Champion Health Agency (CHA) is a pioneering ‘talent agency for lived experience,’ to drive positive societal change. CHA represents and supports people with disability, chronic illness and carers to access meaningful and diverse opportunities to create transformative change by professionalising their lived experience. These opportunities can range from speaking and ambassador roles to research, consultancy and more – professionalising the expertise gathered through their experiences and providing an alternative way for people with barriers to economic and social participation to actively engage.
Currently representing people in Australia, New Zealand, US and England, CHA is a social enterprise grounded in a social impact model, determined to create cross-sectoral system change through a disability, chronic illness and carers lens, by facilitating implementation of “nothing about us, without us” at all levels, in all industries.
About the founder: Anja Christoffersen
Anja Christoffersen is an award-winning disability advocate and social entrepreneur, based on the Sunshine Coast. Born with a rare and complex disability requiring extensive reconstructive surgeries, intervention and ongoing management, Anja has broken barriers to model, write and speak internationally. Despite being told she could never model due to her scars, Anja went on to walk in Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Amsterdam at 17 years old, and placed 1st Runner up in Miss Grand Australia in 2019. Speaking in the US, Pakistan and throughout Australia, and writing an autobiography ‘Behind the Smile’ in her teens, Anja challenges perceptions and stereotypes to redefine what it means to be disabled. This resulted in her being awarded the QLD Young Achiever of the Year Leadership Award in 2020.
With a passion for change making, Anja has supported people with disabilities and chronic illnesses to find and grow their voice in the health system and business through her multiple business ventures.
Anja frequently engages in advocacy and lived experience consulting, co-leading and contributing to transformative projects across diverse sectors, particularly health, research and not-for-profit. Her work has won awards including the Consumer Focus Award – Quality Awards Recognising Initiative and Excellence in Service 2022 and been published in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Closest to her heart, Anja supports others with disabilities and chronic illness to navigate their experiences that can feel isolating and overwhelming. Hospital is still her second home, her disability is more severe and debilitating than she will ever tell you, and she spends more time unwell than well. But that’s what keeps her motivated to create change for the largest minority and bring you opportunities to rewrite the narrative with people with disabilities.