With great sadness, we wish to acknowledge the passing of Leonie Jackson on the 17th of January 2021.
Leonie Jackson has been described as one of the strongest advocates for Australia’s Deaf Community in recent history. She made great impact in her five years as CEO of the Deaf Society; impact that stretched outside of the organisation to the disability sector at large.
Ms Jackson was the first Deaf CEO in the organisations 100 year history. In 2020 she moved to Deaf Services and the Deaf Society – Australia’s largest service provider for the Deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind community.
“Leonie was one of the pioneers of Deaf education and bilingual teaching in Australia, an accomplished presenter, and a dynamic community leader”, CEO of Deaf Services and the Deaf Society, Brett Casey said.
“Breaking down barriers, building community capacity and supporting Deaf people to realise their dreams, were important goals for Leonie throughout her time as CEO, and she carried these values in all aspects of her life.
“Leonie was never passive in her advocacy and support of the community, and always passionately acted on the opportunities she saw for Deaf Australian’s – particularly for Deaf children.
“Australia’s Deaf community would look very different today if not for the passionate work of Leonie Jackson.”