Testimonials

I've been told by people who know about these things that I need to blow my own trumpet more often.

So here goes.

Governance Training April 2024

I found the presentation very helpful; The presentation was exactly what I hoped it would be; The Governance 101 workshop was excellent and I highly recommend anyone associated with a club to attend.

Governance Training, March 2024

Great session; Plenty to think about and build on; The depth of knowledge delivered at this course is outstanding; Very informative!; Great to share experiences across different club situations; Every Board member should attend.

Effective Meetings Training Program, September 2023

Thanks for the workshop last night and the engaging presentation. As someone who has only been in a chairperson role for less than 1 year it was extremely relevant and helpful; highly valuable and relevant content; all groups or associations should attend one of Kate's sessions; highly recommended- lots of effective tools to help run a well organised meeting; informative and easy to follow, I enjoyed the session; very informative but made easy to understand; very comprehensive and thorough; Kate is a most effective presenter; all committee members would find this workshop valuable; need this session for all new committee members; thankyou for being realistic; this has given us great tools for our toolbox; interactive - engaged participants in sharing real experiences; plain speaking about situations participants could relate to; fantastic session; excellent presenter.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your assistance with turning our ideas and desires for our community association into a reality. You shared your knowledge in an honest and direct way and gave us the hope and encouragement to succeed. We have appreciated your guidance with your frank explanations of the policies and procedures and you maintained professionalism and humour throughout the process. We look forward to your continued support in the future. (Heidi, Chairperson, Brukunga Community Association, May 2023)

I am delighted to provide a testimonial for Kate and her exceptional efforts in merging Salisbury Housing Cooperative with UnitingSA Housing. Kate's dedication, expertise, and unwavering commitment to the well-being of the community have truly made a significant impact on the lives of the cooperative members. Throughout the merger process, Kate displayed remarkable leadership skills, fostering a collaborative environment where the interests of all stakeholders were carefully considered. She demonstrated an impressive ability to navigate complex challenges, ensuring a smooth transition and seamless integration of the two organisations. Kate's passion for community housing and her genuine concern for the individuals and families affected by this merger were evident in every interaction. I endorse Kate McPhee for her exceptional work in merging Salisbury Housing Cooperative with UnitingSA Housing. Her visionary leadership, compassion, and tireless efforts have undoubtedly transformed the offering for the organisations, and I have no doubt that she will continue to make a significant impact in the future. (Ben Moore, Executive Manager, Property and Housing, May 2023).

Facing a daunting process of navigating moving our tenants from a housing co-op to a housing association we engaged Kate to manage this and she was a blessing for us. Her knowledge and determination meant the transfer process was completed without problems. Kate was friendly, responsive easy to deal with as she led us through the paperwork and a trouble free process. (Darren, Chairperson, Housing Co-operative, May 2023)

Working with Kate over the last six months on a community housing transfer process has been a pleasure. Kate’s approach was thorough, professional and efficient along with the ability to frank and fearless. Tasks and outcomes were completed on time to a very high standard and without fuss. On behalf of the Uniting Country SA Group I thank you Kate for your amazing work and I look forward to working with you again in the future. (Chris, General Manager, Service Delivery, 2022)

Kate, I would like to congratulate you for steering us through some very challenging situations to a successful transfer which I am convinced will prove to be of real benefit for our tenants whom we know and care for. Your diligence, knowledge and experience was so essential to the successful outcome. (Joyce, Board Member 2022))

Thanks for your honest and professional assistance with our transition to the new organisation. Without your knowledge

and expertise it would have been very hard for us to do it and tick all the boxes in a manner that we could understand everything we needed know to comply with their policies and processes. We would recommend your services to any one in the situation we have been in so again we both would like to offer our personal thanks for what you have helped us to achieve. (Neil, Committee Member, 2022)

On behalf of Lansones Housing Cooperative Inc. (LVHCI) I would like to thank you for your excellent work done in making the process of transferring our organisation to Lansones Village Housing Cooperative Inc. operations to Common Equity Housing SA. (Cholly, Deputy Chair, 2022)

Thank you for all your work in achieving a successful merger. You faced some challenges head on as we have never been very “mainstream” in our situation here as a regional association. It is a great relief to us all that the process was made easy due to your organisational abilities and knowledge to negotiate the process. Thank you again. (Robyn, Chair of SYPCHA Inc., 2022)

Thanks Kate for your help with the Service Agreements and the job description etc for the cleaner. It's made everything so much easier. I'm looking forward to more projects next year. (Christina, vision impaired NDIS Participant, 2021)

Thankyou for all your fantastic work. We would not have managed without you. (Jeanette, Secretary)

Our small housing co-operative procured Kate’s services to help us navigate a transition from one entity to another.

