GDipEd, BA (Psych), MEd

Nicci Godsman is a successful executive leader in the education, health, and community services sectors, known for cultivating high-performance teams and delivering superior outcomes. She recently served as General Manager of Children’s and Family Services at Bestchance, leading a specialist school for children with social, emotional and behavioural challenges and a large allied-health team supporting over 400 children through various therapies and programs. Nicci is a strong advocate for honesty, mutual respect, and equality in the workplace, aligning with Learning for Life's ethos.

Her leadership style fosters joy and unity through inspired teamwork. She is committed to driving excellence through strategic planning, superior communication, and fostering a strong workplace culture. Nicci deeply understands diverse educational and developmental environments and believes every child deserves to thrive and choose their own life path. Her mission is to support children and families in achieving positive outcomes and promote a nurturing environment where all children can experience the joy of learning and growth.

Nicci is also an expert in the strategic growth of sustainable business teams, bolstered by strong commercial acumen and financial management skills. She is passionate about building partnerships based on shared values and the pursuit of excellence in service delivery. Her commitment to enhancing individual and family well-being inspires donors to invest in meaningful and transformative programs.

" I am looking forward to collaborating with the team to understand the impactful support they provide to our children, meeting the wonderful families, fostering awareness and understanding within the wider community about our mission, and continuing to create an environment where every child and young person can reach their full potential by truly being themselves."

BA, BSc
Authorised Program Officer
ABAA Professional Member

Emma has over 25 years experience working with children with Autism, ABA therapy delivery and clinical team management/development. Emma has been with Learning for Life since 2008 and the Clinical Director since 2012, where she oversees all the clinical programs, as well as mentors and manages all senior clinical staff and chairs the Best Practise sub-committee.

She also works as the Clinical Director for Abacus and was a founding board member of Lyrebird College.

Emma says her work challenges her to problem solve, build relationships and improve her understanding of how other people learn and how to support people when they need it.

"I love learning from the children we work with and having the opportunity to see how they view the world. I also love that our team at L4Life is motivated to continue learning to become better at what we do."

BA, PDip(Psych), MEd(Psych), MAPs
Registered Psychologist (Ed & Dev)
NDIS Registered Behaviour Support Practitioner
ABAA Professional Member

Sarah is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist with extensive clinical and research experience in the area of ABA.  She works directly with school aged children with complex behaviours of concern; supervises the L4Life Allied Health team and coordinates the L4Life Research Program.

Sarah has worked with Learning for Life for close to 15 years, providing behavioural consulting for children, families and educators throughout the Melbourne school system and into rural Victoria.

Sarah and others in the Learning for Life team have published a paper evaluating the centre’s full-service model program; and Sarah is undertaking her PhD in the Evaluation of the Inclusion Works program.

Sarah hopes to work towards a community where education is accessible for anyone.

 “At L4Life, we have the ability to work with each different child and their family in whatever format is going to meet their individual needs. We have created programs and systems to make sure the individual child always remains at the centre of everything we do.”

MEd (ABA), Board Certified Behaviour Analyst
ABAA Certified Behaviour Analyst
NDIS Registered Behaviour Support Practitioner

Since joining the L4Life team in 2007, Claire has gained extensive experience working with learners within their home, education and community settings, as well as supporting and training their therapists, families and educators.

When working with school-age learners, Claire's practice focuses on reducing exclusion for children with complex behaviours both from their community and education settings.

As Head of Early Intervention, Claire leads our Early Childhood Clinical Consultants, ensuring exceptional early intervention care.

Claire is extremely passionate about advocating for delivery of ethical, neuroaffirming ABA services.  She presented ‘Ethical ABA in Australian Context’ at the 9^th Annual ABAA conference in 2024.

"I feel immensely proud of the work we do at L4Life, at the heart of which is helping our learners access their voice, independence, learning and community. I truly believe that inclusivity in all settings is achievable if open minds and adequate resources are dedicated to it."

