Kirstin Ferguson
Chief Executive Officer   

Kirstin Ferguson has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Bachelor of Laws (Honours), Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Kirstin first joined Sentis in 2006 as Business Manager – Australia and then held the position of General Manager – Asia Pacific & Africa before being appointed CEO for the global business. As well as her responsibilities with Sentis, Kirstin is also a non- executive director with the Queensland Government Owned Corporation, SunWater Ltd (and subsidiary) and is also a member of SunWater’s Audit and Remuneration Committees. Kirstin was previously the COO & Director of Corporate Services at the Australian national law firm, Deacons (now Norton Rose), and has also worked as an Administration Manager in London with the law firm Ashurst Morris Crisp. Kirstin’s initial career was as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and she graduated with the Air Force Prize from the Australian Defence Force Academy. Kirstin has previously been named Brisbane Young Manager of the Year by the Australian Institute of Management and she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2003. Kirstin is admitted as a solicitor in Queensland and New South Wales and has also completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.

Shane Kosanic
Chief Financial Officer

Shane has worked in various financial roles over the past 13 years. His 1st role after obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Queensland was with a large Chartered Accounting firm in Brisbane where during this time he also gained the qualifications necessary to become admitted as an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Australia). Soon after this Shane ventured over to the United Kingdom where he gained a role with Royal & SunAlliance for approximately 2 « years. After being too cold for too long he decided to come back to Australia where he has since worked with BHP Minerals and more recently for the past 6 or so years with a large Australian software development company in the capacity of their Chief Financial Officer.

Married with two small boys – all of his time outside of work is playing with his boys as well as keeping a keen interest in all matters relating to sports.

Kellie Lewis
Global leader - People

Kellie holds a BSc(Honours) in Psychology, a Masters in Performance Psychology and completed her MBA specialising in Finance and Innovation at the University of Western Australia in 2006. For over 12 years, Kellie has worked with individuals, couples, families and groups across a wide spectrum of clinical and performance issues. She has worked as a clinician and department manager with the Child, Adolescent and Family Services Division in the national award winning community mental health clinic, The Centre for Behavioural Health, USA. Kellie has also worked extensively with elite sports people on clinical and performance issues, including a number of years at the Australian Institute of Sport, including during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prior to Sentis Kellie worked full-time with the West Coast Eagles Football Club as the team Psychologist where she focused on tem and leadership development initiatives as well as individual counselling. Kellie has operated her own successful consulting firm where she applied her performance enhancement work to the corporate sector.

At Sentis, Kellie has utilised her skills and experiences in developing the Western Australian business unit. Kellie's initial focus areas were managing the Perth Sentis operations, growing the business and facilitating the development of the Perth team member's personal and professional vision and purpose. Currently, Kellie is solely focusing on the development of the Perth Team’s people. Kellie is extremely passionate about the work that she does and approaches her days with energy, compassion and the highest level of professionalism.

Dr Ali Dale
Principal Consultant

With a Masters degree and PhD in Clinical and Health Psychology, Ali has over 10 years experience working as a clinician, trainer and academic. Prior to joining Sentis, Ali held a number of senior positions in various drug and alcohol treatment services, ran her own private practice and consultancy service, and held a lecturing position in the School of Psychology at Curtin University in Western Australia. Through this work, Ali also published articles in books and peer reviewed journals, and most recently, co-authored a book on addiction counselling.

At Sentis Ali brings her clinical and consulting experiences to her role, where she works with the Sentis team to assist clients to bring their safety performance to a new level.

Marissa Afton
Relationship Manager

Prior to joining the North American office of Sentis, Marissa worked as a counseling psychologist in Longmont, Colorado. There, she provided psychological services to groups, adults, couples, and families, along with play therapy for children. Marissa’s work also included intakes of new clients, performing psychological assessments of existing clients, and training of new therapists. Coinciding with this, Marissa also worked as a guidance counselor for at-risk youth and assisted in providing equine therapy to teens at several ranches in Colorado.

Originally from New York City, Marissa's previous psychological experience includes working on a crisis and suicide hot-line, co-facilitating self-empowerment workshops, and initiating a women’s support group.

Marissa is a former teacher with experience working at international schools in India, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She brings her passion for travel and education, along with her experience providing cognitive-behavioral counseling, to her work as a facilitator of ZIP programs at Sentis.

Eagan Barnett
Relationship Manager

Eagan comes to Sentis with some very unique and valuable life experiences. Born and bred in one of Western Australia’s largest mining regions, The Pilbara, Eagan left to pursue his University studies in Psychology. His love for the land, and all that our mining regions offer, drove Eagan to return to the north to work as a vocational rehabilitation consultant and psychologist. Most recently Eagan has worked as a consulting psychologist across a range of areas in clinical, forensic and corporate psychology. This range of experiences, predominantly conducted in rural and remote environments, were most recently utilised in developing and delivering comprehensive employee assistance services for both private and public organisations across the Northern Territory. His consultancy experiences have seen Eagan undertake services in the areas of clinical assessment and intervention, executive coaching, workplace assessments, conflict resolution, critical incident stress management, pre-employment screening, fitness-for-duty assessments and cognitive assessments. At Sentis, Eagan brings his clinical and organisational experience as well as his love for the mining and resources industry to the field of safety psychology where he facilitates our clients to achieve Zero Incidents.

