About Jo bangles
Born and raised in regional Victoria, Australia, Jo Bangles grew up in a tough neighbourhood – the kind of neighbourhood that had a bad reputation.
Born to working parents and having an older brother set the foundation for strong, family values. Jo spent most of her daylight hours winning sports awards, riding her BMX and fishing with her Dad
Leadership found Jo from an early age – primary school valedictorian, high school captain and ‘most determined’ award winner in the Australian Army’s recruit course. She was the first female to play football in her league after refusing to take no for an answer and she also successfully rallied to change her high school uniforms so she could wear pants.
In the mid 90’s, in her early 20’s, while overcoming trauma, addiction, poor mental health and lack of self worth, Jo self-built her foundations in events management, leadership and influence. Now, a small business owner and entrepreneur, Jo’s natural leadership skills have delivered exceptional results and provided a critical differentiator in a range of competitive markets.
Jo has travelled the world in the name of diversity and inclusion, and spoken on stages to thousands of people encouraging them to be their true selves.
Jo Bangles is the longest standing president of one chapter of the largest lesbian organisation in the world, Dykes on Bikes Melbourne. Approaching 10 years in the top job Jo Bangles has evolved the club into an iconic membership based organisation gaining respect from the wider community and empowering its members to actively participate with passion and purpose.
From early 2018 to late 2020 Jo lead Geelong Rainbow Inc, a not for profit LGBTIQ organisation based in her home town, Geelong. In addition to this she is a founding organiser of the Geelong Rainbow Festival which began in Feb 2018, and brings thousands of rainbow people together to celebrate LGBTIQ culture. Jo Bangles also organised the Geelong’s biggest Pride March in 2019 which saw over 2,000 LGBTIQ community members and their allies march in celebration and solidarity.
With a passion for creating inclusion and empowering people to share there lived experiences , Jo Bangles formed a working partnership with Dr Bree Gorman and together they developed Australia’s first regionally focussed LGBTIQ inclusion program LinkedOUT.
Being recognised for her years in community work in a nomination for the GLOBE LGBTIQ person of the year 2019, Jo Bangles has become one of the most recognisable leaders in Australia’s LGBTIQ community. She was also featured as a model in the Bonds Australia ‘OUT NOW’ exhibition in early 2020 sharing her story with mainstream social media.
Graduating from the Leadership Victoria LGBTIQ Leadership program in 2018, Jo Bangles is on a journey to pass on her story and learnings about what it takes to be a great leader to the next generation.
Jo is available for media engagements including podcasts, radio, discussion panels, keynote speaker and TV appearances.