BA (Hons)

Fleur has over 25 year's experience working in marketing, communications and fundraising across the education, small business and disability sectors. During her time working in disability services Fleur has also managed fundraising events, volunteer recruitment programs and has developed and implemented a school leaver employment program for young adults with disability.

"I've enjoyed seeing the concept of individualised programs of support put into practise at L4Life.  The focus is on the child and their goals - developing a program to meet these, rather than implementing a cookie cutter approach."

Dip Accg

Meagan loves numbers and finding solutions, which makes her a perfect Finance Manager. 

She joined L4Life in 2022 after 15 years as the Assistant Accountant at Swinburne University Bookshop. Prior to this Meagan worked primarily in Finance and Operations, Point of Sales and Inventory control supports to retail stores. 

"I love working for a not-for-profit and making a difference to the lives of children and their families."

BAppSc (Psych), GDipAppSc (Psych).
ABAA Professional member

As Head of Therapy Assistants, Tiff oversees all Casual Therapy Assistants from recruitment to induction and fostering a culture of continous improvement.

Tiff is also one of our clinical supervisors who has extensive experience in working with children and families across their homes, kinders and schools. Tiff has worked with us since 2014 and works predominantly with families accessing EIBI and also facilitates the SAS social skills program, aiming to build confidence, friendships and further develop social skills for all group members.  

"The best parts of my job are seeing new skills develop in a child and then seeing the impact of those skills and how they contribute to confidence in other areas of learning; and, from a recruitment perspective, it’s meeting with and talking to people that have a genuine passion for working with children. It’s great being a part of connecting those people with a job that really aligns with their values."

Child Safety Officer

Celeste joined Learning for Life in 2017 after having worked in the customer service and hotel industries for ten years prior.

In addition to her Practice Management role, Celeste is the L4Life Child Safety Officer. She onboards all EIBI clients and juggles the EIBI timetables, working hard to find a therapist team to match a family and their schedules. She also assists with recruitment and HR matters and Therapy Assistant training.

"I love seeing and hearing the positive impact L4Life has on families' day-to-day lives. We are always changing and growing to provide the best service for both our families and staff."

MBioMedHealth Sci
OH&S Representative

Krishani provides high-level administrative support to the CEO and the Senior Management Team high-level administrative support to the CEO and Senior Management Team, while overseeing governance frameworks related to privacy, quality, and risk management. 

This role in will coordinate training and compliance initiatives to ensure all staff members are informed and equipped to contribute to the highest levels of safety, wellbeing and service standards - reinforcing L4Life's commitment to providing high-quality services to autistic and neurodivergent individuals.

“I am glad to be a part of Learning for Life as this is an organisation that puts clients and their families’ wellbeing first, making sure they are supported throughout their learning journey here," says Krishani.

BA (Psych)
Co-Chief Happiness Officer
ABA Professional Member

Alana commenced with L4Life in 2020 as a Therapy Assistant working alongside clinical staff to support our clients. As an Early Childhood Clinical Consultant she works with children with autism in their homes, at kinder and during their transition to school.

"L4Life is such a supportive environment in all aspects - supporting our learners, our families and our community, including staff. I feel valued and feel like what I do makes a difference to people's lives,' says Alana.

"I love to see not only the difference we make in our learners' and families' lives, but also the joy we bring. We celebrate the small and the big wins while creating such cheerful moments and positive connections with our learners."

BHealthSc (Psych & Dis)
Co-Chief Happiness Officer
ABA Professional Member

Cassie works with neurodivergent and autistic children in their homes, at kinder and during their transition to school while also working with our clinical consultants to oversee client programs, develop support plans and help train therapy assistants.

She is working towards becoming a L4Life Clinical Consultant after completing a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology.

"I love working with kids and always have - being able to do that in a space where I can help them grow and overcome barriers and challenges makes me so happy."