Nathan Barton
Relationship Manager

Nathan brings to Sentis a diverse background of experiences.  His commitment to continuous self development through formal learning environments and life experiences has enabled him to have travelled around the world, attain his B.Sc. Psych (Hons) and serve as a Patrol Commander in the Australian Defence Force (Reserves).  Along the way he has worked in numerous employment settings including heavy manual labouring, customer service positions and HR roles. Nathan has also worked in Vocational Rehabilitation for two years as a Conditionally Registered Psychologist.  He provided employee assistance services, psychometric testing, adjustment & motivational counselling as well as recruitment/selection interviewing.  His experiences with significantly injured workers and associated secondary challenges provides enormous motivation for him to assist organisations achieve Zero Incidents.  Nathan uses his understanding of various work force cultures and people to assist in further enhancing the effectiveness of ZIP.

Tom Cotterill
Relationship Manager

Prior to joining Sentis at the start of 2007, Tom worked as an Injury Consultant for the Australian Institute of Sport. Working out of the Bruce campus in Canberra, Tom was responsible for athletes post-injury psychological rehabilitation. In addition to traditional face-to-face sessions, he created a self-paced CD-ROM learning resource for athletes to utilise while on the road.

Tom has also worked as a consultant for a range of sporting teams in QLD, and as a research assistant for the School of Human Movements, University of Queensland. As you can probably guess, Tom is an avid sports fan / nut.

Tom combines the knowledge he has gained in the high-pressure world of sport with the training he has received through Sentis to bring a high-quality level of ZIP facilitation throughout the Pacific.

Luke Daniel
Relationship Manager

Luke has worked as a psychologist and regional manager within the private sector both in Australia and in the United Kingdom. His experience has ranged from individual counselling for individuals with anxiety and depression, performing Medico-legal reports, critical incident debriefing, vocational counselling, hypnotherapy and occupational rehabilitation. Luke was involved in obtaining many government contracts and developing proposals and creating anti-fatigue programmes. Luke has also mentored other health professionals at a managerial level, within a senior role.

Prior to working as a Psychologist, Luke served four years in the Australian Army as a Combat First Aide Assistant and has a rural background and upbringing from outback Western Australia. Luke has a vehement interest in assisting others obtain the goals that they are striving for. Luke has a cognitive based background that serves as a concrete platform when assisting individuals and he strives for his own personal development through the completion of postgraduate studies in business and human resources.

At Sentis, Luke brings along his assiduous attitude and down to earth nature when facilitating and helping individuals seek their life goals through the sounding boards of ZIP and understanding the ZIP principles and tools.

Jennifer Farrell
Relationship Manager

Jennifer joined Sentis after building an outstanding consulting career that focused in Human Resources. In her work with one of Australia’s foremost Human Resource companies, Jenn consulted with a wide range of clients including global mining and resource giants. During her time as a Human Resource professional, Jenn facilitated training packages, provided career coaching, and assisted her clients effectively build their people capacity utilising the full range of recruitment tools such as assessment centres, interviews and psychometric testing and interpretation. Prior to entering the professional world, Jenn completed her undergraduate degree is Psychology which resulted in the completion of her Honours degree in exploring animal behaviour. The quality of this research was recognised by the University and Jenn received one of the University’s highest academic awards for excellence in research. Jenn then followed her Honours degree with completing a Masters degree in Organisational Psychology at the University of Western Australia. During her academic and professional career Jenn has found the time to pursue her passion for travel and regularly returns home to Canada to visit her family and friends. Jennifer has extremely high professional standards and brings her warm and fun personality to the facilitating and consulting work she does with her clients. At Sentis, Jenn loves to deliver ZIP and is always finding new ways to grow and develop her world class facilitation and consulting skills.

Dr. Melanie Flanders
Relationship Manager

Prior to joining Sentis, Melanie worked in higher education helping design and deliver leadership and organizational development programs to University faculty, administrators, employees and student groups. Melanie completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology in the U.S. at the University of Montana and both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in School Psychology at the University of Missouri – Columbia. In 2004, Melanie worked as a Research Fellow of the Imagination Lab in Switzerland.  Her work explored the application of Lego Serious Play to the development of practical wisdom. Melanie’s doctoral research focused on competency modeling in higher education. She has published several articles on consulting psychology and presented at a number of national conferences. Melanie serves on the Board of the Society of Consulting Psychology (Division 13 of the American Psychological Association) and will be co-chairing their annual conference in 2009. Melanie has spent time living abroad in both Costa Rica and Spain, studying the Spanish language and psychology. She has a passion for travel, cultural learning and being active outside. 

