Senior Adviser, Mental Health (Co-design & Policy)

• Nov 2022 - Present

Homes Victoria, within the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, has been created to support Victorians who are finding it difficult to secure stable, affordable housing and help them live their best possible life, to manage the more than $26 billion in housing assets that currently house more than 116,000 Victorians, to renew and substantially expand those assets by ensuring the Big Housing Build is delivered on budget and on time, and to make sure we have a sustainable housing system that can deliver for generations to come. As the Senior Adviser, Mental Health, (Co-design & Policy), I have the opportunity to: - be part of a team working to ensure that Victorians living with a mental illness have a place to call home - focus on delivering on Homes Victoria’s mental health supported housing reforms, which includes implementing the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System’s Recommendation 25 - enable effective delivery of housing and support for adults and for young people, enabling better access for people living with mental illness, and bringing to life co-design principles and processes Show less

Board Director

• Aug 2022 - Present

Scarf is a not-for-profit social enterprise which transforms lives through hospitality, running hands-on hospitality training, mentoring and paid work experience programs in Melbourne restaurants for young people facing barriers to employment. As a Board Member at Scarf, I am tasked with: - Providing leadership, governance and rigorous oversight to the organisation - Providing a youth participation and cultural safety lens to programming and decision making - Challenging and supporting the CEO to fulfil Scarf’s strategic objectives - Ensuring Scarf meets all legal and financial obligations - Developing and overseeing strategic direction and activities; and overseeing risk management and mitigation - Fostering sustainability Show less

National Advisory Group Member

• Mar 2022 - Present

batyr’s National Advisory Group brings together a group of diverse andpassionate young leaders to amplify the voices of young people,including those unable to voice their needs, through contribution to the strategicdirection of batyr and ongoing communication with the Board of Directors.Members advocate for change at an individual, community, and systematic level, frominitiating changes to batyr’s engagement with lived experience, to advocating for policychanges within the mental health sector and beyond. Show less

Speaker

• Oct 2017 - Present

Of every 30 students in Australia, seven will be dealing with a mental health issue, yet only two will reach out for support, leaving five suffering in silence. Sadly, most young people dealing with mental health issues do not reach out for help, largely due to stigma.batyr engages young people by talking to them about mental health and wellbeing, and aims to educate through the sharing of young people’s lived experience stories. As a speaker, my role is to aid in story-telling during batyr's school programs in Melbourne, which are fun, safe spaces for young people to create meaningful dialogue whilst being equipped with the knowledge and skills to lead mentally healthy lives. Show less

Community Convenor

• Sep 2022 - Dec 2022

Regen Melbourne is an alliance of organisations working together to create a thriving city within planetary boundaries. We exist to harness place-based research and deliver wildly ambitious collective projects. Formed through an extensive community-led research process in 2020/21, Regen Melbourne is a research lab and a backbone function for bold demonstration projects. The goal of this work is to bring Melbourne into the safe & just space between our social foundation and ecological ceiling. As the Community Convenor, my role works to nurture and connect the Regen Melbourne network, including community members and organisations, to spark unusual and impactful alliances amongst members and member organisations. Show less

Community Advisor

• Aug 2022 - Dec 2022

TACSI is an independent social enterprise working on projects and initiatives across Australia, alongside people, community, government, philanthropy and not for profit. We believe that by putting people back at the heart of social innovation and shifting the power back to the people directly affected by the challenges they face every day, we can make lasting and impactful change. As a Community Advisor at TACSI, my role sees me working on a project to develop a framework and toolkit to support diverse communities, as a result of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, by: - Building and maintaining strong partnerships with, and between, community and sector stakeholders - Facilitating consultations with community members from CALD, LGBTIQA+ backgrounds and those with a disability to co-design new toolkits and frameworks around mental health support for diverse audiences - Embedding feedback into policy discussions and decisions Show less

Manager, Youth Participation and Engagement

• Sep 2020 - Jul 2022

Orygen believes that all young people deserve to grow into adulthood with optimal mental health. Most mental health challenges begin between the early teens to the mid-20s, and one in five young people will have experienced a depressive episode by the time they turn 18. Orygen is a leading research and knowledge translation, and clinical support organisation focusing on mental ill-health in young people. Working side-by-side with young people, partners and one another, they aim to redefine what’s possible in global research, policy, education and clinical care. As Manager, Youth Participation and Engagement, my role is to plan, deliver and evaluate youth engagement and participation activities across Orygen, including the headspace sites under its agency. This involves coordinating and providing strategic guidance for supporting new initiatives to facilitate meaningful involvement of young people throughout the organisation. Show less

