Our People
Staff Team
Fiona Endacott has a Bachelor of Social Work, a Double Advanced Diploma in Management and Human Resources, a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration and is currently completing her MBA. Her work history is also impressive - having come to CF&KC-SA after a long stint working in mental health, most recently as Manager: Operations for Skylight Mental Health.
Fiona has already made her mark on our organisation – having worked on our winning tender, achieved our quality accreditation and established and managed our very committed advocacy team. She is a mother of two and deeply committed to the wellbeing of children and Carers.
Heather commences in the role of Senior Advocate on 14th April 2020.
Heather has previously worked as the Policy & Advocacy Lead for Child and Family Focus SA, the state peak and industry body representing child protection and OOHC organisations within SA. In this role Heather was responsible for leading and implementing CAFFSA’s policy and advocacy agenda for and with its member organisations; and advocating with senior government and sector stakeholders on behalf of the needs of vulnerable children, young people and their families.
Heather also has experience in managing Carer Advisory Groups through her prior role with the Victorian Government’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Heather is passionate about the importance of the Carer voice within the out of home care system and is excited to bring this passion to the role of Senior Advocate with CF&KC-SA.
Hailey joined CF&KC-SA in July 2018 as our Foster Care Advocate. Hailey is a dedicated and passionate social worker with tertiary qualifications in social work and social planning. Hailey draws on experience from working in residential care, along with experience supporting families at risk within the Department for Education. Hailey is a proactive social worker that prides herself on early intervention and building relationships. She has dedicated her career to supporting families and children at risk. Hailey is a mother of two children and plays an active role in supporting local community via Kindy Governing Council and regularly volunteers at the local primary school. Hailey is excited to be applying her knowledge and skills to supporting and advocating for Foster Carers.
Dion joined CF&KC-SA in April 2019 as a Carer Advocate, specifically supporting Kinship Carers. Dion holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree and is currently completing a Diploma of Counselling in addition to a Training and Educator certificate. Dion has experience working in Emergency and Residential care as a youth worker, with children under the Guardianship of the Minister. Dion’s recent role was within a registered training organisation assisting in writing and auditing diploma and certificate levels of community services.
Dion is excited to incorporate the knowledge and experience from past employment, the desire to continue learning, understanding and a natural sense of rapport building to make a positive impact for Carers and co-workers.
Tandanya joined CF&KC-SA in April 2019 as a Carer Advocate, supporting Foster & Kinship Carers within her role. Tandanya holds a Masters of Social Work and a Bachelor of Social Sciences with experience working within a Kinship Care support team and with Anangu Youth in Education. Her time working with Kinship Carers gave Tandanya a valuable insight into the experience of carers and the profound challenges that they face. As a result she has developed a strong passion to work alongside Carers to make a positive difference in their lives.
Tandanya is excited to be working in a fulfilling role with a driven and passionate team that supports and advocates for the rights of Foster and Kinship Carers.
Natalie joined CF&KC-SA in December 2016 as the Administrative Officer and since July 2018, has been enjoying her new role as the Administration and Events Coordinator.
Natalie is experienced working in key administrative roles in health, research and University sectors and also event management, including key organiser of the International Conference on Community Health Research in 2009. A mother of two, she is an enthusiastic and active member of school Governing Council and Parents & Friends Committee. Natalie enjoys interacting with families and the community and is excited to apply her skills and knowledge to her role with CF&KC-SA.
Isabella joined CF&KC-SA in 2019 on a Student Placement . In January 2020, Isabella was employed as our Carer Education Officer, to develop and launch education material specifically for South Australian Carers.
Megan joined CF&KC-SA late March 2020 as a Legal Consultant.
Megan's role is to establish systems, processes and develop knowledge and skills with the CF&KC-SA advocacy team, to improve the experiences of foster and kinship carer families across South Australia as they access their legal rights.
Megan comes to CF&KC-SA with over a decade of experience as a solicitor and barrister. She studied a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Anthropology at the University of Adelaide and started her career as a Judge's Associate in the Environment, Resources and Development Court. For the last ten years she has practised exclusively in criminal defence law and is excited to join the CF&KC-SA team and to gain experience in the area of Child Protection. She has a great respect for the work and dedication of all Carers and is looking forward to meeting and interacting with our Carers online and hopefully one day in person. Outside of work hours she loves getting to a yoga class and pottering around talking to her indoor plants and extensive outside garden and will happily talk all things plants for hours! She has travelled extensively over the years and lived in Edinburgh, Copenhagen, London and Italy. She loves all things Italian and is in the constant process of trying to learn the language! She lives in Devon Park with her husband, puppy dog Fletcher and four chickens.
