SONDER
EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
NOMINATED FOR
Adelaide
Profiles on this page have been prepared and submitted by nominees or their representatives as part of the South Australian Pride Awards process. Content reflects the words, achievements, and information provided in those submissions. Pride Adelaide has not edited profiles beyond minor formatting or clarity adjustments. Inclusion on this page does not represent an endorsement, assessment, or ranking and does not influence the independent judging process.
How would you describe yourself or your work in one sentence?
Building workplaces where LGBTQIA+ people don’t just feel safe, they belong.
Tell us a little about what you do
Sonder is a South Australian not-for-profit delivering mental health and wellbeing services across metropolitan and regional communities.
We believe inclusion must be lived, not laminated.
Sonder is one of the few organisations in South Australia currently undertaking Rainbow Tick accreditation a rigorous national standard that holds us accountable for creating genuinely safe and affirming environments for LGBTQIA+ staff and service users.
We are also proud to employ a large lived experience peer workforce, ensuring people with lived and living experience of mental health challenges shape how services are designed and delivered. Representation is not symbolic at Sonder, it is embedded.
Our culture is built on psychological safety, trauma-informed leadership, and the belief that when people feel safe at work, they thrive and so does the community.
What impact or achievement are you most proud of this year?
Over the past year, Sonder has moved beyond statements of support and into measurable action:
• Progressing through Rainbow Tick accreditation to independently validate inclusive practice
• Embedding inclusive recruitment, onboarding, and gender affirmation policies
• Preparing to train leaders and managers in safe disclosure conversations and inclusive leadership
• Strengthening executive accountability for diversity and inclusion outcomes
• Expanding and supporting a substantial lived experience peer workforce
As a result, staff report increased confidence to bring their whole selves to work, stronger psychological safety, and greater trust in leadership.
Inclusion is not a campaign at Sonder. It is governance, policy, leadership and everyday behaviour.
Why does your work matter to the community?
For many LGBTQIA+ people, workplaces have historically been spaces of silence, concealment or compromise.
When an organisation actively creates safety and belonging, it changes more than internal culture, it shifts what is possible.
As a mental health provider, our responsibility is even greater. The way our staff feel at work directly impacts the care delivered to vulnerable communities. When our workforce feels affirmed and respected, the people accessing our services experience more compassionate, culturally responsive support.
By pursuing Rainbow Tick accreditation and elevating lived experience voices, Sonder is contributing to broader sector change in South Australia. We are demonstrating that inclusion is not aspirational, it is operational.
What would you like voters to know when voting for you?
Because real inclusion takes courage. It takes organisations willing to be assessed, challenged and held to national standards. It takes leadership willing to listen to lived experience. It takes investment, accountability and sustained effort. Sonder has chosen that path. A vote for Sonder is a vote for workplaces where LGBTQIA+ people can be visible without fear, where lived experience is valued as expertise, and where inclusion strengthens the entire community. We are not perfect but we are committed, accountable and moving forward with intention.