Melanie has enjoyed facilitating ZIP as a process that empowers individuals to take control of their safety and wellbeing, often resulting in a cultural shift across the organization. In early 2009, Melanie moved to the Sentis Group Office as a Product Developer for our Embedding processes.

Anthony Gibbs
Relationship Manager

Anthony joins sentis as a Facilitator for the Brisbane team. Prior to working at Sentis, Anthony worked as a Psychologist at both government and non-government organisations. He began his career working in a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation service where he further developed his keen interest in motivation and empowerment techniques. Anthony has used his skills in this area combined with a cognitive behavioural approach to assist clients with both acute and chronic mental health conditions manage their symptoms and personally develop and grow.

Anthony has experience in group facilitation in both clinical and staff training settings and is a strong believer the in the power a group setting can have in influencing individuals to face the brutal facts and take steps to reach their goals.

Anthony has lived most of his life in North Queensland and brings a down to earth, easy to understand approach to facilitation.

Franc Hayes
Relationship Manager

Franc brings a diverse history of experience to the Sentis team. His former employment included facilitating a support group for male Sexual Abuse survivors, counselling clients connected to a Residential Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation facility, lecturing at Bond University in Ethics & Professional Issues in Counselling, and also looking after the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS at the Queensland AIDS Council. Franc also ran a Private Counselling practice that catered for clients with issues of Parenting, Conflict Resolution, Behaviour Modification, Abuse, Addictions, Youth, all with a focus on empowerment and self determination. All these roles considered and encouraged the health, safety, and wellbeing of the people involved so a switch to Sentis is an obvious progression.

Claire Horgan
Relationship Manager

Claire graduated from University College Dublin with an Honours Degree in Psychology, as well as a Research Masters in Psychology. The main focus of her research was looking at disordered eating in an Irish adolescent population, examining various associated risk factors across gender and school type. During her studies, she worked in a residential home for profoundly disabled children and volunteered for a number of years as a call facilitator with Childline (the national listening service for young people under 18), as well as an online group facilitator with BodywhysConnect (an online support group for people with Eating Disorders).

Upon completion of her Masters, she took up the role of Regional Supervisor for Childine in Dublin. This position involved managing and supervising a team of over 50 volunteer call facilitators to ensure best practice, developing and facilitating on-going training, as well as engaging in recruitment and training of new volunteers. She also had the opportunity to lecture part-time on an ISPCC/UCC accredited course on Non-Formal Guidance during this time.

Immediately prior to joining the Sentis team, Claire had taken a year out to travel independently around the world. She lived in Australia for a significant portion of this time, working as a data administrator for Work Solutions Australia and also as a School Education Facilitator for a youth service based in Sydney’s Bondi Beach. At Sentis, Claire brings to the role of ZIP Facilitator a background in Psychology and research, a variety of different facilitation experiences and a love for travel.

Peter Kennedy
Relationship Manager

Peter joined Sentis in 2008 as a Facilitator for the Brisbane team. Peter holds a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and is a Registered Psychologist in the state of Queensland. Prior to joining Sentis, Peter worked as an applied practitioner, consulting with a wide variety of clients ranging from professional athletes to individuals within the corporate health sector. His work as a specialist sport psychologist used evidence-based practice to teach individuals, teams, and coaches the mental skills that could assist them in achieving peak performance, emotional resilience, and overall mental toughness. In addition, Peter has gained clinical experience through his work with QLD Health, using cognitive-behavioural based treatments in individual and group settings to facilitate the well-being of individuals experiencing significant health issues such as kidney disease, obesity, and chronic pain.

Peter’s strong interest in health and well-being lends to his passion for facilitating people through their journey to success. By combining his knowledge of high performance psychology with the core values of Sentis, Peter enjoys the challenge of delivering ZIP to achieve his goal of empowering clients to ensure that they consistently make gains towards optimal health and safety outcomes.

Humberto Marín
Relationship Manager

Humberto comes to Sentis with a wide breath of experience.  Working as a research consultant for the Ministry of the Interior in Santiago Chile, he has initiated and delivered multiple courses and seminars around the world that focus on Human Behavior before, during and after an emergency. He has experience in working with the Santiago Fire brigade and developed training programs for chemical, mining, highway and telecom companies located throughout South America and Europe. A series of past positions have allowed for a firm grasp on Human Behaviour with an emphasis on Risk Reduction, Emergency Responders and Training.

Humberto currently holds a Masters Degree in Mental Health from the Complutensian University of Madrid, Spain with an additional emphasis of Emergency Management and Risk Assessment. He is a certificated Instructor by the OFDA (USA) for Fire Fighter Brigades, currently working on his PhD in Social Psychology and resides in Santiago, Chile.