Community Awareness Officer

• Feb 2018 - Sep 2020

headspace is a world-first youth mental health initiative that supports young people who are going through a tough time; whether it’s depression, anxiety or alcohol and other drug issues. The youth-friendly services at headspace are aimed at teenagers and young adults in recognition of the fact that 75 percent of mental disorders emerge before the age of 25 years. headspace Werribee is operated by Orygen. My role as the Community Awareness Officer at headspace Werribee involves working on a range of health promotion, community engagement and youth participation programs across Melbourne's west at a headspace centre led by Orygen. Through such activities, my team and I work to increase mental health literacy and reduce stigma and discrimination associated with mental health and other health/social issues faced by young people. Show less

Community Engagement Advisor

• May 2019 - Dec 2019

Community Engagement Leader

• Apr 2016 - May 2019

CHASE is an innovative not-for-profit organisation in which mentors partner with secondary schools and community leaders. CHASE works to improve health literacy amongst students in Melbourne's West and North-west through education and mentoring.As the Community Engagement Leader, I research, establish and maintain connections with community groups, enabling the ongoing refinement of the CHASE program. This includes identifying, researching and contacting community organisations, aiding the development of workshop content, organising speakers to present at our Mentor Training Workshops, and facilitating connections between community organisations and students to develop, implement and evaluate community-based projects.I also manage the relationship between CHASE and our partnering schools. I act as the main point of contact between individual schools and CHASE; building rapport, problem-solving and representing CHASE in external-facing activities. In addition, I am also responsible for efficiently auctioning information and resource requests from other CHASE portfolios. Show less

Committee Member

• Jul 2017 - Dec 2018

connectwest is a membership-based network aimed at enabling connections and collaboration between community groups, leaders and volunteers in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Based in Melbourne’s metropolitan west, connectwest is led by a group of community members from various groups across Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melton, Moonee Valley and Wyndham. connectwest aims to support community leaders from various backgrounds by addressing the identified gaps of networking, information sharing and training. The organisation also works to connect, promote and advocate for community leaders, volunteers, health champions and leadership program graduates. As a Board Member, I work with my team to identify and act upon ways to make it easy to connect and build relationships. We recognise all leaders; those that have gone through formal leadership, governance or champion programs and people active in their community. Show less

International Youth Exchange Coordinator

• Jul 2017 - Aug 2018

Oaktree is Australia's largest youth-run organisation, and is a team leading a movement to end poverty. To do this, Oaktree operates through three key arms; raising awareness about poverty and inequality in our region, partnering with grassroots organisations in the Asia-Pacific region and having a strong advocacy presence both in Australia and our partner countries. My role lies within the International Engagement portfolio, which is responsible for managing Oaktree’s engagement across the Asia-Pacific. We partner with local not-for-profits to develop innovative development partnerships with like-minded youth-led organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. By connecting young people we encourage the sharing of knowledge, resources, skills and collaborative projects with a focus on education and youth participation. Part of our work is fostering peer collaboration, and supporting the work of those who share a vision of a more just world. My role as an International Youth Exchange Coordinator is to facilitate the relationship between Oaktree and our partner organisations in India, Cambodia, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea. Oaktree works collaboratively with these organisations, focusing on youth leadership and active citizenship. Key aspects of my role involve relationship development and management, identifying opportunities for collaboration, strategy development/implementation and the delivery of the International Youth Exchange initiative, which sees various youth-engaging projects being undertaken throughout the year whilst following a peer partnership model with organisations across the Asia-Pacific. Show less

Peer Researcher

• Feb 2017 - Jun 2018

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre is a specialised unit for the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. It is part of the Cancer and Medical Specialties Directorate of Alfred Health, and has an established reputation for clinical excellence and innovation through its research. As a peer recruiter, I assist in the promotion of research studies that aim to examine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among young males aged 17-19 years. Part of my role is to engage, support and educate young people, whilst representing the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and collaborating with study investigators. Show less

Youth Partnerships Team Member

• Jan 2018 - Apr 2018

As a member of the Youth Partnerships Team, I provide advice to the project’s core team on ways to approach a youth engagement strategy, using my understanding of young people’s experiences in Brimbank, along with my project management and community engagement skills. Through this role, I work in partnership with other team members and the core team to design and deliver activities that will aid in generating the Brimbank Youth Jobs Strategy. This strategy aims to respond to high and rising rates of youth unemployment. Activities undertaken include public space events, workshops and meetings to ensure that young people are positioned as key actors and advocates to influence improved policy and program responses. Show less

Supervisor

• May 2014 - Jan 2017

I have been an active team member of this fast-paced hospitality environment, aiming to provide exceptional customer service and high quality products in a timely manner. My responsibilities within the Jimmy Grants team include preparing, cooking and serving food whilst employing appropriate food safety practices. I also train new staff and provide site orientation, as well as exhibit leadership and management skills to ensure the efficient running of the store and cooperation of all staff. Show less