Her advice was drawn from experience and knowledge of a range of stakeholders across community and government sectors, both on the ground and legally. When Kate didn’t know something she found out. Her attention made what could have been a long drawn out process efficient. That efficiency reduced the risk of conflict escalating. We were in safe hands as she helped prepare for, and facilitate key meetings, mapped out a project plan that was invaluable during the thick and fast tricky bits. Kate’s responses to queries where always prompt and reassuring. If you are looking for a 'no-nonsense' consultant who can listen, advise and offer practical solutions Kate is the one. (Dr Teri Hoskin, PhD Architecture & Design by Research.)

We've just bought into a strata complex, and Kate made our submissions to the Strata Corporation pop! She's an expert at stakeholder management, knows just how to get your message across, and does so promptly and effectively. (Steve)

I appreciate your tenacity and professionalism in getting this job done and making it so much less stressful than it could have been. You definitely deserve chocolates or a BIG glass of wine…….Thanks. (Jen, Committee Member)

Thank you for your assistance in making this merger painless. (Roman, State Manager)

Many people with dyslexia are gifted with great strengths of higher cognitive and linguistic functioning, reasoning, conceptual abilities, and problem solving BUT we have our limitations: difficulty with reading, spelling and writing. So we use Kate's services a lot, as we do care about ‘getting it right’. She gives us a confidential service by providing us with suggestions on structure, readability, consistency and formatting of our documents; check for and correct any of our errors or omissions, finds those grammatical issues, punctuation and sentence structure that we don’t see. We have found Kate to be efficient, able to meeting our deadlines, communicates effectively with us but she always gives her, personal but professional touch. Thank you Kate, you do a top job for us!

When QS puts together proposals or feasibility studies for clients they will often be 70+ pages of highly detailed information. After reading text multiple times it can be easy to miss the simple and the not so simple errors. For the last 2 years we have used Kate to ensure that content is well structured and as succinct as possible. Excellent turnaround times and very simple. A checkober by Liquorice Allsorts is beter than snding a document ful of structure, grandma problems na d spelling miskates. Thanks, QS Team

Many thanks for your fabulous work in updating the Forum's Constitution. You took a complex, laborious and time consuming task and turned it into a very clear and concise process for us to consult, get feedback, amend and adopt. Hey presto! It's done! I would have no hesitation in recommending your services to any organisation requiring a constitutional review. (Maggie, Secretary, Tea Tree Gully Community Services Forum Inc.)

Kate has a knack of knowing exactly what you are trying to say and how to rearrange what has been written. It is a pleasure to work with someone who gives a fresh approach to the written word while making sure her clients get exactly what they ask on time. (Christine)

Four years ago, as a member of a community organisation I was required to attend a training workshop on Governance. This was co-ordinated by an outside facilitator. I expected some version of torturous tedium, but instead, the facilitator’s knowledge, enthusiasm, and ability to make Governance and Legislation clear, accessible and even interesting surprised and impressed me. Not only did I stay awake for the whole session, I made sure I kept that facilitator’s details afterwards “just in case”. That paid off earlier this year because a group I’m in was discussing plans to Incorporate, and I knew that the facilitator of the Governance workshop I’d attended - Kate Reynolds - was the person to help us do it. I retrieved the details I’d carefully kept, got in contact with Kate, and hoped I had been right. I was more than right, and getting Kate on board in our formation turned out to be the best move we could have made for our organisation. Kate helped us from the ground up, guiding us to put together Objectives, a Business Plan, and our Constitution; ensuring at each step of the way that this was in our words, with our intentions and our vision for the Organisation that was being created. Our community is little understood by many among the general public, but Kate made the effort to connect with our perspective, translating and reflecting what we had hoped to achieve and helping us define our Objectives. The outcome was well beyond our expectations. Kate’s expertise in the area of State Government legislation around associations, organisations and incorporation made a potential minefield easy work. Breakdowns of the processes, dot points and time frames made it all navigable. Her behind the scenes work with document production was of top quality, and lodging everything with the CBS was smooth and straightforward. Our sessions were well-paced, comprehensive, and really enjoyable. AAISSA now has a rock solid foundation and a workable plan for the future and we cannot thank Kate enough for her expertise, professionalism, generosity and support in getting us to this point. (Sharyn, AAISSA Inc.)

The Elected Members were really very happy with your session. I know it would have been something of a challenge given the limited time frame but they found it really worth-while.
(Kirsty, City of Port Adelaide Enfield)

What did you like most about the workshop?