He has a passion for travel, immersing himself within the local people and their culture and currently serves as a volunteer fire fighter for the Santiago Fire Department.  Humberto brings to Sentis a variety of experience with various work force cultures and people to assist in further enhancing the effectiveness of ZIP.

David Musgrave
Relationship Manager

Before joining Sentis, David used his training as a Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapist in  supervising and managing residential treatment facilities providing service to children, youth, and their families, who were experiencing psychological or psychiatric disorders.  Additionally, he was able to make use of his industrial/organizational psychology training to assist his employer by developing innovative programming and a healthy organizational culture. David has several years of experience in working with individuals and groups in providing skills training, program development and marketing, management, team development, formal and informal psychometric assessment, recruitment and selection, and working alliance stakeholder development.

 David began his Sentis journey in 2006, applying his knowledge of the brain, and his adult education and organizational development skills, within the context of workplace safety facilitation and organizational safety culture development. He has facilitated ZIP programs throughout Australia developing working alliances within the aluminium smelting, and commercial explosives industries. Within Canada and the United States he delivers ZIP programs within the open-cut and underground diamond, coal, copper, & iron ore mining industries, commercial construction, and to contractors providing services within these industries. In addition to his professional role, David also extends his knowledge and skills regarding the brain and human behavior to provide public service, offering pro bono public speaking engagements to various groups in an effort to facilitate personal safety internationally.

Sioban Owens
Relationship Manager

Joining Sentis in 2006 and holding a Masters Degree in Occupational Psychology and the Henley Certificate in Management, Siobhan brings over 10 years consulting experience from Europe, Australia and New Zealand with both Blue Chip organisations and the Public sector.

Within the Public sector Siobhan initially worked for the NHS, and was the instrumental to the National Change Management initiative in 2001. She also consulted to ASURE (NZ), Australian Commonwealth Government, the Australian Defence Industry and State Rail. Within the private sector, Siobhan has completed a number of large-scale Change Management; Organisational Development projects and recruitment including psychometric assessment with, Lloyds TSB Bank, BMW, Glaxo SmithKline in the UK and Phillips Fox, Pfizer and the Commonwealth Bank in Australia. From these experiences Siobhan gained expertise in Setting the Culture, Organisational Change & Development; Leadership Development and Psychometric Assessments.

At Sentis, Siobhan is passionate about assisting organisations reach the goal of Zero Incidents. Specifically her passion is in empowering individuals from all levels of the organisation to understand their capability in taking ownership and personal responsibility. In addition, Siobhan is the Product Manager for Wellbeing, a specialised ZIP initiative which enables individuals in corporate, office based environments to achieve an ultimate level of Health and Wellbeing.

Currently Siobhan has been working extensively within the refining and smelting industry, open cut coal mining, electrical distribution and supply industry, and sugar manufacturing. She is consulting to the Rio Tinto Group.

Ron Regan
Relationship Manager

Ron is a dedicated safety professional. His skills and extensive experience come from a career that has included pivotal leadership positions. Ron has a diverse background which includes a blend of safety, training, social services and construction industries. As a result of two decades work, Ron became leader in the construction industry delivering major projects while achieving targets in production and safety. His enthusiasm and commitment to enhancing the lives of others saw Ron enter the mental health and social services profession. For the decade prior to joining Sentis Ron worked in a number of challenging & stressful environments delivering support for a broad spectrum of clients. These include Palm Beach-Currumbin Private Hospital, Department of Communities (Juvenile Justice) and the Gold Coast Drug Council. Ron was the Coordinator of GCDC Drug Court Program and associated Supported Accommodation in S.E Queensland. While safety & wellbeing are a prerequisite for the delivery of these services it also included facilitating educational & counseling sessions as a part of a multi-disciplinary team for those suffering Drug & Alcohol dependency, Behavioral and Post-traumatic Stress Disorders. Ron’s knowledge & experience of facilitating ZIP ensures his role as ZIP Coach is to work closely with organisations committed to ensuring ZIP (Zero Incident Process) is taken beyond the training room to strengthen their safety culture.

Natalie Vifquain
Relationship Manager

Prior to joining Sentis in 2007, Natalie worked as a therapist and an intake coordinator for a private drug, alcohol, and psychiatric rehabilitation center in Arizona, USA. In these two positions, Natalie was responsible for conducting psychological assessments of potential clients, facilitating group and individual therapy sessions, and was instrumental in working with a team of clinicians to develop individualized treatment plans for patients. Natalie’s clinical background has given her a solid foundation in understanding human behavior and relationship dynamics, and she brings her knowledge and experience into the field of Safety Psychology.

