I grew up in the Highlands, started my career as a clerk with what is now Wingecarribee Shire Council, and after many years working in Sydney, I moved back home in 2024. These days I live in Bundanoon with my husband and adult son, and my heart is very much in this community — its people, its systems, and the gaps that far too many families still fall through.

Professionally, I’ve spent more than three decades in administrative and coordination roles across local government, architecture and design, the building and construction sector, kitchen manufacturing and, most recently, retirement living. I worked for 11 years as Receptionist and Lifestyle Co-ordinator at The Cotswolds Retirement Village in North Turramurra, where I helped design and run social, emotional and physical wellbeing programs for residents, coordinated staff, volunteers and guest presenters, and built a strong network of speakers and musicians. Colleagues know me for being highly organised, calm in conflict, warm with people from all walks of life and very committed to good old-fashioned customer service.

My advocacy work is deeply personal. I’m the mum of a 31-year-old son with a late diagnosis of ASD Level 2, dyslexia and depression, and I’ve walked alongside him through school, services, waiting lists and the ongoing realities of adult life as a neurodivergent person. I’ve navigated the NDIS, local organisations, therapists and support services to help him build life skills, social skills and emotional regulation — and I know how exhausting and confusing that journey can be for families.

For years, I could see that neurodivergent adults in the Highlands didn’t have many safe, social spaces that truly understood their needs. So I started a neurodivergent social group for 18–35-year-olds on my own, simply because it was needed. When I later discovered Neuro Awesome and started attending events, I immediately felt the synergy with what I was trying to create — low-pressure, genuinely understanding spaces for ND adults to connect. After seeing that alignment, I was approached to formally join Neuro Awesome so we could work together to create change and a better, safer way for ND adults to meet and belong in our region.

I’ve also been involved with Wingecarribee Community Circles and Autism Connect, helping to build local connection, reduce isolation and make it easier for families to find the right information and support. That work has given me a front-row seat to what ND adults — and their parents and carers — are really going through, beyond the brochures and formal reports.

With Neuro Awesome, my hope is simple: that ND adults and their families in the Highlands feel less alone, more understood, and more supported by a community that truly “gets it.” My guiding belief has always been: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — treating everyone with the respect, kindness and empathy I would want for my own family.