Meet our trainers

Meet our Trainers

ALICIA WEIDERMAN

Alicia has held senior roles in the Australian Government in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2001 – 2014. During this time she has held various roles in both Canberra and in Queensland State Offices. These positions involved managing a network of providers, and contract managers through multiple policy changes and environments.
In May 2015 Alicia started Weiderman Consulting, a management consulting company that works with Government and business to address complex problems, with a focus on labour market issues.

DAMIEN OPOLSKI

Damien joined NESA after an extensive career with the Department of Employment, where he spent the last 12 years as manager of the Learning Centre. As a service provider in the CES, he estimates that he’s conducted over 10,000 job seeker interviews and worked with hundreds of employers to help them find the right staff. A career spanning more than 30 years has given him a unique insight into the employment services sector. Originally from Adelaide, Damien has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Adelaide, and diplomas in Project Management and Training and Assessment. He is also a qualified Teacher to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

JODI SAMPSON

Jodi Sampson is a proud Gomeroi Man from North-West NSW. Jodi was raised in “Two-Worlds” in Moree and has an entrepreneurial spirit that runs deep, provides leadership, Coaching & Mentoring and role models the cultural values of his family and ancestors. Jodi’s career spans across all levels of Government, Non-Government, Peak Bodies and Community-Based Organisations. Jodi’s engagement has seen him hold specialised roles and conducted cutting-edge strategic activities to provide access and participation of First Nation People to programs & opportunities that seemed unreachable.

COLIN HARRISON

Dr. Colin Harrison holds a PhD in Neurocognitive Linguistics, and has 30 years’ experience in the domain of language and communication. He has been a tertiary educator, adult trainer and professional facilitator in Australia, the US and France, and is a Maître de Conférences with the French Éducation Nationale. He has directed academic departments, run cultural adaptation workshops for multinational companies and managed international exchange programmes. He has a particular love for, and focus on effective interpersonal and cross-cultural communication.

Corporate Culcha

PAUL DODD

Paul is the CEO & Director and a Principal Consultant for Corporate Culcha, identifying himself as a Bundjalung man, the traditional Aboriginal language group of his mother. Paul has a Bachelor Degree in Aboriginal Community Management and Development. Paul has over 22 years experience in facilitating Cultural Respect Training, working in State, and Commonwealth Government in management positions. Between 1994 – 2008, Paul facilitated Cultural Respect Training for over 4000 QLD Health staff alone. Paul also has a background in developing Indigenous Workforce Development Strategies including Indigenous Employment Strategies; and Indigenous Participation Plans for the construction industry. Between 2006-2007, Paul was commissioned to develop 20 Aboriginal Employment Strategies across state government departments in the Central and Northern Coast Regions of NSW. Paul developed the South Coast Regional Health Authority and the Gold Coast Health Services Cultural Awareness Programme.

Betterlink Group

PAUL MORGAN

Paul Morgan is the founding CEO of Betterlink Group, a Registered Training Organisation and consultancy offering training and business performance supports to the employment service industry since 2006.

With 20+ years’ experience in private recruitment and government contracted employment services Paul has a strong background and working knowledge of the business environment. He has held a variety of roles ranging from working directly with the long term unemployed as a consultant and career coach, to positions in senior management across multi-site and multi-program organisations.

A qualified trainer and assessor with a practical approach to working with clients. He enjoys assisting individuals to expand their horizons and explore opportunities. He is a longstanding professional member of the Australian Institute of Management and Career Development Association of Australia.

LESLEY WEST

Lesley West has over 30 years of experience working in the Employment Services arena. As an Operations Manager of five star sites in previous contracts, Lesley managed up to 60 staff at any one time and has hands-on experience managing people of all ages, backgrounds, personality types and levels of engagement. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Psychology, Graduate Diploma in Human Resources and Industrial Relations, Diploma of Management, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and even a Bachelors Degree in Art History. A professional member of the Australian Human Resources Institute who is continually working with jobactive, DES and CDP providers on tender writing, policies and procedural review, and staff training, Lesley is able to impart her knowledge in a way that is engaging, refreshing and makes even the most challenging of topics interesting.

REBECCA HERBERTSON

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Psychology, a Graduate Certificate in Career Development and other qualifications in Training, Management and Human Resources. With over fifteen years’ experience working in Employment Services and nine years delivering industry training, Rebecca is able to relay her knowledge and experience using a common sense approach and an informal manner which is popular with her clients. Her Employment Services work has primarily involved facilitating the Certificate IV in Employment Services throughout Western Australia and assisting organisations with other business needs such as tender writing and policy development. Currently the Director of Training and Compliance at the Betterlink Group, a Western Australian based RTO she is also a professional member of the Career Development Association of Australia, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an internationally certified Continuous Improvement Coach, SME Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner.

SHARON MAMO

Sharon is a qualified human services program designer and lecturer with many years of experience in Human Resources. For the last 5 years, she has focused on researching and working with disengaged job seekers and their complex needs. Sharon combines clinical psychotherapy and professionalism with a natural and down-to-earth approach. She is a qualified Drug and Alcohol Facilitator, Psychotherapist & Social Sciences Professional and has worked as a psychotherapist in employment services for over 8 years. As an expert in encouraging mandated and resistant clients to change, she keynotes at national conferences on topics of behavioural change, AOD, mental health and neuropsychotherapy.

CLARE EDWARDS

Clare is a change-maker. She helps organisations to tap into the collective potential of their people so that they can master personal leadership, thrive in change and stay fully engaged.

A passionate storyteller and inspiring speaker, Clare takes her audiences on an experiential journey, leaving them filled with new insights, keen to know more and motivated to change.

Clare’s corporate background spans 2 decades of working in senior management roles with global IT companies, surviving the dot com ‘boom and bust’ of the early millennium and thriving in complex, fast-paced change environments.

Clare makes the complex simple. She has studied neuroleadership extensively and brings theory and concepts to life helping people to uncover the full potential of their amazing brain and its ability to change – without the psychobabble.

LEONIE LAM

Leonie has been recognised as a leader in Career Development, leading and empowering individuals and teams to enhance their performance at work. Leonie is a qualified Trainer, Speaker, HR Consultant and Career Coach. She has previously held Training and HR positions at Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, Veolia Water and Western Sydney University. She is also the Director of a training and coaching business.

In 2017, she was nominated for the Australian Leadership Excellence Awards, out of 42 nominations, she achieved 6th place in the category of Owner/Entrepreneur Leader of the Year.

As a Trainer, she is passionate about delivering training to help individuals and organisations maximise their performance and make an impact at work. As a Career Coach, she has helped more than 200 people secure employment in Australia. She consistently receives outstanding feedback in her training programs.

Leonie has a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, a Master of Commerce, Human Resources and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment