About Anja Christoffersen

Anja is an award-winning disability advocate, named one of the International Day of People with Disability Ambassadors for 2023, model, author and social entrepreneur. Anja’s ventures, including the Women with Disabilities Entrepreneur Network (WDEN), SHH!T Happens, Champion Health Agency and Against the Grain Coffee focus on creating sustainable opportunities for leadership, autonomy and social and economic participation for people with disabilities, driven by the community and inspired by her own lived experience.

Anja has spoken and modelled internationally, authored an autobiography ‘Behind the Smile’ and received the QLD Young Achiever of the Year Leadership Award and Women in Technology Consumer Strength Champion Award. Combining an MBA (Health Services Management & Entrepreneurship) and her lived experience, Anja has consulted, co-led and engaged in projects across health, government, research, corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

Celebrating Anja: The impact of her work

“This award celebrates Anja Christoffersen’s groundbreaking work advancing opportunities for women and people with disabilities.

From founding the Women with Disabilities Entrepreneur Network to creating a world-first agency championing lived experiences, Anja has redefined possibilities for women facing barriers of gender and ability.

Her advocacy has paved pathways to meaningful work, entrepreneurship, and economic independence while amplifying the voices of marginalised women to drive systemic change in health, research, and business. Anja’s global leadership, including co-developing a widely referenced co-design framework, has reshaped outcomes for patient care in health services. We celebrate her extraordinary achievements and unwavering dedication to a more inclusive future.” Says General Manager of Women & Leadership Australia, Karen Surmon.