With her husband, Jo owns/manages a multidisciplinary allied health clinic south of Brisbane. Responsible for business strategy and development and the financial growth of the business, under her guidance the business has grown from a team of 2 to 17 employees with more growth and a hydrotherapy centre planned. Jo has been able to build innovative partnerships within the local community, and ethical business is the focus of the clinic. One of her proudest accomplishments was working with Brisbane South Primary Health Network to identify a need for free translating services for Allied Health practitioners to aid their refugee patients - a program which BSPHN then took Australia-wide. She also spent two years on the BSPHN Community Advisory Council.Jo is a passionate ally of the LGBTQIA+ community. Most recently, working closely with Jane Hopkins PFLAG+ National Spokesperson, she co-founded the formal establishment of PFLAG+ Australia as a national entity and charity. The aim of this entity is to establish broader national peer support programs to support children, parents and caregivers of the LGBTQIA+ community, to extend the advocacy reach of PFLAG and provide cohesiveness to PFLAG+ groups across the country especially in regional and rural areas. In her other spare time she also assists on the Brisbane PFLAG+ Committee.Previous to this Jo developed her critical thinking and analytical skills while she was a PhD student at Griffith University where she studied Mandarin and International Relations, with her dissertation specifically looking at the politics and the potential weaponisation of outer space. She had several articles published in academic journals, as well as an internship at the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, Washington DC.Outside of work you’ll find Jo wrestling with her art supplies or trying to squeeze a nice tune out of her recalcitrant ukelele. Given a choice of a packet of Tim Tams or time sailing, she would take the sailing with her husband and dog anytime. Probably.