearts.”

Parvin says she spoke about her life in Iran, her mother’s life and her impact on Parvin and her sister, as well as the story of Tahirih – the poet and early advocate for women’s rights from the 19th century. 

She also spoke about those Baha’is in Iran who gave their life for their Faith and who fought for the equality between men and women. 

“In the end, I said tonight history starts … because we were nine women, each of us can bring change in our community,” Parvin says. 

Fiona says the impact of the evening was “profound”. She says for many women, it was the first time they had heard such a deeply personal account of life in Iran, the challenges Parvin experienced, and the courage it took to build a completely new life in Australia. 

But perhaps the most powerful part of the evening, Fiona says, was the human connection developed between everyone in the room. 

“Many said they left with a greater appreciation for the freedoms they often take for granted. Others reflected on the resilience of the human spirit and how easy it is to make assumptions about someone’s life without ever knowing their story.” 

“The evening reminded us that every person carries experiences we cannot see, and that listening with curiosity instead of judgement creates understanding. 

“That is exactly what community looks like.”

Social action efforts seek to promote the social and material well-being of people of all walks of life, whatever their beliefs or background. Such efforts are motivated by the desire to serve humanity and contribute to constructive social change. The Conscious Women Connect community continues to build and evolve in this way.  

Fiona says spaces like this are especially important to foster in regional communities. 

“Regional communities have enormous strengths, but they can also experience isolation,” she says. 

“Many people move to regional areas without extended family or established friendships. Others have lived there for decades but still feel disconnected. 

“When we create spaces where people can gather simply to listen, learn and share their stories, we strengthen the social fabric of the whole community. These kinds of gatherings build empathy. They reduce loneliness. They create friendships that continue long after the event itself.”

Since Parvin’s event, she is preparing to become a regular host, and to share aspects of her culture through cooking, dancing, and storytelling so women can continue building friendships while learning from one another. 

“What was so beautiful about Parvin’s evening was that nobody attended because she was Iranian,” Fiona says. “They came because she was a woman with a story worth hearing. By the end of the evening, she wasn’t ‘the Iranian woman’. She was simply Parvin. 

“When people meet one another through stories instead of stereotypes, differences become something to appreciate rather than something to fear. That is how inclusive communities are built.”