Natalie graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish and continued on to receive her Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology from Prescott College two years later. She has studied and lived in Mexico, Spain, and Argentina and she has had the opportunity to travel to over 20 countries worldwide. Natalie’s passion for knowledge, people, traveling, and absorbing different cultures has provided her with many amazing experiences to draw from and encourages her to take on challenges that will support continuous learning. As a ZIP facilitator at Sentis, Natalie is thrilled to able to combine her passions and her life experience together to promote safety and wellbeing.

Joanna Wyganowska
Relationship Manager

Joanna is a registered psychologist in the state of Queensland. Joanna has previously worked across the fields of counselling and organisational psychology. Prior to joining Sentis, Joanna held the position of Career Counsellor and Australian Graduate Survey Manager at the Queensland University of Technology. In this role she assisted individuals with challenges pertaining to their personal and professional development, and managed various aspects of the collection and dissemination of course satisfaction and graduate employment outcomes data. Joanna has also previously worked as an Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapist and a Counselling and Disability Support Officer.

Garrick Chatterjee
ZIP Facilitator

Garrick worked in Non government disability and mental health fields working with a variety of clients in South East Queensland with dual disabilities and challenging behaviours for approximately 5 yearsGarrick has been involved in major pilot projects in supported accommodation reforms and supported living initiatives on the Gold Coast. Garrick gained additional experience in the Disability Employment Network before working in Occupational Rehabilitation industry for 2 years prior to joining Sentis.

Garrick successfully handled a number of roles including looking after the redeployment sector of the business for SE QLD whilst leading and managing staff as a Professional Services Manager in the Brisbane and Gold Coast offices. Garrick has worked across all workers compensation legislative frameworks nationally and with both private and public sector clients as well as most major insurers including QBE, Allianz, Australian Defence Force and the National Australia Bank.

Garrick conducted assessments and rehabilitation case management and conducted several pain management groups where his passion for the group process and facilitation was fostered.

Garrick is currently completing a Masters in Human Resource Management and completing his supervised practise program towards full registration as a psychologist in Queensland.

Garrick brings an eagerness for the group process, a willingness to learn and grow and share experiences through facilitation of ZIP and assist all participants to remain safe and achieve in all areas of their life.

Melissa Hammerbacher
ZIP Facilitator

Melissa is a Psychologist, and joined Sentis as a Facilitator in November 2008. Prior to this, Melissa gained valuable clinical experience in a variety of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment settings, including a residential rehabilitation facility and an opioid treatment clinic.

Melissa’s interest in the AOD field has seen her gaining expertise in the assessment and treatment of clients with substance abuse difficulties, contributing to the evaluation and development of therapeutic programs, as well as publishing her research project in the Journal of Substance Use. Melissa has furthered her skills by running her own private practice, as well as working for the Child and Youth Mental Health Service which dealt with the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with severe and complex mental health issues, and their families.

Melissa brings a passion for helping others to effect change in their lives, a desire to learn and grow, and to enjoy this journey in life!

Kanwar Singh
ZIP Facilitator

Kanwar has a ten year history of working in Training and Development. His professional qualifications include undergraduate and post graduate degrees in the areas of Business, Information Management Systems and Training. Kanwar’s training and development and consulting experiences has seen him work across the globe throughout Australia, Asia and Europe. Prior to becoming part of the Sentis Team, Kanwar worked in England for over five years in a range of industries including the Legal (Lexis Nexis Butterworths) and Local and Central government (British Meat Hygiene Services). Kanwar’s management extensive and complex learning and development project which included implementing brand new initiatives and always developed very strong relationships with his clients and achieved successful outcomes. Prior to this work, Kanwar worked as a Training and Placement professional in a Registered Training and Apprenticeship Centre in WA. In this role, Kanwar provided training and support to families, youth at risk, migrants and professionals seeking to get back to their chosen careers after long term sickness. In the beginning of Kanwar’s career, he has also worked in the petroleum industry as an onshore and offshore surveyor in WA. Kanwar has a gift for languages where he speaks four different languages including English, Italian, Punjabi and Hindi. Kanwar also has a keen interest in travelling and understanding different cultures and traditions. Kanwar is also a hobby photographer and loves capturing people and scenic moments. At Sentis, Kanwar brings along his friendly and respectful attitude when facilitating and really enjoys helping individuals work towards their life goals through understanding and controlling their brains using ZIP principles and tools.

Jennifer Turnham
ZIP Facilitator

After completing her Bachelor of Psychology at Murdoch University in 2000, Jenn was selected as one of 28, from a field of 1000 applicants, to join the Customs Graduate Program.  In late 2001, Jenn completed training at the Australian Federal Police College in Canberra and was awarded a Cert IV in Fraud Control Investigations.  She then worked as a Customs Investigator in Sydney for 5 years, being promoted to Senior Investigator after a couple of years.  During her time with Customs in Sydney, Jenn was involved in the interview and selection process of Customs Trainees in conjunction with Recruitment professionals and she worked with assessments prepared by the Australian Institute of Forensic Psychology (AIFP), who deal with pre-employment psychological profiling of Public safety applicants for Police and Customs (among others).

