A dedicated local community organisation with more than 40 years of experience in supporting children, families, older people, and people with disability to build capacity to participate in their local community. Our dedicated team of community development professionals specialises in providing tailored local solutions to support the specific individual needs of our clients and communities.

Executive Management of Children First Family Services business divisions. Supported by a team of dedicated and professional managers and staff, these integrated business divisions include:1. Early Intervention Disability ServicesA multidisciplinary team of Allied Health professionals, Family Support Staff and Support Coordinators. The team provides a range of professional services to the communities of Western and South Western Sydney. Services include NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention Services, Autism diagnosis and support, professional therapy services, play van, medicare services and fee-for-service therapy programs. 2. Ngallu Wal Aboriginal Child and Family CentreThis centre provides a range of child and family programs to support the Aboriginal community in the Blacktown area. This includes, childcare services, supported playgroups, NDIS early intervention services, family case management and a range of externally brokered programs and services.3. Family Links ProgramsA range of evidence-based programs to support children and families in the Mt Druitt and Blacktown areas. These programs are run within participating schools throughout Mt Druitt and Blacktown and are delivered throughout school terms. 4. NDIS Business Development ServicesA dedicated team of NDIS Business Development professionals. This team is focussed upon organisational transition activities, and the identification of growth and development opportunities in the NDIS environment.

Over the past five years it has been my pleasure and privilege to manage the team of five Aboriginal Regional Coordinators that comprise the NDS Aboriginal Programs Team in the implementation of the Aboriginal Resources and Pathways Program (ARP) and the Aboriginal Jobs Together Program (AJT) throughout NSW.The NDS Aboriginal Programs Team is comprised of dedicated community development professionals with a wealth of experience in working with the Aboriginal community. The team is dispersed in communities throughout NSW and is comprised of Dylan Reynolds (Sydney); Joseph Archibald (North Coast); Robyn Smith (New England/Hunter); Ray Peckham (Central and Far West); Vanessa Pattison (Riverina Murray).ABORIGINAL RESOURCES AND PATHWAYS (ARP)An initiative to facilitate 100% autonomous and community driven stakeholder networks throughout NSW to share information about the changes in the disability sector through the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS); build the capacity of local disability organisations to meet the individual cultural needs of Aboriginal people with disability; and develop and support locally-driven initiatives that aim to address the challenges for Aboriginal people with disability in accessing formal disability support services. Through the ARP program we currently support stakeholder networks in 20 locations involving more than 800 members.ABORIGINAL JOBS TOGETHER (AJT)Through this program the NDS Aboriginal Programs Team has achieved some amazing outcomes including: supporting more than 130 Aboriginal people to take up employment opportunities in the disability sector; supporting the mentoring and vocational/non-vocational needs of all Aboriginal employees in the program; and providing cultural capacity building assistance for 42 host employer organisations. These fantastic programs have been possible due to a long term funding commitment by the NSW Dept of Families and Communities (FACS).

KARI is the largest Aboriginal Child Protection Service in NSW. In my role with KARI Aboriginal Resources Incorporated I was responsible for the achievement of organisational accreditation by the Office of the Children’s Guardian NSW as a designated out-of-home care service provider. I also managed the re-development of the internal policy structure and business systems to facilitate the expansion of the organisation from a small operation to a medium/large sized business.Within this I managed a multidisciplinary team of community development, fundraising and HR professionals. This portfolio included:• Diversification of organisation income stream. This included successfully tendering for the Brighter Futures Program.• Business development • Strategic Planning• Management of community development projects• Management of community enrichment projects• Policy and document managementAs a Senior Management role this included all aspects of project management including Divisional and project budgeting requirements.