Jenika Graze

Senior Educator

BA, DipAppSci (Nursing), GradDipEd (Health), GradDipHealth (Palliative Care), DipMissiology

Jenika is an experienced palliative care nurse who currently works in community palliative care supporting those who choose to die at home. Jenika has also had numerous roles in the aged care sector, both in residential care and in the community. She spent thirteen years working in Nepal, and helped establish the first palliative care training there. She continues to run workshops in Australia, Nepal and India on a wide range of topics, and in particular palliative care and communication skills. Jenika enjoys integrating spiritual care into her professional practice in these different cultural contexts. Jenika is passionate about adding meaning and purpose to life, in all its stages, through interpersonal connectedness and meaningful community. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and four children.

Kemeri Lievano

Educator QLD

MA (App Ling), Grad Dip Div, Grad Dip Soc Sci (Adult Lit Ed), BA Lang, Dip Mus (Jazz) Kemeri returns to spiritual care after a number of years as a lecturer in the Division of Health Sciences of UniSA in the areas of Indigenous student success, intercultural communication for healthcare professionals and community engagement. Prior to this, Kemeri held a state lead role with the Uniting Church in South Australia in strategic intercultural engagement with CALD communities. Kemeri is currently an aged care spiritual care practitioner based in Queensland and has worked in a number of pastoral and spiritual care contexts in Bluecare, Wesley Mission Qld Aged Care, Hummingbird House Children’s Hospice and Uniting Care Qld Prison Chaplaincy. Kemeri’s expertise includes sociolinguistics and intercultural engagement and she has a background of consultancy in CALD perspectives in organisational leadership, workplace communication and CALD community and leadership development. Passionate about culturally relevant care in the context of pastoral and spiritual care, Kemeri loves engaging with diverse staff cohorts in raising aspiration and capacities to incorporate effective spiritual care in relational engagement within aged care. Dignity, relationship, identity and sense of purpose are among some of the values Kemeri holds most dear in her work. Kemeri is blessed to be raising six children with her patient husband in her Latino-Australian household in Brisbane, connecting regularly with the Spanish and Portuguese migrant communities of Queensland.

Pip Mackey

The Little Things - Lead Trainer

MA (Applied Linguistics), GradDipEd (TESOL), BA, Cert IV TAE

Pip takes the lead on The Little Things: Intercultural communication for personal care work in aged care workshops, whether train the trainer or sessions with direct care workers. She was the project coordinator, principal researcher and a training materials developer for The Little Things, 2018-2020. She has worked as an English as an additional language teacher and education manager in community settings and in ELICOS over the past 20 years. She works at a TAFE as a language, literacy and numeracy support teacher for students enrolled in CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual Support. She has also facilitated various adult community education projects with people experiencing homelessness or living in rooming houses, people with psychiatric illnesses, Indigenous Australians, migrants and refugees. Throughout her career, Pip has valued drawing on the experiences and perspectives of others to support meaningful engagement.

Gillian Schulze

Educator

HH Dip (A.Th.) Gill Schulze is a Dementia Educator, art therapist and artist. She has an Associate Degree in dementia care and is currently studying a clinical art therapy practitioner diploma with the intent to use art therapy practices to support older people living with dementia and their carers. Gill has worked in the aged care sector for over 30 years, including as a TAFE trainer to facilitate Cert 4 leisure and health. She has 4 grown sons and 6 grandchildren and Gill and her husband are kinship carers for 2 teenage boys.

Kim Thoday

Educator and Senior Consultant

BA, BTheol, Dip.Min (Honours), MA (Research), JP Kim has found himself in the company of older people throughout his life. He loves to learn from seniors – and highly values the opportunity to be with them. Kim has worked for Eldercare (South Australia) since 2010 as a residential care chaplain and, more recently, as both a chaplain and a project manager – assisting with the development of a ten year strategic business plan for the organisation. Kim is also a serving chaplain with the RAAF and was a police chaplain for over ten years. He has worked as an electorate officer, co-manages a small hospitality business and worked in a number of innovative faith communities both in Victoria and South Australia. Kim has wide-ranging experience as a spiritual care supervisor, key-note speaker and conference presenter. His subject matter has ranged from peace activism, spiritual care of people living with dementia, spirituality and postmodernity and, the intersection of faith and politics in Australian history. Kim has extensive and diverse experience in project management and consultancy – in community, government, faith community and corporate contexts. He is also an amateur astronomer and is involved with the Planetarium at the University of South Australia. Kim is currently working on a PhD thesis through the department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University.