In 2006, Jenn transferred back to Perth to join the WA Customs Investigations team.  Part of her role included being the Investigations Training Co-ordinator where she was responsible for the development and delivery of the Investigations training component for the Customs Trainee Program in WA.  Jenn has also completed a Diploma in Investigations.

While in Sydney Jenn commenced a Masters degree in Forensic Psychology, which she hopes to continue in the future.

Berit Andersen
Accounts Administrator

Berit is originally from Denmark where she took a Bachelor Degree in Economy and Marketing. She worked in a hotel in Copenhagen for a total of 12 years within a number of administrative positions. In 1995 she joined a large Steel Company as Company Accountant taking care of all the finances and some administrative tasks as well as participated in Board Meetings around Scandinavia.

Berit has travelled over the main part of the world, but had always wanted to go to Australia. After her first holiday here in 1999 she and her husband decided to move to Australia. She lived 7 years in Adelaide and had different positions within accounting before moving to Brisbane in 2009.

Berit joined Sentis on 1st of April 2009 as Accounts Administrator and is trying to help Shane controlling all the finances.

Berit has four kids and therefore spends almost all spare time with them and her husband.

Kym Bancroft
Product Manager

Since joining Sentis in early 2004, Kym has gained extensive experience working throughout Australia, Europe, North America and New Zealand in underground and open cut coal mining, bauxite mining, diamond mining, the refining and smelting industry and the electrical distribution and supply industry.

Using her knowledge as an Organisational Psychologist and holding a Masters in Organisational Psychology and a Graduate Diploma in HR and OH&S, Kym facilitates learning that gives people an understanding of their brain, how to take control of their cognitive processes and how they can use this knowledge to increase personal safety and wellbeing, and to develop and maintain a fully functional business safety culture over an indefinite period of time.  In early 2009, Kym moved to the Sentis Group Office to manage the Product Development for ZIP Safety.

At Sentis, Kym is passionate about leadership, change management and safety outcomes. She is also an active member of the Global Coaching Convention and the College of Organisational Psychologists.

Prior to joining Sentis, Kym worked for 5 years with adolescents and adults in a private practice providing clinical psychology services including the delivery of psychometric assessments. She has worked for the Government Office of London in the design and implementation of crime prevention initiatives. In addition, Kym has previously developed training and mentoring packages for the Australian Navy, as well as having completed extensive research in road safety, pedestrian behaviour, alcohol and drug use in industry and fatigue in road transport.

Michelle Brown
Client Development Manager

Prior to joining Sentis, Michelle specialised in clinical paediatric psychology after completing her Honours degree in Psychology at the University of Queensland. Michelle has spent her most of her career working in regional and remote areas of Queensland, Australia, providing clinical intervention and training in developmental Psychology, health and well-being, and child and family-based issues to parents, professionals, and the public. Michelle delivered specialised early intervention clinical services to families with complex needs, and was instrumental in the assessment, diagnosis, and management of children with developmental, learning, behavioural disorders, and long-term medical conditions.

Michelle’s clinical background has supported her ongoing professional interests in work/life balance, human relationship dynamics, positive psychology, and developing a person-centred organisational culture. Michelle’s most recent work has included facilitating organisational training for allied health professionals within the state health department. Her training provided professionals with the understanding of the engagement and communication processes involved in facilitating change, and the skills to put these into operation. At Sentis, Michelle applies her experience and enthusiasm for facilitating change through helping others become aware of the link between attitudes, actions and outcomes, and achieving the results they desire. Michelle relishes each day in her role as a facilitator of Zip for its challenges, opportunities for personal growth, and chance to engage with a variety of people.

Joseph Condon
IT Coordinator

Joey joined Sentis in early 2009 as the IT Coordinator for Australia.

Previously, he ran his own small business building and maintaining desktop computers for people in the South Brisbane area. Joey has also worked for TOLL in the in2store warehouse at Murarrie, offering IT support to pick/pack operators as well as people in management.

He has studied Information Technology at Griffith University in Brisbane, and in the next year is looking to finish his degree and also sit the exams for his MCSE and MCSA certifications.

In his current role at Sentis, Joey is passionate about delivering easy to understand IT support to people across the business. On a more technical side, he is heavily involved in the development and implementation of new IT equipment and Information systems, as well as managing and maintaining the current infrastructure.

Taris Cox
Commercial Manager - Australia

Taris has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from Central Queensland University and has recently completed her postgraduate studies for advancement to the status of CPA (Certified Practising Accountant).

After spending several years working predominantly with Tax Compliance in Public Practice, Taris has spent the past two years working specifically with the Coal Mining and Property Development/Real Estate industries. Always willing to take on challenges, these job roles have all included substantial team management responsibilities and Board membership.

