President / Co-Founder

Hannah Reeve

Hannah (she/her) is a proud boon wurrung, AuDHD woman living and in pataway (Burnie) on Tommeginne Country. 

Hannah is Co-Founder of the Regional Autistic Engagement Network and is passionate about creating safe space for neurodivergent folk to proudly express their identity and culture. Hannah advocates for the autistic community through education and policy engagement delivered within a neuroaffirmative framework. Hannah values the voice of lived experience and autistic folks' right to influence the policies and programs that affect their lives. 

Hannah holds a Bachelor degree in Ancient Civilisations minoring in English Literature & Philosophy and has worked in the areas of media & communications, local government, administration, education and program & event management. Most recently, Hannah worked with Autism Tasmania as an Autism Advisor, Educator, Communications Coordinator and Lived Experience Coordinator. 

Hannah has an extensive history as a volunteer having held committee roles in the Burnie Leos, Zeehan RSL & Burnie CWA as well as working on fundraisers and volunteer initiatives in many different groups. 

Vice President

Heidi La Paglia

Heidi (she/her) is a proud Autistic, disabled mum and advocate living in Muwinina Country, in Lutruwita, Hobart, Tasmania.

In addition to her self-advocacy journey, Heidi has over a decade of experience working in professional and voluntary roles in the disability and women's rights sector as well as extensive personal experience navigating chronic health conditions and disability.

In 2023, Heidi set up her own consulting business specialising in gender equity, disability rights and neuro-inclusion and as part of this work, advocates for Autistic and neurodivergent Tasmanians in various contexts, including as a member of the Council overseeing Australia’s first National Autism Strategy. 

In her work in the disability sector and in non-for-profits for broadly, Heidi has developed various skills in governance and organisational management and now has a passion for using these skills to help build grassroots disability organisations and groups.

Secretary / Co-Founder

Tam Beswick

Tam (she/her) is a late diagnosed autistic & adhd woman, with two auDHD children, living in Tasmania’s north west. 

Her son's diagnosis at 2 prompted her to get her own diagnosis some years later. During this time she became passionate about advocating for the rights of autistic adults and children in the community. 

Because of this, Tam co-founded the Regional Autistic Engagement Network (RAEN), with her friend Hannah, volunteering her time to run multiple peer support groups on the north west coast of Tasmania in order to connect and form safe communities for autistic and neurodivergent people. 

​Across her career, Tam has worked in management, tech, graphic design and systems admin positions, and has studied and tutored students in Psychology, before realising her true passion lay with advocating for and engaging with the autistic community. Her special interest is games, in all forms, and she is currently interested in how Dungeons and Dragons type role playing games can provide autistic children and adults a safe space to engage and express themselves in social and creative settings.

Tam is a former member of the Autistic Community Advisory Board for Autism Tasmania.

Treasurer

Liam Salter

Liam (he/him) is an autistic man living in Hobart/Nipaluna, Tasmania.

Liam was diagnosed with Autism as a child and has since become passionate about autistic advocacy, disability rights and increasing the life outcomes for neurodivergent people.

Liam holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History, and has worked in administration, customer service, government, health, politics and records management.

Liam has an extensive history of volunteering in advocacy, events and community programmes, volunteering with the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Ten Days on the Island and the Australian Antarctic Festival. Recently Liam had volunteered with the Red Cross and the TMAGOTTs, a local museum group, serving on its committee.

Liam was formerly a member of the Autism Tasmania 18-35 young adult group and currently serves as Peer Facilitator of the REAN Hobart Young Adult group.

Public Officer / Peer Connect

Amanda Gunders

Amanda is an experienced autism advocate and has spent many years providing opportunities for the autistic community to connect, learn and empower one another. 

Being a part of the Tasmanian autistic community for the past 10+ years, Amanda has built a comprehensive peer network program through her work at Autism Tasmania, creating space for attendees to embrace autistic culture and identity. Additionally, she has created and delivered educational material targeted at strengthening the Tasmanian communities understanding of autistic lived experience and helped countless families and newly diagnosed adults navigate resources, systems and services. 

Amanda is passionate about providing autistic individuals with personalised resources  and support to build their capacity to self advocate. Having a neurodivergent family herself also reinforces Amanda’s passion for inclusion and normalising neurodivergence as she works towards a neuroaffirming future.

Peer Connect / Board Member

Robyn Davis

Robyn (she/her) lives in Hobart and is the mum of an autistic son. 

Robyn has been involved with the Tasmanian autism community for over 14 years since her son’s diagnosis. She first volunteered with Autism Tasmania and continued her association with them, becoming a staff member as an Autism Advisor, directly connecting the community to services and supports. During this time, Robyn ran several support groups for parents and carers. 

In 2017, Robyn took a break from Autism Tasmania and spent 6 months running mentoring groups with ICAN Network through Tafe Tasmania. She then worked as a Support Manager for Tasmanian autistic folk before returning to work with Autism Tasmania once again in 2021.

Robyn’s long history of work and volunteering in the autism sector has equipped her with extensive experience in the areas of governance, communications, peer group facilitation and administration and education delivery. 

Fundraising / Board Member

Nicole Jensen

Nicole (she/her) is a late diagnosed AuDHD woman living in Launceston on Kanamaluka/River Tamar country, lutruwita/Tasmania.

Nicole was diagnosed not long after relocating to Tasmania from Queensland, and just months before the closure of Autism Tasmania. Since then, she has become keenly invested in growing RAEN’s capacity to ensure every neurodivergent Tasmanian has access to resources and community.

With 20 years experience in the non-profit and community sector, Nicole is a professional member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) and abides by the FIA code - the self-regulatory Code to ensure best practice including transparency and accountability for professional fundraising.

As Digital Fundraising Strategist at Marlin Communications, Nicole works with nonprofits, and community groups to create powerful online fundraising and advocacy campaigns. She combines high-level strategy, careful planning, practical skills, and a lot of passion to turn ideas into tangible outcomes, an approach which has helped raise more than $20 million for causes across Australia.

She is a member of the RAEN 30+ adult peer support group. In her spare time, Nicole is a proud cat lady and Liverpool FC fan, who can be coaxed out with promises of big ideas, live music, karaoke or an art class.

Online Coordinator / Board Member

Nicole Moran

Nicole is a proud disabled AuDHDer and mum living on Muwinina Country, south of Hobart and grew up on the North-West coast, in Pataway (Burnie).

Nicole was diagnosed with ADD (now known as ADHD) as a child and rediagnosed with ADHD as an adult in 2022, prior to being diagnosed as autistic in the same year.

Nicole has achieved multiple certificate IIIs, including in Early Childhood Education and Care, and is currently studying a Bachelor's in Disability and Community Inclusion online at Flinders University.

For around 20 years, Nicole was heavily involved with Girl Guides Tasmania as a youth member, travelling internationally with Girl Guides Australia, followed by becoming a Unit Leader, Olave, and Olave Peer Group Representative. This allowed Nicole to gain experience in governance and volunteering, including experiencing youth member leadership and governing opportunities.

Nicole is a member of the Nobody Worse Off Coalition (NWO), assisting with both the NWO Disables/DPRO Groups and as co-leader of the NWO Harm Tracker Team. Additionally, Nicole assists ANPA at times as a member of the association.