About Us
Reimagine Australia, formerly know as Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA), has been leading the early childhood sector in embedding best practice and inclusive systems design for over 35 years.
Our aim is to ensure that families of young children have responsive and equitable access to services and supports so that every child has every opportunity to reach their potential. We seek to do this by supporting families and early childhood professionals with up-to-date information and tools to support children to realise the best possible outcomes. We work hard to strengthen public policy and programs by promoting the interests of families and professionals to government.
KEY DATES:
Scholarships
Closed
Early Bird Registration
Closed
Full Program Available
Friday 20 October
Conference
20-22 November
Meet the Team
Yvonne Keane AM
Conference Chair
Yvonne is a highly awarded and transformative leader and provocateur across the no-for-profit sector, and has garnered a reputation for making the seemingly ‘impossible’, possible. She is relentless in the pursuit of social equity for the most vulnerable in our society, through innovative solution.
Yvonne has founded several successful sector-leading service organisations that provide responsive and life-changing support for those who need it.
Yvonne’s experience as an AuDHD woman and mother of two children with disability, grounds her work as CEO of Reimagine Australia, where she strives to ensure that every child has every opportunity to meet their full potential.
Dr Genevieve Johnsson
Content Committee Chair
Genevieve is a psychologist with over 15 years’ of experience in the early childhood disability sector and is an affiliate with the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney.
Genevieve conducts research across a variety of areas, including community participation and inclusion, rural and remote service access and the role of telepractice in providing quality support.
Genevieve is deeply committed to translating research into practical tools that can be utilised by early childhood practitioners to better support children with disability and their families.
Domenica Decrea
Impact & Innovation Director
Domenica works to dismantle access and inclusion barriers that marginalise disabled people, their families, communities, and service support systems.
In 2020 she was recognised as a Top 20 Social Entrepreneur by the Australia ASEAN Council within The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Australia Federal Government for her advocacy and social entrepreneur work across the region.
Domenica is passionate about helping people understand the mechanics of systems of oppression and the ways they can individual and collectively organise and advocate for social change.
Shanna Ali
Shanna Ali has over 10 years of professional experience in the disability sector and lived experience having a child with a disability. Shanna’s current role is Community Capacity Building Facilitator working for Northcott, a Partner in the Community delivering the NDIS Early Childhood Approach. Shanna has her own personal cultural connections and experience working alongside Multicultural Organisations, Community Groups and CALD Advisory Committees. Shanna is a passionate advocate for children’s equity and inclusion, developing community projects to enhance and provide aspirational environments for children to thrive and belong.
Jenna Bongioletti
Jenna is an experienced Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP) and internationally certified Listening & Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS Cert. AVT). She is passionate about her work with children and young adults who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), and she is currently working towards her PhD at The University of Sydney where she studies conversation and pragmatic skill development in children who are DHH. Jenna has worked across roles including in sector development, health-care consulting, clinical management, project and product management, lecturing and tutoring, and regularly contributes to the research in her field.
Kim Bulkeley
Kim is an occupational therapist with over 30 years’ experience in the community disability sector in front line, management, policy and research roles. Kim has a continuing position with the Occupational Therapy Discipline at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, leading the interdisciplinary Disability and Participation Major, an innovative approach to undergraduate education promoting critical disability perspectives. Kim pursues disability workforce related research with a particular passion for working with rural and remote communities and service providers to increase access to services through action research methods that consider service design.
Lana Doyle
Lana Doyle has over 9 years’ experience in the disability sector, spanning communications, marketing, storytelling, advocacy, project management and accessibility and inclusion work. As Reframing Autism’s Access and Inclusion Lead, Lana thinks about all things accessibility and works directly with Autistics to build opportunities and bring new voices into the Autism space. Lana is especially passionate about effective space-building, championing lived experience and authentic co-production.
Marlene Fox
Marlene is an early childhood professional with over 35 years in the EC and ECI sector. She is the former CEO of an ECI Organisation, the inaugural Chair of the Board of an early years management service, a former President of Early Childhood Australia- Victorian Branch and has an extensive range of experience in leadership positions and advisory roles across the University, TAFE, local and state government and NFP sectors with a focus on early childhood and early intervention advocacy.
Stacey Touma
Stacey is the CEO of Kindred, a not-for-profit that builds the capacity and confidence of families with young children with disability or developmental delays. She is passionate about creating contemporary programs and supports that empower caregivers to navigate systems and evidence-based information, connect with other families, and feel hopeful about their ad their child's future. Stacey is a Social Impact Fellow and an advocate for inclusion in education and community for people with disability and their families.
Wendy Simpson
Wendy Simpson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute in WA, in the Early Neurodevelopment and Mental Health team. Wendy has extensive experience working in the community sector, in disability, aged care, and early parenting. Wendy’s research has been focused on disability, and she explored the experiences of siblings with a brother or sister with intellectual disability for her PhD. Wendy is passionate about research translation and the importance of closing the gap in research to practice.
Blake Stewart
Blake is a highly experienced Early Childhood Education professional with over 10 years of experience. He is passionate about promoting early intervention and inclusivity and is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Necessity Kids, a clinic that offers early intervention support in various settings. He was awarded the National Excellence in Teaching award and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Occupational Therapy with the aim to bridge early childhood education with paediatric allied health.
Jane Warren
As an early childhood teacher, Jane centred her practices on the rights of all children and families. She became more passionate about the role of the first five years in developing attitudes toward diversity of all children, authentic inclusion of children with disabilities; and the importance of partnerships in meeting the needs of children with disabilities in ECEC services. Jane works with children and families in a supported playgroup environment as a stepping stone to further inclusion and enjoys inspiring students to be passionate inclusive educators at the University of Wollongong.