The online Learning Space is the most user friendly, clear, logical tool I have ever seen! Brilliant!
Convenient, easy to follow, useful information.
Trainer Kate's ability to teach and listen to questions from the group.
Kate made it all easy to understand.

What did you like most about the workshop?

The online Learning Space, Kate's sense of humour, Christine's cooking.
Convenient, easy to follow, useful information.
Trainer Kate is a good teacher and approachable in asking questions.
Kate made it easy to understand.

Hi Kate. Thank you so very much for the Member Management Workshop today. As always, when I attend your training sessions I leave refreshed and full of inspiration for continuing the work of MEHC.
Your understanding of the sector in our state from the big picture and way on down to the tiniest detail is invaluable to our CHO and also to me personally. The information you provide and your presentation style gives me the benefit of fresh thinking and new ideas. So often we get ground down and burnt out; barely keeping our heads above the water to keep our CHO's surviving. You provide the inspiration to be able to pause, reflect and realise the potential and possibilities for growth that we have right under our noses; so that we can return to our groups with renewed determination and enthusiasm.
Profound thanks! (Tam C.)

Wooohooo!!!!! Hi everyone - great result on our application, thank you all so much for your work in helping me get this thing done on time. This has been a great team effort, especially since we started the process about 18 months later than we should have. Thank you Kate for all your help - we never could have pulled this off without your help and guidance. (Bec, KICHA Inc.)

Hi Kate, I am very happy to tell you that today we received our final determination and we have been granted National Registration, Yeh! I must thank you for all your help and tuition, I was a bit worried there for a while, but got over the nerves, and wow, we have done it. Thanks! (Val, ECO Inc.)

Just wanted to thank you for the great workshop yesterday. It was very valuable for me, despite the terrible facial expressions I exhibited. I really enjoyed the information and clarification of processes and the networking. Your Evernote thing is fabulous. (Wendy, ISHA Inc.)

Hi Kate,
Just wanted to officially thank you for all the loads of help you've given us, and other co-ops in preparation for the National Regulatory System. That help has been invaluable and I have no idea how anyone would've coped without it. So thanks again.....on behalf of all the members. We are extremely grateful. (Roz CHINA Inc.)

Hi Kate - Another good session today....I said to someone there that it's like you're inside our heads and know just what to cover.......thanks. (Ros)

Thanks Kate, appreciate all your great work.
I’m really delighted at how well this is all panning out. Thanks so much for your huge contribution to all the thinking and planning. We've discussed the whole program of the related workshops and associated online opportunities, and we’re both incredibly excited about it all – it is really putting the program on a new footing for the future. Thanks! (Jane, Statewide Program Manager)

Hi Kate - Another good session today....I said to someone there that it's like you're inside our heads and know just what to cover.......thanks. (Ros)

What did you like most about the workshop?

Just what we needed. Thanks.
Fantastic night. Very informative. I want more information. Great. Thankyou!
:-) Great start.
Educational meeting.
Very helpful session. Thankyou.
Great. Thankyou.
Very informative. :-) Thankyou.
Fantastic. Useful. A relief. Hopeful. Positive. More please!
it was such a relief to have the introduction of efficient and clear thinking from an 'outsider'. Same for dealing with the 'issues' like the Code of Conduct. It was great to discuss in the way you did. Thankyou!
It was great! Thanks.
Loved your facilitation and all your support. :-)

Thanks for the Health Check Workshop on Saturday. On the way home we talked about how informative it was & how clumsy our processes are. I think we all want to see a more streamlined system in place but no-one knew how to move the whole group forward. Having an independent facilitator helped enormously! (Jane)

What did you like most about the workshop?

Kate's concise and intelligent manner (and very pleasant)
Clarifying our approach and what we needed to develop further
Independent facilitator ensured the group was able to see beyond the current practices to other ways of making decisions and running meetings
The knowledgeable and easy and approachable attitude of the trainer Kate
The instructor
Kate's ability to clarify issues and provide direct answers
Bringing the organisation together with a third party
All information was clearly given and consideration given to everyone
Well put together and thoughtful.

What did you like most about the workshop?