Board
Megan Hender is a lawyer by training. She worked as a solicitor, a university lecturer and a senior manager in an international law firm before opening her own management consulting business in 2002 – focusing on strategy, risk and communication. She has recently completed two in house roles: as interim General Manager of Johnston Withers Lawyers (a progressive mid-tier law firm based in Adelaide) and as Legal Manager at Peregrine Corporation (South Australia’s largest private employer). She has also recently completed two terms (2010- 2018) as an elected member of the Adelaide City Council including 18 months as Deputy Lord Mayor.
Megan has a strong interest in corporate governance. She has served on the board of a number of organisations including the Festival of Arts, the Adelaide Central Market Authority, the Adelaide Convention Centre, the (then) Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market (which she was instrumental in establishing) and the Palliative Care Council of South Australia (where she served as Deputy Chair),
She current sit on the Board of Johnston Withers Lawyers, on the Advisory Board of SA Leaders and chairs two not for profits: our organisation and The GOGO Foundation.
She is a member of, and former presenter for, the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
She is the wife of a busy barrister and the proud mother of two adults sons.
Hastings joined the CFC-SA Board in July 2017 as Treasurer and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a holder of a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance.
He has worked in senior finance management positions for over 20 years until 2016 when he opened his own financial consultancy firm.
Hastings serves on the boards of several organisations including Treasurer for Assembly of God Paradise Inc; Influencers Conferences Pty Ltd and Chaplaincy SA.
Hastings is an African man from the country of Malawi and speaks Chewa.
He has had previous experience caring for his 3 grandchildren as a kinship carer.
Jan Stevens joined the CF&KC-SA Board in January 2019.
Jan and her late husband became foster carers around 20 years ago doing respite, emergency care, short term and long term care. Jan has 4 children who have been in her care since they were babies and will be with her until they are adults.
Professionally Jan began her career as a Registered Nurse and then moved across to Social Work and has worked in the areas of Alternative Care and Community Health as a Social Worker.
Jan currently works at Flinders University as an Associate Lecturer Field Education Liaison in the College of Psychology, Education and Social Work.
She has also worked with Anglicare to promote the "Stretch Initiative" where carers are financially supported to have children at home until they are 21 years.
Jan was SA Barnardo's Mother of the year in 2011 and won the Anglicare SA 2018 Foster Carer Award for Excellence, and the Anglicare Australia National Awards 2018 Winner of Volunteer Achievement.
Kelly is a current Kinship carer and has been so since 2015. She has always been involved in business taking on various roles in family business since she was very young. Upon graduating from university with degrees in both Business and Marketing, she pursued a career in Valuations practicing at senior management level for a number of years. Kelly has since moved to her own business with her husband, providing services to the poultry industry with a large staff and busy lifestyle. With four children in the family, Kelly engages in a busy and fulfilling life. She joined the board of CF&KC-SA in November 2017 after being an active member throughout 2017. After seeing first hand the effects on children in out of home care, Kelly has become very passionate about promoting change in the system to enable better outcomes for all involved.
Terry joined the CF&KC-SA Board in August 2017 and brings media and communication expertise along with a close knowledge of carer issues.
Terry Plane has worked in all areas of media, as well as government, unions and the corporate sector. He’s been Network Director of News & Current Affairs for a major television network, press secretary to the Premier, and Communications Director at the Department for Child Protection. He works now as a media consultant.
Some years ago Terry and his partner cared for a baby who’d been removed from his mother and have remained involved as the boy’s respite carers.
Sara McLean joined the CF&KC-SA Board in January 2019.
Emma joined the CF&KC-SA Board in March 2020.
Sarah joined the CF&KC-SA Board in March 2020.
At home, Sarah is a foster mum and her life revolves around taking care of her two adorable children, husband Paul and their two pets.
Sarah has been a carer since 2014.
At work, Sarah runs her own consultancy.
Sarah has a Hons degree in Business Administration. She is also a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a qualified coach, NLP and MBTI practitioner and a member of the UK’s Coaching Circle. Sarah has a Post Graduate Diploma in Development Trauma.
Sarah has been involved in organisational and culture change programmes at both a strategic and operational level. Sarah has worked at Director Level, managing the full scope of business support services including; Human Resource, Training, Facilities Management, Finance, Information Technology, Communication and Diversity
Sarah is passionate about unlocking the potential of people, systems and organisations.
Sonja joined the CF&KC-SA Board in April 2020 as our Youth Advisor. She was in care from the age of 5 and wants to become a Youth Worker to work in the care sector. Sonja has been involved with The CREATE Foundation since she was 16, advocating for children and young people under the guardianship. She recently went to Melbourne for the CREATE Conference in November speaking on a panel about Transitioning from Care and talking about changing the age of transitioning to 21.
“I offer my gratitude and respect to the dedicated Carer community it is our privilege to serve” (Megan Hender, Board Chairperson)