Not interested in just number crunching, Taris is committed to providing useful and understandable information to all staff at Sentis including facilitators, local and global management, to assist with decision-making purposes and general day-to-day operations.

John Galligan
Project Manager - Americas

Prior to joining Sentis in 2007, John worked as an engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force. During his time in the Air Force, where he was a specialist in in weapons and explosives engineering, John performed in many different leadership positions where he was responsible for leading teams of up to 100 people. These teams were comprised of individuals with varying levels of experience, ranging from those with only basic technical training and minimal on job experience to others who were skilled aircraft technicians. John considers that the core element of all the engineering roles he has held was to ensure a safe working environment in order to avoid any workplace injuries or fatalities. Safety is paramount in the field of high explosives since inadequate procedures, unsafe environments or human errors will very likely result in fatalities.

At Sentis, John draws on his skills and experience dealing with procedures, engineered safety and people in order to deliver programs to participants in a way that they can most relate.

Marina Gurtler
Commercial Manager - Americas

Marina has the distinction of being the first dedicated Controller for Sentis Americas. She’s has over 17 years of International Accounting, Management and Controller experience. Before coming to Sentis, Marina enjoyed a successful run with traditional accounting firms as well as in the booming housing markets of Denver.

Marina is fluent in Russian and has earned her MBA, graduating Cum Laude, along with holding a CPA license. She enjoys living in the great state of Colorado, has a passion for photography and spending time with her family.

Cecile Jacques
Marketing Manager

Cecile joined Sentis to look after the ZIP Product portfolio globally.

Originally from France, she arrived in Australia in 2000 to do her Masters Degree in Business Administration at Bond University on the Gold Coast. She fell in love with Australia and decided to settle in Brisbane where she started working as a Marketing Coordinator for a couple of international and Australian businesses.

During that time she got the opportunity to work in a wide range of projects in market research, communications, event management, PR, advertising and promotions. In 2006, she headed off to Spain in search for more adventures and to settle back in Europe. She quickly realised she was missing too much Australia, its landscapes, values and people which led her to come back to Brisbane a couple of years later. To this day, she still “calls Australia home”. Cecile has a passion for languages and travelling and has worked with a number of businesses in France, UK, Germany, Spain and Australia.

Tahni Johnston
Admin Coordinator - Perth

Tahni has joined Sentis Australia as Perth’s Administration Coordinator. Tahni brings her exceptional organisational skills, professionalism and friendliness to taking care of everything to do with our program logistics, travel arrangements and office management. Whilst Tahni loves to travel, regularly gets behind fast cars and motorbikes, keeps herself fit and healthy and is into music in her spare time, she is also able to fit in the demands of studying a Bachelor of Social Work at university. Her passion for providing assistance to people bought her to Sentis as she strives to ensure that everything to do with our programs runs smoothly for both our Facilitators and our Clients. Through these roles, Tahni has developed great strengths across many computer software packages and has a great passion for liaising with clients as well as growing and developing herself to fulfil her professional and personal potential.

Mary Lemke
Office Co-ordinator - Americas

Mary left the competitive world of pharmaceuticals to join the Sentis team. She brings with her twenty years of valuable experience in accounting, personnel management, and training consulting.

At the present time Mary wears many hats in the Denver office. She is responsible for managing program paperwork, bag packing, travel and accommodations, venue confirmations, scheduling and anything else that comes her way.

Nadia Maiolo
Internal Development Facilitator - Perth

Nadia has worked as a Psychologist for over 5 years across a number of speciality disciplines. As a school psychologist with the West Australian Education Department, Nadia assisted various educational and government agencies to achieve their behaviour change goals for individual clients. Nadia’s role as a group facilitator in a highly regarded inpatient mental health unit saw her further develop her experiences and skill as a psychology consultant. Through this work, Nadia has gained a reputation among her peers as a consummate professional who is a highly competent consultant in the field of cognitive-behavioural psychology. Nadia has brought her skills and experiences to Sentis where she assists our clients to reach their safety goals through the facilitation of ZIP. Nadia’s energy and passion for her work is reflected by her drive to constantly improve her skills and knowledge in the psychology of safety and the mining and resources energy.

Ivonne Mueller
Process Team Manager

Ivonne is originally from Berlin, Germany and arrived in Australia in 2002. After a year as an exchange student in Sydney, she tried herself out in different industries such as hospitality and inbound tourism. In May 2007 Ivonne joined the Sentis office based support team. As a team coordinator, she is responsible for the logistics of the programs and also holds a part time role with the Sentis Assessment Unit for which she deals with the administrational side of the ZERO Scales.

