WHO WE ARE
We have experience that spans many sectors: health, social care, social and community development and education nationally and internationally.
Megan Ellis
(Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha)
Director/ Project Designer
Jennifer Bell
Project Co-ordinator/
Group Facilitator
Josi Wilson
Facilitator
Megan leads the What it Takes portfolio of work. She has worked as a creator, facilitator and evaluator of relationship practices in New Zealand and the UK for 27 years. In the UK she co-led the development, implementation and evaluation of the Family Partnership Model and the Helping Families Programme (designed to work with hard to reach families).
She's passionate about facilitating
empathy and relational expertise with practitioners and organisations who serve
children, young people and their whānau; bringing the partnership relationship
into sharp focus and honing it as the key activator of all other expertise.
Megan has developed and co-created several programmes and their associated resources, academic papers, and evaluation frameworks. She has contributed a chapter on engagement to The Art & Science of Mental Health Nursing (3rd & 4th editions) text. She has a Master's Degree in Science in Mental Health population and service research design.
Megan continues to develop partnerships using co-design and whānau-centric principles to explore, develop, experiment and evaluate relational practices across systems.
Megan is registered with Te Pou Here Takata - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
For her full portfolio and bio please see linked in
Jennifer is an experienced social worker and group facilitator, undertaking a number of years in psychodrama and sociodrama training. She has worked in NGO and statutory services in both Aotearoa and the UK for the past 16 years.
Jennifer brings deep experience of working with children and their whānau in the most complex circumstances. Her practice with whānau and practitioners is underpinned and guided by empathy. She has a strong belief that 'getting with' and 'sticking with' people is the most powerful way to build relationships for change.
Jennifer brings richness to her work combining life experience, knowledge, expertise and learnings from action in practice. Before social work, Jennifer worked in radio and stage in Dunedin, bringing a diverse and creative lens to the work in What it Takes.
Josi has worked in community development and social change across the NGO and public sectors. She has worked both in New Zealand and Canada with a primary focus on facilitating community-based solutions to complex social issues.
Josi has a strong belief that an empathy-based approach to problem solving is the key to creating sustainable social change. Josi has had a lead role in introducing whānau-centred design in communities throughout New Zealand where the most vulnerable families were at the heart of designing supports to meet their own needs.
Josi has also worked in the disability sector for 30 years with a focus on creating community-generated ideas to attitude and behaviour change toward disability.
Josi has had a strong focus throughout her career in workforce development and is an experienced facilitator. She has a Master’s Degree in Education with a focus on adult learning and organisational development.
