Our training team

B Music, M Education (Music), Dip Gov, FICDA

After completing her Master of Education, Nina discovered her passion for working with communities and empowering them through music-based education programs. In 2016, Nina joined the Victorian Student Representative Council as a training and project manager, and she was later appointed CEO. As CEO, she led the organisation through a time of significant change, from being an auspice agency to becoming a charitable company limited by guarantee. It was during this time that she honed her skills as an executive manager, educator and advocate with a strong focus on strategic planning, mentoring and governance.

Nina excels in strategic and change management, particularly in bringing diverse stakeholders along for the journey. Her agile management style and unwavering energy and commitment enable her to build strong teams that thrive under challenging situations.

Nina is a passionate advocate for ensuring all people, particularly those from marginalised communities, have accessible platforms, opportunities and spaces where they can be heard and supported to create positive change in the world.

Nina works with the training team to develop new training materials and deliver the full range of ICDA programs, including the Diploma of Governance.

BA (Hons), DipEd, Certificate IV (Training and Assessment), Dip Gov, FICDA

Jon has a background as a teacher, trainer, social entrepreneur, filmmaker and writer. He began his career teaching at Melbourne's Northland Secondary College, where in 2000 he was awarded the Peter Clarke Teaching for Reconciliation Award based on his work with the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community at the school. He spent several years being mentored by and working alongside Gunditjmara artist and filmmaker Richard Frankland and together they developed a cross-cultural education program, Planting Seeds, which shone a light on the invisible load that Aboriginal communities in Australia have carried in the wake of colonisation.

In 2008 Jon founded the not-for-profit youth media social enterprise Youthworx, which uses creative and commercial media to work with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and he led the organisation until 2020 when he joined Our Community.

BA (Hons), Certificate IV (Training & Assessment), Certificate in Intercultural Communication, Dip Gov, FICDA

Annabel's experience in facilitation, relationship management, program design and program delivery in small consulting firms and not-for-profits spans 20 years. In all roles her focus has been on capacity building in the sector.

Her focus has always been on capacity building and leadership development, and she has considerable expertise in the design, development and delivery of a wide range of training programs. She has facilitated programs for young people, executives from ASX companies, not-for-profits, newly arrived migrants, global teams, and community board members.

Annabel is an accredited ADHD coach, certified in several competency and assessment tools related to communication and leadership styles, and she draws on these in her facilitation and coaching.

An active volunteer in the sector since her teenage years, Annabel has sat on the boards of several community organisations. She is a coach, mentor and podcaster for the social enterprise Takes a Village, which supports families with neurodiverse kids.

Ian worked in marketing at the Age newspaper and Syme Magazines before moving into sports administration in 1990 with the North Melbourne Giants in the National Basketball League. In 1992 he joined the Carlton Football Club administration, starting in the marketing team before becoming the first media manager of an AFL club in Victoria.

In his 20-year association with the Carlton Football Club, during which time he was part of the executive team, he developed the club’s media and communications structure and strategies. He built exceptional personal communication and relationship management capabilities through his experience across complex management and board structures and is regarded as an expert at cultivating and managing sensitive stakeholder relationships and interests.

A graduate of the ICDA Diploma of Governance, Ian is a great supporter of, and has a long association with, community groups – his past and present roles include board member, advisor and volunteer. He is also a co-founder and director of a not-for-profit organisation that promotes reconciliation through sport.

Ian joined Our Community in 2020 and delivers training for Class B Cemetery Trusts.

Brett is the founder and self-appointed mayor of Hootville Communications, a PR agency that serves community sector clients, as well as an in-demand speaker, trainer and facilitator.

His entertaining, irreverent style has seen him become a highly popular member of the training team.

Before Hootville, Brett worked as a print journalist, talk radio host and publicist with media organisations including Truth, New Idea, Channel 7 and radio station 3AK. He's also contributed to The Sunday Age in Melbourne and ABC 720 Perth.

Brett is a true believer in not-for-profit causes, not-for-profit organisations and the people who choose to support them.

As well as his paid work with the not-for-profit sector, he is involved as a mentor and guest tutor with the Centre for Sustainability Leadership, which selects aspiring green university students and readies them for the pragmatic world.

He has also participated in voluntary building projects in Sri Lanka and Ghana with Habitat for Humanity and in southern India with the organisation KEEP, which runs five schools for tribal children.

Key areas of interest:

• Not-for-profit communications and public relations
• Web-based communications
• Marketing for community organisations