nigell@fallforwardqld.com.au

Nigel has injected himself into the community service industry since the age of 18 years old, 20 years later, Fall Forward was born. He was always destined to lead a team of professionals into the world to light up the darkness. Allowing others to realize their true worth and potential is something close to his heart. As his paradigms shift, he feels when he refers to “his people” it is not just the indigenous people of Australia, It is everyone from all walks of life. When the sun goes down and all light switches are off, we all look the same. He believes everyone’s mind, especially our participant’s minds are amazing, when dissected and explored into that’s where true magic lies. Fall Forward’s name stems from the ability to learn from our mistakes. We all fall at some stage of our lives, Instead of falling backwards here with us, you will learn to… Fall Forward.

Nige enjoys kicking it with family and friends and telling great dad jokes, that no one really laughs at.

caitlins@fallforwardqld.com.au

Caitlin entered the community services sector over 5 years ago to fulfil her passion of working with young people. She has gained experience across the sector while working alongside people with challenging behaviours, trauma and severe mental health concerns.

Caitlin’s professional knowledge is supported by her experience in Residential Care, Child Safety support services, NDIS and Family Intervention.

Through working with Fall Forward as a Disability Coach her passion for people has flourished. It’s a special thing to have the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life. To be invited into her participants’ space is something she won’t take for granted as it’s an honour to help them find connection, independence and reach their goals with them.

In her downtime she enjoys spending time being present with family, scuba diving and being in nature.

tafuap@fallforwardqld.com.au

Tafua was born in New Zealand and did most of his teenage years growing up in Christchurch. He is passionate about his Samoan culture which in many ways has shaped him to be where he is today in working in Community Work Services.

In the last 15 years he has been involved in working with people of all diverse backgrounds, specifically working with people with mental health and disabilities. Tafua has also worked with various organizations in supporting men in their social emotional wellbeing.

Tafua’s current role as a Wellbeing Coach for Fall Forward has certainly been challenging but rewarding! Tafua is passionate about journeying alongside with people that have a back story that seems to experience all sorts of challenging behaviour. He enjoys the challenges, and he realises how much he has learnt about himself, that he looks at life with a new perspective of treating others in a different light in terms of being respectful of all people, and to be as supportive and professional in coaching.

It is Tafua’s hope to see people come together and support one another. To have a meaningful purpose of knowing who they are, but more so to live a life of happiness and laughter. Only this can be achieved by having Fall Forward as part of a strong network of genuine, authentic people to see hope and light in what appears to be a dark and lonely place for all participants. And for this reason, he is delighted to be the person he is today in giving back to the community.

courtneyd@fallforwardqld.com.au

Courtney is new to the Community services sector after 10 years in education working closely with children with a range of needs and from a variety of backgrounds. This experience and a passion for wanting to expand her scope of practice made her transition to Fall Forward seamless. Courtney is passionate about holistic wellbeing and building strong relationships with participants to ensure she can provide a sense of belonging and tailored support to each individual.

Her drive to learn and grow sees Courtney regularly completing professional development and taking on new challenges to support her growth and development within her new role as a Fall Forward Coach.

In her downtime Courtney enjoys being present with her family, going on adventures and being active.

sharona@fallforwardqld.com.au

Sharon is of Samoan descent and has been in the Community industry for 11 years and cared for young people with trauma and challenging behaviours as a Care Practitioner for 8 of those years. Before that, Sharon was working in admin but her passion was always to get back into the community and now she is currently working for Fall Forward as a Wellbeing Coach to help others live more independently and deal with any other concerns in their lives. Sharon was born in Samoa but left home when she was 15 and she has been in Australia now for 32 years. She is honoured to have been given this opportunity to be able to work with her participants to guide them through everyday life, to allow them to be more independent and to reach their goals.

In her spare time, she enjoys playing squash, swimming in the creeks and watching her kids play sports.

jamesc@fallforwardqld.com.au

James entered this field 6 years ago in 2016 working as a youth worker/Care Practitioner in a residential setting. Over the past 3 years working with youths, he has developed skills and learned to understand kids who went through trauma, challenging behaviors, and mental health concerns and ways to assist them the best he can. He is currently working in the disability Sector as a Disability Wellbeing Coach. His role is to support participants to achieve their goals to enable them to live their lives independently, safely and make connections with the people out there.

James likes reading, watching tv, cleaning, and going for a drive to the beach with family.

gregd@fallforwardqld.com.au

In 2010 he entered the field of Aged and Community Care as his heart was set on caring for the elderly. In his role of Assistant Nurse, he assisted and cared for people from across diverse cultures and life experiences. Working in this role for 10 years he has gained experiences through wound care, behavioural challengers, clients with trauma from life experiences from their personal history. Through his experiences he has learnt how to celebrate the smallest of improvements and how to regulate end of life situations. Building great respect for others and also where he saw another side of life’s challenges.

Feeling that he needed more life experiences, the opportunity arose through a new pathway through Fall Forward to another set of experiences where he started in April 2021. He has enjoyed the opportunities that he has come across through younger and older participants and assisting them through their challenges to break that chain to succeed in their goals.

In his downtime he finds enjoyment in different outdoor activities like cycling, fishing, camping, swimming, spending time at the beach. If it is to do with the outdoors, he is not too far away.

ignite@marissaann.com.au

Marissa has a heartfelt devotion seeing others thrive and achieving their desired life goals, however the road to success will always have curve balls and having a community of support will enrich the journey of fulfilment.

Moreover, she has extensive knowledge in the community services industry ranging from high-risk youth, family intervention, residential care, disability care, allied health, management/leadership, and regional management.

Marissa’s passion extends to ensuring a parallel management process is achieved within the organisation. She does not value the old cog in the wheel management approach, each member of the Fall Forward family is an equal valued member including the participants and their support circle.

Marissa enjoys being active, spending time with her family and friends, self-development, and sunny days!