The Health Check Report was very useful.
Most of all I liked the fact that the workshop gave an opportunity to cover a complex range of issues with my fellow Board members.
Most of all I liked the opportunity to consider aspects of the organisation's governance in more detail.
It was engaging - which is a credit to Kate.
What did I enjoy most? It was a great opportunity for learning - with very clear outcomes. What did I like least - nothing - it was all fantastic.
I liked taking a rare moment of self-reflection.
I liked the simplicity of the teaching.
It was all easy to understand.
Well presented Kate! Thankyou.
It was all enjoyable - a good training for everyone present.
I liked everything, and learned so many things, and wish there was a third session!
I liked how Kate explained everything. She's awesome!
There's nothing to improve about the workshop - everything is well and truly explained.
The discussion was very relevant for our organisation.
I like the whole lot!
I liked everything!
Very informative.
I liked the helpful contributions/suggestions from a third party that can help to bring about change.
The workshop gave us important information about our organisation.
The course was clarifying and very helpful!
It was excellent!
The explanations were easy to follow.
I enjoyed the structure of the workshop and information provided.
It was all interesting.
The workshop was excellent.
Kate is a very clear and interesting presenter who knows her stuff!
I enjoyed finding out what we need to do to improve our organisation.
It was all very interesting.
I really enjoyed Kate's manner and the variety of ways she used to demonstrate things.
I liked I could speak out.
I liked Kate's organisation.
I liked that Kate was organised and inclusive.
I appreciated the new information.
I liked the clear and informative information about what our organisation needs to do and where to start.
The whole workshop was well put together.
It was easy to follow.
It was easy to understand.
I liked the information that was provided.
I liked the process and the presenter.
I liked finding out that what we need to do is achievable!
Interesting and helpful report. I'm looking forward to the follow up information.
Clear options/information/choices.
Kate managed to impart the reality of the work required with a clear focus on future choices.
I liked the clarity of purpose and the clarity of the work to be done.
It was interesting.
It was very informative and will help us develop our skills.
It opened my awareness to many areas that we need to attend to.
It was very useful to my current role.
I liked it all!
There was a lot detailed useful information we can use to improve.
Thankyou for providing a great session!
It was useful to recognise how to structure areas that had been uncertain.
I liked the opportunity to learn new things.
I liked all the information and I liked how it was presented.
I liked everything.
I learned a lot more about what is expected of my role in the organisation.

What did you like best about the course?

information about other organisations - protocols etc.
handouts
knowledgable instructor
customisation
well organised and fun
clear and useful
Kate is a gifted and dynamic speaker. Impressive!
the role play of a meeting
ideas about how a meeting should be run
clear and direct delivery of the course
the presenter's excellent preparation
group discussion
gaining knowledge re procedures around reports and minutes.

Thankyou for the training day Kate. In our Management Meeting last Tuesday there was a marked difference in morale, solidarity and willingness to assume responsibility and we have begun implementing the changes straight away.

Congratulations and thank you on the training Kate. I thought it was well prepared, well presented, well organised and well led. In speaking to some committee members over the past few days the feedback is very positive and generally a spirit of togetherness and co-operation is coming forth in those members. Your strategic plan is detailed and again a thoroughly useful document for us to follow and put into action. Muchos gratias,
Look forward to using your guidance, teaching skills, knowledge and leadership in the future. (Anthony)

What did you like most about the Governance workshop?

Kate's style was clear and informal
Open discussion
It was strategic and tailor made for our Co-operative's needs
The level of productivity achieved
It was totally relevant to our current status
It gave us energy to move forward
That we emerged with a set of clear objectives and actions
Really helpful and needed
The workshop was well structured and fulfilled the our agenda and the course needs
Well informed and great for our organisation
Getting together and having the discussions
All of it!
Presenter was energetic, interesting and informative.

Just a quick note of appreciation for a really good session yesterday. Everyone was in agreement that it was very worthwhile indeed, raising all sorts of important points and questions which we would not have managed to bring up or focus upon otherwise. (Professor Emeritus Wilfrid Prest)

Kate was very available and approachable and always reliable in terms of meeting with myself and our Assistant Chair. She was easily accessible in terms of email and phone calls. It was excellent timing that we were booked in to do the Effective Meeting Procedures training between the two General Meetings that Kate assisted us with. I felt we were easily able to convey to Kate the problems and issues particular to our organisation and she provided pertinent and relevant advice and support with these. I felt like Kate modelled more effective ways of managing the meetings then stepped back and enabled me to try these methods in a way that I could learn by trying them out for myself while still feeling supported. The templates for meeting agendas and sub-committee reports are invaluable tools for us to use to streamline our meetings and thus contribute to the smooth running of our organisation.

Thank you so much Kate. (Chairperson)

I very much appreciated the seemingly easy way you got a grip on all the issues that we needed some help with and the manner which which you dealt with them. From the Secretary's viewpoint - thanks for the templates on agendas and reports and the advice on how to get our meeting procedures working effectively. There's no doubt that the benefit of your input with be ongoing. (Secretary)

Thanks for all your help Kate. You generated a lot of thought and discussion around important topics and helped to clarify our future directions. (Pam - Community Centre's Community Development Officer.)

