Emily is passionate about working to reduce discrimination and stigma experienced by those who may not have access to the same positive supports and opportunities as others. She is committed to listening to and understanding all perspectives, to lead in a way that ensures others can contribute to overall outcomes, reaching shared meaningful results for all involved.

Through a calm and confident leadership style, Emily is focused on building the capacity of others by identifying and harnessing existing expertise and by providing people with opportunities to develop and grow.

With a career primarily focused within Corrections and Rehabilitation, Emily has significant leadership and management experience, as well as qualifications and extensive experience in the delivery of alcohol and other drug education and rehabilitation programs.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Gender Studies), Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling, Graduate Certificate in Alcohol and Other Drug Studies

Anita joined our team in 2015 and looks after DEN’s finances and payroll. She gained her financial experience in her own business and in the community sector, but much prefers working within the non-profit sector, where she can identify with the goals of the organisation.

Qualifications: Masters in Applied Mathematics (UNSW Credit for Diploma in Meteorology (Munich University)), Competency in Plan for Community Engagement – Incidental Counselling (10093 NAT), Recognise and Respond Appropriately to Domestic and Family Violence (CHCDEFV301A), 20 Years’ Experience in Finance and Payroll (Director of Private Business, Employee in Not-For-Profit Sector)

Dave is a qualified Gestalt therapist, has a background working as a drug and alcohol counsellor, and is passionate about groupwork, personal growth and environmentalism. Dave emigrated to Australia 15 years ago and, prior to entering the welfare sector, worked as a design engineer in the automotive industry. He has worked in private practice and was part of the outreach team at the Buttery Rehab in Northern NSW. In this role, Dave ran several groups, including DRUMBEAT groups with men from the Aboriginal community, AOD support groups, and court diversion psycho-educational groups. Dave moved to Tasmania three years ago and worked in the homeless and mental health sectors before joining DEN as project coordinator for the wungana makuminya project. Following the successful completion of this project Dave joined the DEN team as an educator.  Dave continues to work in the AOD sector as a DRUMBEAT facilitator with Holyoake Tasmania as well as developing and delivering groupwork at the Tasmanian Men’s Gathering.

Qualifications: Graduate Diploma in Gestalt Therapy, BTEC HND Mechanical and production engineering, BTEC ONC mechanical and production engineering, 7 ‘O’ Level Passes

Maria has extensive experience as an educator. She holds a Certificate IV in Training and Education, and has worked with adult learners in a variety of settings over the past 16 years. This experience is combined with a background in nutritional health and a Masters in Public Health, with a focus on contemporary public health practice, encompassing models of empowerment and frameworks for change. Maria uses her knowledge and skills in this area to deliver educational experiences that are accessible and relevant for all community members.

In 2018 Maria completed her Master of Social Work and is excited to incorporate the learnings and frameworks from this degree into her work and role.  In particular the focus on social justice, human rights and respect for all people drives Maria’s approach to work and supporting everyone in the Tasmanian community to reduce harm from drugs.

Qualifications: Masters in Social Work, Diploma of Applied Science in Naturopathy, Masters in Public Health, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE 40116)

Known to the team simply as Pixie, Zoe takes care of many things behind the scenes; building and designing resources, investigating and implementing new systems and software, aiding and running projects, scrutinising data, and maintaining the computer fleet. She has many passions, including making information accurate and supporting people to use the full potential of their brains to make informed decisions. When not busy using her powers for the good of DEN, Zoe can be found scribbling away in Illustrator or flexing her gaming prowess.

Qualifications: Certificate IV Community Services, CHCAOD402B (Work Effectively In The Alcohol and Other Drug Sector), Digital Vision Prize (2008) Computer Graphics and Design, Brighton Council Prize (2008) for Health Studies

Kory joined DEN in 2019 to support Anita with DEN’s financial responsibilities. He ensures that invoice payments are timely and that the DEN team gets paid. In addition to his part-time role at DEN, he is studying for a diploma of Accounting at TasTAFE and training as a volunteer firefighter for the New Norfolk fire brigade.

Qualifications: Certificate IV in Accounting

Deni joined the DEN team in October 2020 where she worked across two roles, supporting our administrative team and writing content for our online training modules.

With a background in health administration and social theory, Deni is passionate about education and community development. During her down-time you will find her cooking vegetables, reading books and asking questions.

Qualifications: BA in Sociology & Philosophy, Graduate Certificate in Politics and Policy

Rob joined the DEN team in 2021 with a wealth of experience in developing and delivering health promotion education and resources to support people living with or at risk of blood borne viruses. With a passion to provide Tasmanian communities with accessible information that allows people to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing, Rob believes in the power of evidence-based harm reduction strategies to prevent and reduce the harms from alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

Qualifications: Diploma of Community Services

Originally from South Australia, Clare has called Tasmania home for nearly forty years and has gained extensive experience in the Community Services sector since, having worked in the areas of sexual assault, mental health, youth, alcohol and other drugs, homelessness and family violence.
Inspired by Nelson Mandela’s quote “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” and madly passionate about knowledge being the most powerful tool in humans’ toolbox, she has spent the last twelve years in an educator role, as a TAFE teacher and most recently as a Family Counsellor in Cairns. She is also pretty fiery about social justice, human rights and environmental issues and strongly advocates for change in these areas.
At the end of the day though, fiery passion is a primary driver for Clare in assisting people to feel empowered to be all that they can be, regardless of their challenges or circumstances; and to be an instrument for positive change. She holds a firm belief in the words of Mahatma Gandhi – “be the change you want to see in the world” and endeavours to be just that on a daily basis.
Qualifications: Graduate Certificate in Human Service Practice, Certificate IV in Teaching English in a Second Language (TESOL), Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110), Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Community Services Work

With a diverse career pathway – including investigating the neurobiology of animal social lives, teaching human biology units at Macquarie University, wrangling and naming wild Tassie Devils and Quolls and coordinating the design and development of training programs and educational resources – Susie joins DEN with an eclectic set of skills, knowledge and topics of conversation to support and inform the integral work of DEN.

Susie is a feminist, obsessed with the natural world and all that inhabits it, is a runner about 8 months of the year and tries her best to take a dip in the ocean a least a couple of times a week.

Qualifications: BSc (Hons). Biological Sciences, MSc. Neuroscience and Cognition, PhD Social Behaviour and Neurobiology, Cert IV Training and Assessment (TAE40116), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)