World Social Work Day is celebrated on 17 March 2026.
The theme for this year, ‘Co-Building Hope and Harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society’, highlights the vital role of social work in bringing people together across communities, cultures, and systems to shape a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow.
To celebrate this day, we hear from Ashleigh Mills, our Head of Health Roundtable Operations and Member Experience about her 20+ year career in Social Work, and how she ended up in Health Technology.
Why did you pick Social Work as a career?
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I finished school. Social Work aligned with my values - I was always passionate about equity, social justice, and human dignity. Social Work seemed like it had a lot of different opportunities – case management, research, policy and project management and opportunities for travel.
What was your first job?
My first job was in a very old mental health facility as an inpatient social worker. I thought I could change the world! I must have been very annoying to my Nurse Unit Manager, questioning every practice. A few years later I understood what he was talking about when I saw how poorly community mental health was funded compared to the care people received in hospital. I worked as a mental health social worker for 9 years in Australia and the UK, before moving into project management and studying public health.
How did you end up in Health Technology?
I have always been a systems thinker, interested in how people interact with systems, what impact systems have on the human experience and people’s ability to get back on their feet after adversity. In my time working for the NSW and National Mental Health Commissions, I became immersed in the land of mental health indicators and morphed from a clinician into a data nerd.
I saw for the first time, data telling the story of people’s experience in a broken system as I developed state-wide indicators for reform. In mental health, a lot of outdated models of care do not have evidence in good clinical outcomes for people to support investment, yet the same investments are made every year. This inspired me to make data accessible to tell a simple story.
Prior to this role, I led state-wide resilience and mental health grants administration which had similar functions to managing Health Roundtable. Taking a large amount of data and applications, tracking progress, working with thousands of applicants to improve their experience and evaluating impacts and gaps.
What do you enjoy about your job?
No day is the same and I touch so many different areas. Member feedback, communications, technology, co-designing new features, and managing our road map based on member needs.
I love seeing a member idea come to life through the work of our amazing analytics and technology teams.
Where do you see yourself in the future.
Eventually I’d love to combine my reform, technology and social work skills do something in the mental health space.
For now, there’s lots of exciting things I want to see through with Health Roundtable: E-learning, AI search bot, equity and demographic measures and simplifying the volume of our content.
That’s going to keep me busy for a few more years!
Connect with Ashleigh on LinkedIn
Follow Health Roundtable on LinkedIn
