President

Adam has worked alongside people with a disability for many years. He was the Manager of Mobile Attendant Care in Queensland and is now employed by Nightlife Disability Services in the southern region of Melbourne. Adam currently sits on two boards of management and brings much experience in assisting people to direct their own supports, policy development and values based leadership.

Vice President

Dr Piers Gooding is a Research Fellow at the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Law School, at the University of Melbourne. Dr Gooding has worked with a range of organisations and research institutes, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Rights of People with Disabilities, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of the Asia Pacific. He's been a visiting fellow at King's College London, and was a research associate at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He continues to support a family member with a disability.

Treasurer

After acquiring a disability, Mark Glascodine left his corporate career and retrained as a careers counsellor focusing on  people with a disability. In 2011, Mark was the recipient of the Winston Churchill Fellowship researching best practice career advisory services for university students with a disability in the UK.Since then Mark has been working in the disability employment area  with Bravo Consulting, working with secondary, tertiary and in the post education sector as well as involved with NDCO and DEA  with general training or advise for people working with people with a disability or direct  advise to people with a disability.

Secretary

Tina has spent much of her adult life raising a family of 6 children aged from 21 to 10 years with her husband of 24 years. As a parent of two children with disability, Tina has gained valuable insight into the importance of real inclusion and the development and maintenance of valued roles. Tina’s qualifications include an Associate Diploma in Business (Marketing), Cert IV in Disability, Cert IV in Training and Assessment and Diploma of Disability. Tina has worked in various roles including support worker, project coordinator, volunteer officer and class tutor. Currently Tina is a teacher at Holmesglen Institute teaching in the Cert IV in Disability and Diploma of Disability. Tina feels she has found her calling and takes pride in delivering quality training that promotes valued roles, real inclusion and community connection for people with a disability. As part of the Belonging Matters’ Board, Tina feels she works along-side people who are likeminded and passionate about real inclusion and belonging for all. 

General Member

Brodie McElroy is currently a full time student, has a number of casual positions at a major sporting arenas in Melbourne. He is also a DJ mixer and aspires to be a barista. Brodie is also a presenter and contributor to the 19 Stories of Inclusion project. He is passionate about sharing his story to encourage other people with a disability to have a good life in the community.

General Member

In 2001 Delia joined Deb Rouget in establishing Belonging Matters. She has previously served on the board as a General Member and President. Joining Belonging Matters brought a sense of purpose to her life. Until that point Delia had spent the previous 30 years isolated and confined to her home and her wheelchair. Working with the Committee at Belonging Matters gave her a newfound sense of engagement and community. It inspired her to dedicate herself to improving her life and the lives of others with a disability. In 2018 Delia re-joined the board as she passionately believes in the values of the organisation. Delia was also a co-founder of Eclipse (formerly Nightlife) Disability Services. Eclipse is a consumer driven, flexible mobile service that provides assistance to people with disabilities. It helps prevent the admission to congregate care and enables those with a disability to live in their own homes.

General Member

Anita has worked as a program manager, trainer and administrator. She has made contributions as an parent advocate, presenter, writer and member of many community and family governed organisations. Ten years ago, Anita’s son was attending a day program and living in a group home. Through developing a vision for his life Warren now lives an inclusive life and a home of his own in which he is well supported.

General Member

Toni has worked in the community services and health industry for over 20 year and has held a number of roles as a community development practitioner, manager, lecturer, researcher, organisational learning and development consultant and a company director. She has a B.A Social Science, Graduate Diploma in Social Work, Graduate Diploma in Education, and Masters in Education. Toni has worked with and managed a range of non-government services and has a background in local government, community health, family and children’s services, disability and aged care, family facilitation, education and training organisations in a range of not for profit and for profit organisations. She is currently the Director of ConneXions and is a passionate advocate for the benefits of real and meaningful inclusion – which has also been lived throughout her journey as a parent of a son with a disability.

General Member

Jon currently works for Manningham City Council in the role of Community Development Officer, Metro Access. This role is aimed at building an inclusive community and ensuring people with disabilities and the wider community are equally engaged in strengthening the community. Prior to his Metro Access role, Jon worked in health promotion striving to create environments that enhance the health of all within that setting. This included positions with Peninsula Health, MS Australia and Community Health Management. Jon studied a Bachelor of Applied Science at Deakin University and has worked in a range of sectors including local government, community health, not-for-profit and the private industry. Jon is passionate about leadership, enabling people to increase control over their lives and supporting communities to improve outcomes and enable individuals to thrive.