Elizabeth Drozd OAM doesn’t really like the word ‘retired’. Why? Because it has the word ‘tired’ in it and that’s the very opposite of how she feels after three decades of leadership.
Elizabeth has just finished up as Chief Executive Officer of Australian Multicultural Community Services (AMCS) in Melbourne, a position she’s held for over 24 years. She has been a stalwart of aged and care community care in Victoria.
“The Spanish have a much better word than retirement which is Jubilacion, which is like jubilation, and in a way it is a celebration,” Elizabeth told HelloCare.
“But it is hard to believe that everything is a ‘last’. My last day at work, my last board meeting… after 33 years that’s hard to believe. But we all know that our retirement will come one day and for me, it’s been a thought-through decision.
“Those of us who work in senior care don’t take the future for granted. We don’t know what our allocation is in terms of longevity. I look forward to a great break, seeing family overseas and travelling. Then I can come back and explore what the Japanese call Ikigai, which is my next life purpose.”
Purpose is a common theme throughout Elizabeth’s career, which includes stints with the City of Brimbank and the Victorian Multicultural Commission. Her purpose and drive have seen AMCS flourish into a leading home care service providing quality care and connection.
She said her career has been extremely satisfying, having loved the opportunities to mentor younger professionals – many who immigrated to Australia like she did – while providing culturally appropriate care that fosters a sense of belonging for older people. Elizabeth has also loved her staff lunches, which is one of the experiences she’ll miss the most.
“AMCS is a very special place and I will miss that. The sharing we have here in terms of the various cuisines and the stories. When you have lunch here we don’t bring sandwiches, people bring home-cooked meals,” she added. Our multicultural lunches are the most popular activity we have here. There is camaraderie and solidarity, we are like a daytime family.”.
Elizabeth hands the reigns of AMCS over to Maryanne Tadic, a driven senior executive with 20 years of experience in the community sector. Elizabeth wishes Maryanne the best in her new role as CEO.
While Elizabeth is currently on sabbatical, she has no intention of slowing down in retirement. Remember, she doesn’t put the ‘tired’ in retired.
Her future goals include travelling to the world’s blue zones: regions where people live longer, often due to positive lifestyle factors. Well-known blue zones include Icaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; and the Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Elizabeth hopes to study each one so she can bring her key learnings back to Melbourne so she can inspire its transformation into a blue zone.
“As someone who has had the honour and privilege to work with seniors, especially ethnic seniors, I have an interest in healthy living and contributing to what we can do about it. Those of us who are professionals have a skillset, knowledge and expertise,” she said.
“It’s what can we do to make life better and easier for us as we are ageing, not only for ourselves but those around us. We are lucky in Australia as we have one of the best longevity outlooks in the world but it’s not about a long life, it’s about a long and good life.”
People living in blue zones often credit their longevity to physical activity, low stress, healthy diets and positive social connections. These influences are similar to those Elizabeth’s grandmother had while growing up in a small village near a forest where locals thrived on a simple, healthy lifestyle connected to nature.
And after her father lived to be 96, Elizabeth is using that family inspiration to learn more about the lifestyle factors within our control that contribute to longevity.
“Of course, not one person can achieve this change and establish a blue zone. But whoever I talk to everyone gets very enthusiastic and I’ve already had offers from staff saying ‘If there’s an opportunity to contribute they are interested’. Most people have an interest in well-being, and whatever is good for seniors is good for young people as well,” she said.
Elizabeth’s global journey to the world’s blue zones will take some time, and it will no doubt be an experience she savours. There will be an early taste during a quick trip to Icaria this year before she touches back down in Australia in October.
It’s a well-earned holiday for an aged care leader who dedicated so much time to helping staff and older people from immigrant backgrounds.
I am very keen to contact Elizabeth Drozd OAM to discuss with her a National Institute to strengthen and sustain participatory community development to influence policy, practice, education and training , research and civil society across at sectors. We do not have any representation from people experienced in the Multicultural sector and are conscious that this is a very big gap. My name is Carmel Daveson AM and I am in my mid-eighties and like Elizabeth believe that older people still have a significant contribution to make to foster a more peaceful, caring and just world.