Stepping Stone: the alumna-run café creating meals with meaning

A stepping stone can be a brief pause on the way to a desired destination, or a place of safety above running water. It all depends on your perspective.

For migrant and refugee women in Canberra, Stepping Stone Cafe is both – a way forward and a safe space.

Whether serving up red curry in a homey historic Strathnairn homestead or Turkish eggs in Dickson, the women find essential employment and training in each location.

For co-founders Hannah Costello and Vanessa Brettell, the café is more than just a job.

“We want the women that work with us to feel safe and to feel like they are in an environment where they can make mistakes, learn and grow, and express themselves freely,” Bretell, an alumna of the Australian National University (ANU), says.

Now, as winners of the 2025 Australian of the Year Local Heroes award, they have big plans for the future.

The personal is poltical

Brettell says the idea to run the social enterprise café was partly inspired by her own family history.

Her grandfather, a scholarship student at ANU, migrated to Australia from India with his young family. He was able to practice English, learn about Australian culture and integrate into society through his studies. But it wasn’t as easy for her grandmother.

“Being a stay-at-home mum, she suffered a little bit, feeling isolated and not having as many opportunities to enter into society,” Brettell says.

“We wanted to provide opportunities to other women who were experiencing similar things, because we noticed that there weren’t many services or employers who would be open and flexible to accommodating the needs that migrant women face in Canberra.”

Costello says her interest in ‘giving back’ also came from her family.

“My mother is a teacher. My father is a tradesman. We did not have a lot but what they did have, they shared,” Costello says.

Since setting up the first location, Brettell and Costello have been able to witness the café’s impact in real-time.  

“We have women who start with us, and their husbands have to join the interview because they don’t feel confident or don’t have the English to be able to participate,” Costello says.

“Seeing them taking orders from customers and being able to interact with the wider community, that makes me quite proud.”

Women that have worked at Stepping Stone have gone on to achieve various goals – including qualifications in commercial cookery or hospitality.

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“Each time we come to work we see [our staff members] learning new things or making new friendships between themselves or going on to study or doing different things in their personal life – lots of little moments,” Brettell says.

Watching the wider community welcome the women at Stepping Stone has also been a reward for the duo.

“People who have probably never had a conversation with someone who was a refugee now have, and their opinions and views are slowly changing,” Costello says.

Making a difference

One change that Brettell and Costello weren’t expecting was winning the 2025 Australian of the Year Local Heroes award.

“We were so grateful just to be nominated and be able to attend the event,” Brettell says.

Costello adds that, while overwhelming, it was also a humbling experience.

“It’s an award that a community member volunteers you for, so there’s people in our community that thought we deserve to be nominated. The fact that we then won the award is even crazier,” Costello says.

They hope the recognition they have gained will enable them to “spread the word” about the value of social enterprises like Stepping Stone.

“2025 is going to be a very full year,” Costello says. “I’m hoping that it brings a lot of the plans that we have in the works to the forefront.

“We would really like to work on a transitional work pathway for our employees. We would love to improve some of our facilities. We would like to improve our impact.”

While balancing social impact with financial viability isn’t easy, Costello and Brettell are up for the challenge.

“The women that we employ, seeing them come to work through the adversity that they may have at home or where they’ve come from and the kind of challenges that they’ve had in their lives; if they can come to work with a smile on their face, then we definitely can,” Costello says.

And for the Stepping Stone women, it’s one step closer to a life in a new country.