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Anthony “Ajay” Bean is Project Assistant Safety Education for the Safety Regulation Group at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. His work with the department began in 2018, when he was a successful applicant for the Public Sector Commission’s Adult Disability Traineeship program. His background in graphic design, cinematic production and product design provided crucial experience as he transitioned from the traineeship into his current permanent role. Ajay facilitates in-house media production to meet safety training and internal communication requirements. He believes in a strength-based approach to employment, and has helped fellow Autistics to see their importance in their role as self-advocates through his work with the Autism West Youth Advisory Council. Outside of his work and advocacy he enjoys working on cars, cooking, cycling and travelling, with his partner of two years right by his side the whole way.
Jacinta Reynolds, whose skills include research, data analysis and problem solving, is a strong media and communications professional with a Bachelor of Science majoring in astrophysics from Curtin University. She is experienced in science with a demonstrated history of working in the museums and institutions industry. She now works as a data scientist and technical writer at Optika Solutions and represents the next generation of tech leaders.
Kate Beattie, Group Head of Marketing at Harrier, leads brand, marketing, communications, public relations and enterprise bid management for Harrier Group and its subsidiary companies, driving sales, client delivery, operations, and people and culture.
Involved in complex international projects throughout her career, Kate has always looked to emerging technologies and innovative recruitment practices to deliver competitive advantage to her clients, focusing on designing a flawless experience for prospective and internal talent.
Kate has held talent and operational leadership positions in global recruitment and talent businesses where she has led on-site, shared service and project solutions, technology implementations and recruitment marketing campaigns.
Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of Southampton and a Masters of Business, majoring in Human Resources and Marketing. She is a Certified Professional Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) and is pursuing research opportunities in neurodiversity.
Kieran McCluskey is an IT professional with over 25 years’ industry experience in both innovation and leadership roles. For the last 13 years he has had the opportunity to live and work across three continents for BHP. Kieran is passionate about creating the right environments to foster diverse and high performing teams with a specific interest in the Software Engineering and Data Science disciplines. An avid supporter of inclusion and diversity, Kieran has been working with educational institutions and support agencies since 2016 to improve gender and neurodiversity in the workplace by establishing sponsorships and programs within BHP where people feel enabled, safe and empowered.
Michael New was one of the first ever interns to be a part of the Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance (AASQA) autism internship program in 2016 working for Bankwest and where he would spend another two years as an employee in test automation. Now an employee of BHP, delivering web applications through front end UI and backend integration, Michael also spends considerable amount of time helping develop and spread diversity throughout the organisation and beyond. Michael is a current advisory board member for AASQA and has also contributed in the co-design group for the 2020-2030 state disability plan.
Shelly Dival, CF, is an autism design specialist with passion. With over 20 years of building design expertise, her grandson’s diagnosis was the catalyst for her research of our built environment and how individuals with autism relate to it. When awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship, she took that research internationally to the US, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and France.
Counted amongst a small number of experts worldwide, Shelly was recently included on the international Leadership Advisory Board for “A Place in the World” research undertaken by Arizona State University Morrison Institute. Having presented her work nationally and internationally, her voice is gaining attention both in Australia and globally.
Su Ho is General Manager Information and Development for the Safety Regulation Group at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. She leads a branch of over 30 staff across diverse functions ranging from business improvement and training, to safety education, administrative support and financial services. Su’s working life began with an academic and research phase, when she obtained Honours and a PhD in Geology followed by postdoctoral research. She then went into consulting, started a family (identical twin boys, mission complete!) and ran the Australian Student Mineral Venture for senior high school students for 12 years. Initially engaged as a contractor with the Geological Survey of WA in 2003, Su moved across to the safety and health regulatory area in 2004, transitioning from technical to management roles.
Professor Tele Tan obtained his PhD degree in Electronics Engineering at Surrey University (UK) in 1993 in Electronics Engineering. He is the Founder and Director of the Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance, a social innovation initiative with the vision of harnessing the special talents of people on the autism spectrum for the collective benefit of those with autism, industry and the wider community. Its mission is to enable individuals with autism to leverage their unique skills through training, educating and mentoring programs, creating pathways to valued, long-term employment. Tele sees the importance of collaboration as a tool to help build resilience within our community, both local and global.
