Amala Shankar, a business analyst at Telstra, is a passionate advocate for inclusion and accessibility, driven by her own experience with hearing loss. She supports others with disabilities through her involvement in TelstrAbility, Telstra's employee group for staff with disabilities, and works to improve technology and workplace environments for the hard-of-hearing.
“TelstrAbility is a wonderful community; you get to know a lot of other people’s challenges and struggles, and people are very free sharing their experiences. In some companies, people don’t know how others will react, but I learned from TelstrAbility the power of sharing your stories with others. It’s unbeatable."
When Telstra business analyst Amala Shankar recounts her life story, each chapter features another remarkable person: the speech therapist who coached her twice weekly as a young child, the bosses who’ve gone the extra mile for her, the teacher who forced her to address her class every day, “on every topic under the sun”.
And always, her dear mum, Savitha: the fiercely devoted mother who refused to send her to a school for the deaf, who forced her to ride the bus and speak to strangers, who stormed into her university when a hapless adjudicator mistook her hearing aid for a Bluetooth device and dared suggest she might be cheating.
“That day, every senior staff member from the principal down found out about my hearing loss,” laughs Amala.
Today, Amala, one of the brightest young analysts in our Strategy and Finance team, never hides her hearing loss from anyone. In fact, she’s discovered that sharing her story can be one of the most powerful things she has to give the world.
Amala’s plain-talking stories of life with profound hearing loss have featured in several videos made by our Accessibility team, and she’s emerged as one of the most passionate advocates for a culture of respect and inclusion across Telstra. As well as sharing her story, she’s represented TelstrAbility at various events, hosted graduate panels, worked at our Tech Inclusion Labs, and collaborated with partners such as Webex, Microsoft and Apple, to test products designed for the hard-of-hearing.
“I think that everyone lives with some kind of disability, if they’re really honest,” says Amala. “People can be quiet and not want to share – which is fine – but if they know there’s a safe space where you can be vulnerable and discuss your challenges, and you know you’ll never be judged, I think that’s huge.”
For this courageous 29-year-old, discovering TelstrAbility – our employee group for staff living with disability and their supporters – opened a world of opportunity, particularly to make life easier for other people who may not have had the same level of support as her.
Since arriving at Telstra fresh from a Master of Information Systems in February 2021, Amala has mentored dozens of graduates who live with disabilities and their supporters – meeting at least once a fortnight to share tips and support and help iron out any tech or workplace challenges.
“My hearing loss gives me a unique opportunity to reach out, and I’m never going to miss that,” says Amala, with trademark gusto. “We all have something to give, and we should be proud of who we are and not hide away from others.
“People may think that because I can’t hear, I won’t listen well. Well, let me tell you: I’m a great listener!”
In fact, says Nadine Russell, who managed Amala during her graduate role, the need to focus fastidiously in meetings – and make sure she critically understands each key point – brings an elevated level of comprehension to Amala’s work.
“I think she hears much more than most of us,” says Nadine, who runs Telstra’s Local Government and Community Services programs. “She not only has to read captions and focus intently on what people say, but then she goes through the transcripts of key moments afterwards – so I think she actually takes away more from our discussions than most people.”
While she’s always relied on lip-reading, in online meetings Amala uses a combination of lip-reading, closed captions, and recordings – noting the times of critical moments so she can check them later. She’s also developed a system with her current manager to agree a series of ‘action points’ after meetings.
At Strategy and Finance, Amala’s involved in everything from performance monitoring to supporting planning forums for the CEO leadership team. In recent months, Business Planning lead Paula Sussex has involved her in data analytics work to support the company’s vital T25 Objectives.
“I feel extremely lucky to have Amala on my team,” says Paula. “She’s overcome enormous challenges – coming to a new country, joining a competitive graduate program – and has always been incredibly positive and dedicated.
“She’s just a genuine human being who’s taught so much to me and our team.”
“I really appreciate when people tell me how to pronounce words properly. I read a lot, but if you can’t hear the words, you don’t always know how they should be pronounced. ‘Wednesday’ looks like 3 syllables, right – but we actually say ‘Wensday’!”
While Telstra’s graduate and recruitment programs generate ever-greater appreciation for the value of different perspectives and life experiences, there are clearly lessons here for people at every level of every company.
“Amala never pretends to hear what people have said – she’ll tell you if she’s having trouble reading your lips, so she makes us all more conscious of the need to enunciate our words and speak clearly,” says Nadine.
“One of our customers who met Amala told me that she had a younger sister who was hearing impaired but lacked confidence around other people. And straight away, Amala wanted to meet her and talk to her.
“That young lady wound up going for a role in our graduate program and has now joined Telstra. That’s Amala for you. She never stops giving back.”
For Amala herself, there’s a long list of people who have led to the ‘blessed’ opportunities she enjoys today. Her mother, of course, who fought tooth and nail to get her the same rights as her peers. Her dad and brother and grandparents, who all helped her realise what was possible. Her wonderful bosses and colleagues, who are making it possible today.
And that one teacher at primary school, whom she’ll never stop lighting candles for. “Her name was Mrs Byford, and she made me talk to the whole class every single day. I thought it was so scary at the time, but now I realise it was because of those talks that I have this confidence to talk to anyone now. I realised that even if people didn’t understand every word I said, they’d get the context and the general meaning.
“A few years ago, I managed to track down Mrs Byford in Bangalore, just before she died, and that was so special. She’d last seen me as a little girl, and now she saw me grown into an independent woman with a great job in Australia. If it wasn’t for that lady, I don’t know where I would be today.”