Marlene Parry
Facilitator Coach - Perth

Marlene is a registered psychologist with a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology. Prior to joining Sentis, Marlene was in a leadership role in the public sector, where she managed a team of professionals in the development, delivery and maintenance of clinical training and resource development for psychology professionals nationally. Due to Marlene’s success in this role, she was seconded to other government departments as a consultant to facilitate the implementation of new government department initiatives. Marlene has also developed an outstanding reputation for her clinical and counselling skills over ten years of consulting in private practice with both individuals and in private enterprise. Another significant component of Marlene’s experiences comes from her role as a business consultant and case manager in the area of work place injuries.

At Sentis, Marlene applies her reputation for the highest quality of work and professionalism through her role as a Psychology Consultant. Through the facilitation of ZIP, Marlene applies her extensive range of skills and experience to promote personal safe practices both at work and home. Marlene’s passion for constant and never ending improvement towards our unique approach to safety, sees her actively contribute to the growth and development of Sentis and our products and services.

Shannon Pennisi
Research Manager

Shannon has recently joined Sentis as the Australian Research and Development Psychologist for Sentis Assessments. Shannon brings a passion for psychometric assessment and research to this role which is focused on the research, development and delivery of assessment related products and services that support the ZIP process. Prior to joining Sentis, Shannon consulted across a range of areas within Organisational Psychology. Shannon’s previous roles have included psychological assessment, personnel selection and recruitment, training design and delivery, leadership development, team building, and culture surveys. Shannon has worked across a number of industries and particularly in the mining and resources sector. Highlights of her career so far have included project management of a state-wide recruitment campaign for the emergency services and designing and conducting assessment centres for bulk recruitment campaigns in the Mining sector. Shannon is a Registered Psychologist who is in the final stages of completing a Masters degree in Organisational Psychology.

Kelly Rothwell
Project Manager - Brisbane

Kelly joined Sentis in Australia in 2005 and has extensive experience in underground and open-cut coal mining, bauxite and iron-ore mining, refining and smelting industry, electrical distribution, and the construction industry. Kelly and her family relocated to the United States in Denver, Colorado to assist in building a team of quality Facilitators for Sentis in the United States. Recently Kelly has returned to Brisbane, Australia.

Kelly works as a Facilitator and Registered Psychologist to provide people with an understanding of their brain, how to take control of their cognitive processes and how to use this knowledge to increase personal safety and wellbeing. She is also the Product Manager for Teams and Leaders ZIP Module One products and services, managing the inception and development of these products and ensuring the services provided are focused on businesses, how people can take personal responsibility for their safety and wellbeing, and how they might develop and maintain an effective business safety culture.

Kelly brings to Sentis experience in consulting in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom as an Organizational Psychologist, holding a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology. Kelly had most recently worked across Queensland Australia providing various consulting services to both public and private organizations, including development of competency frameworks and selection tools, psychometric and psychological assessment, cultural change management, organizational need analyses, leadership training, and the management of research projects regarding human resources and strategic planning. Previously, Kelly has conducted research on the New Zealand logging industry and the impacts of organizational cultures on job satisfaction and safety culture, producing practical recommendations that were incorporated into workplaces and presented via publications internationally. She has also managed several long-term projects in London, particularly in recruitment and workforce management in the health and financial sectors.

Esther Schwald
Client Operations Manager

Esther originally studied Information Technology and Commerce at Murdoch University in Perth and worked as an IT Consultant for six years at the beginning of her professional career. Looking for a change in direction, Esther then embarked on a path that saw her gain a broad range of international experiences across numerous industries in senior management positions. It was through these roles that Esther’s passion for working with people, and effectiveness as both a leader and manager emerged. Just two of these experiences were working as a Sales Manager for an international property company in Spain and being appointed as the Managing Director of an international language school in Zurich. Esther subsequently returned to Perth and was selected to be the CEO of a renowned architectural company. Esther’s commitment to continual personal and professional development sent her back to university recently where she has already completed a Graduate Certificate of Business and is due to complete a Masters of Leadership and Management in 2009. On top of all of that, Esther can fluently speak four languages (Dutch, German, Spanish and English).

At Sentis, Esther’s reputation for delivering exceptional levels of customer service and having a high level of energy and enthusiasm have seen her embrace her role as our Client Operations Manager (Australia and New Zealand) with the highest level of quality and professionalism.

Esther is currently on maternity leave.

Jamie Toth
Facilitator Coach - Brisbane

Prior to joining the Sentis, Jamie worked for more than 15 years with young people, families and adults within clinical settings. He has formerly held the position of Clinical Director for three Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment facilities, in addition to lecturing for the University of Queensland. During his time in private practice, Jamie consulted with many organisations, providing clinical supervision, skill based training programs and clinical program design, including the development of an award winning program for the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre.

At Sentis, Jamie now brings his extensive clinical experience to the area of safety psychology. Through effective facilitation skills, Jamie assists individuals to enhance their abilities to use cognitive skills and insights to improve both their capacity to ensure their personal safety and general well being.