Living our values
Bringing his whole self to work every day, Jake is passionate about supporting people to make a real difference in their lives.
Jake is a Practice Consultant based in Hobart. We first met Jake in late 2019, when he opened our Building Opportunities, Building Communities conference with an Acknowledgement of Country. Soon after he was employed to work solely on Possability’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) over 12-months, but one thing led to another and Jake is now a permanent fixture on our Practice Innovation and Service Development team.
“As a proud Pakana (North Eastern Tasmanian Aboriginal) man, I wanted very much to be a part of something significant for myself, my identity and my people.”
What does a day at Possability look like? Jake both leads projects and supports others by writing Behaviour Support Plans, running training with support professionals, leading our RAP and much more.
“In my role I need to be responsive to the people we serve, their needs, and to those we employ. For what I do, I need to take into account the ‘whole picture’ of an individual’s world.”
Jake praises his team for getting him through the more challenging times.
“I’ve found a compassionate, skilful and funny mix of people. I know I have a very supportive team and that makes me feel confident and safe, that I can always ask for help.”
Being at Possability has allowed Jake to develop professionally.
“I’ve been here for just over a year and I’ve grown exponentially. I’ve been able to learn from colleagues and started to teach others Positive Behaviour Support, Trauma-Informed Practice and Crisis Management.”
It’s important to Jake to really ‘be there’ for every person he works with and make a difference to their lives.
“I believe the purpose of my work is to be present, be responsive and be kind. We focus on supporting people to have a better quality of life by reducing behaviours of concern, setting the scene for skill development and using resolution strategies to keep everyone safe. I think I’ve been able to contribute to that, which I’m proud of.”