BSSc(Psych), MEd(ABA)
Board Certified Behaviour Analyst
ABAA Certified Behaviour Analyst
NDIS Registered Behaviour Support Practitioner

Elisha joined the Learning for Life team in 2010 and has experience working with children and families in the home, community and educational settings. She coordinates the L4Life Certification Program for staff and regularly conducts ABA theory seminars and practical training for therapy assistants and families.

Elisha works predominantly with families access EIBI and SAC services.  As a Behaviour Support Practitioner, Elisha works predominantly with school aged individuals who have more significant barriers to learning. Elisha has also been involved in various projects at L4Life, such as delivering an inclusion works program and assisting with the L4Life/Salesforce data app development.

“I value the fact that at L4Life we ensure individualisation of service for each client, we involve the learner and their family, and that we consider the clients dignity of risk; we learn from society, the neurodivergent community and each other to ensure that we deliver best practice”.

BSSc
ABAA Certified Behaviour Analyst
Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA)

Since 2015, Erin has been part of the L4Life team, working with children and families at home and in educational settings. She works in Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) and Early Intervention Consultancy (EIC) services, provides training in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) for therapy assistants. 

Erin is dedicated to helping children build skills that promote independence and wellbeing. She values working with families, educators, and health professionals to promote inclusive environments where all children can thrive.

"The opportunity for reflection, growth, and flexibility to better support our clients is something I value in my work at L4L. It's incredibly rewarding to see the kids we work with achieve their goals and build skills that are meaningful to them and their families. I learn so much from every person I work with, and there’s always more to learn.”

BPsych (Hons); MEdPsych; MAPs
ABAA Professional Member
Educational and Development Psychologist

Hannah works across our School Aged Consultancy, Inclusion Works and Research and Assessments.

She is a registered Educational and Developmental Psychologist and has been recently endorsed by the Psychology Board of Australia.

Hannah's highlight during her time at L4Life is working with students during transition into school and seeing the students re-engage in education after periods of withdrawal or school refusal. She loves the diversity of her role and being able to see the progress a child and family make over a long period of working together.

"I hope to create positive change in the communities we work with to support a more inclusive approach to neurodivergent people."

BArts (Psych & Dis); MEd (ABA)
ABAA Certified Behaviour Analyst

Josephine commenced work at Learning for Life in 2018, having worked in special development schools previously.  She is a specialist in Early Intensive Behavour Support.

In her Early Childhood Clinical Consultant role, she oversees clients programming and consults with and provides support to parents and educators.

“I love being able to see the young children I work with grow and develop their language, communication, play, interests and independence; as well as transitioning into other learning environments, generalising their skills to the natural world and forming friendships with other peers.”

Josephine’s is working towards becoming a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA).

BSc, PDip (Psych), MClinPsych, MAPs,
Registered Psychologist (Clinical)

Sara commenced her work with L4Life in 2010. Since that time she has worked with children, teens, families, carers and educators to support and advocate for neurodivergent individuals and their families. Sara engages with schools through the Inclusion Works program and is responsible for coordinating psychological assessments at L4Life.

Sara plans to complete her clinical psychology endorsement and continue to support neurodivergent individuals and their families, as well as continue to support educators to work with all students.

"I get to work with amazing people, and everyone is so different. I enjoy working with people and supporting them to grow and achieve whatever they set out to achieve as a person, parent and/or educator. Each day is incredibly rewarding."

BSc, PDip(Psych), MEdPsych, MAPs
Registered Psychologist (Ed & Dev)
NDIS Registered Behaviour Support Practitioner

Sam has worked with many children with autism in their homes, kindergartens and schools since starting with Learning for Life in 2011. She frequently provides behavioural consulting for families and educators in schools, conducts a range of assessments and provides regular training for L4Life staff. Sam runs the Secret Agent Society (SAS) social skills program.

"A typical day for me usually involves at least one or two school visits. These visits may include doing observations, providing recommendations for teachers, training support staff, or running one-on-one psychology sessions with clients."

"I also liaise with the other Allied Health staff that work with each of my clients – these are often Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists. This allows for all professionals involved in a child's program to provide consistency and collaborate towards a client goals."