Zoe O’Neill
Senior Project Lead
Zoe is a systems thinker, facilitator, and designer with a background in law, social impact, and service innovation. She has expertise in family and domestic violence, child protection, housing and welfare rights, anti-discrimination work, and racial equity. With a deep curiosity and creativity of thought, she works at the intersections of justice, care, and systemic change.
Comfortable in complexity and complex environments, Zoe embraces the messiness of systems change and enjoys navigating uncertainty to find new possibilities. She brings a sense of fun and energy to facilitation, always prioritising authenticity and meaningful connection. She is passionate about working alongside people with lived experience, ensuring their voices shape the design of services, policies, and systems.
At ThirdStory, Zoe leads projects that span research, co-design, implementation and evaluation. She works closely with communities, service providers, and policymakers to create solutions that centre lived experience, promote equity, and shift systems. Her work includes designing and testing new models of care, facilitating participatory service design, and leading strategy and governance processes that drive meaningful change. Zoe is passionate about ensuring services are human-centred and culturally responsive, particularly in the areas of family violence, mental health, and housing.
Alongside her role at ThirdStory, Zoe contributes to various boards and committees, supporting organisations in governance, strategy, and innovation. She brings a ‘no-one left behind’ mentality to leadership and decision-making, ensuring that equity and social justice remain at the heart of transformation efforts.
Before joining ThirdStory, Zoe spent over a decade as a lawyer, advocating for access to justice for vulnerable people. She has worked in not-for-profit organisations across project management, service design, and systemic advocacy. She completed postgraduate study in Social Impact at the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Social Impact, further building her knowledge in innovation, complexity, and human-centred systems change.