What did you like best about the workshop?

Kate is brilliant! I love her style, her sense of humour and her knowledge
Covered everything that we needed in our group
Very helpful and informative
Clear and speedy
Kate's clear, informed approach.

What did you like best about the workshop?

Kate's engaging presentation style. Thankyou.
It was concise and applicable.
It gave us a broad overview of the entire organisation's role.
The style of the delivery of all the information.
The way we were all encouraged to participate in the discussion.
It was easy and concise considering how much we needed to get through.

Hi Lyn and the fantastic Coro team!!! I just wanted to congratulate you on last night's strategic planning session. As usual another valuable and productive Coro event. From where I was sitting it went off seamlessly - which of course means there must have been a hell of a lot of planning and preparation to make it so. Kate was a great presenter moving things right along without any feeling of being rushed. I look forward to seeing her summary of the evening. And of course the food - how you got us to sit down again I'm not quite sure. So well done, well done, well done!! (Board member Helen)

To the funding body - just a note to say thank you for providing us with Trainer Kate Reynolds, to assist us with training in by-law and policy review. We have recently formed a working panel to proceed with this review and Kate's input was gold to us. Her training gave members of the working panel:
a) clarity and understanding of the issues involved
b) firm direction with structures to follow
c) a clear and realistic timeline within which to work
d) a sense of being energised with an increased capacity to carry out the numerous tasks associated with such a review.
This training will greatly increase the likelihood of success for the panel as well as the Co-operative. Once again thanks for this important input to our organisation. (Chairperson)

Kate - thanks for all of your support throughout the Partnering Workshops - your clear thinking, sense of humour and commitment are really appreciated. (City of Onkaparinga, Team Leader, Community Development)

What did you like most about this course?

Thanks for putting so much energy into this. I believe that this has been fundamental in putting our organisation back on track properly. THANKS!
Kate's frankness
Instructive and constructive
Kate was excellent! Great with structure.
Good control over the group
Well run.

What did you like MOST about this workshop?

Everything
It was well presented and kept my interest
Clear and comfortably paced
Understanding what was explained to us
Much needed information was supplied and explained
Learning!
The session was extremely helpful and relaxed.

On behalf of the FOH Association Inc I would like to convey my appreciation for the excellent workshop conducted by Kate Reynolds for the Tenant Advisory Committee on Wednesday the 23rd February. The workshops achieved a number of outcomes. These were:

* Reinforced the commitment of the attendees to being active members of the Tenant Advisory Committee. We now have 7 members including a Board member.
* Clarified the role of the committee members and its relationship with the Board of Management.
* Empowered the Committee to formulate actions.
* Provided achievable actions for the Committee to undertake.

Thanks once again for supporting this initiative.

All the members accepted our new By-law at Saturday's meeting! Thanks for all your help and expertise. We really appreciate it.

Thanks very much Kate, very much appreciated. I thought you did an excellent job and I've had very good feedback from various people about your facilitation skills. (Chairperson, Ministerial Advisory Committee)

Thanks Kate. You have captured it all very well and the document will be very useful for the Board and team in planning for future... Many thanks again.

The Effective Meetings training was very specific to us so we could ask the most relevant questions. Kate was very helpful.

What I liked most about the course was the engaging and enthusiastic approach of the facilitator. She was excellent!

Kate is great! She’d make any workshop go well.

What did you like most about the course?

The tutor’s clarity and delivery – no time wasting, no unnecessary anecdotes!
Kate has a very easy approach.
I liked the lively discussion!

Congratulations on keeping the pack together today. Just thought I'd let you know I appreciated the way you kept energising the group by layering positivity over the negativity. The time went really fast and once again I learnt a lot.

Dear Kate, Thankyou. We all enjoyed the session and got the outcomes we wanted.

What did you like most about the course?

I liked how casual and interactive the course was.
It wasn’t boring!
Most of all I liked the trainer – the variety, sit down, get up, the DVDs, the group discussion and activities – Kate kept me interested the whole day!
Kate was engaging – she knew her material and ‘kept it real’, was always able to explain further. I really enjoyed her presentation and will ask her back again.
What did you like most about the course?
The trainer Kate made it a relaxed and comfortable environment
I liked the easy manner and the information that was imparted
The spread of activities kept my attention throughout the course and kept it interesting
The presenter made the session interesting and interactive
The information was clearly and concisely delivered
We gained a lot of interesting knowledge and insight into child protection issues
Difficult subject matter was made easier via the activities Kate designed for us
Great presenter, clear, interactive!