We are psychologists and mediators, engineers and counsellors, behaviour specialists and practitioners, artists, musicians, and radio announcers. We are storytellers and scientists, creatives and clinicians and everything in between. We are, quite deliberately, one of the most eclectic teams you will ever encounter. Because we believe that the people delivering this work should reflect the communities they serve. Our facilitators bring lived experience, professional expertise, and a genuine humanity to every room they walk into. They are not presenters reading from a script they are people who have done this work, lived close to it, and care deeply about its impact. When you bring Be There Group into your organisation or community, you get all of that. Every time.
Founders
Kirsty Tschirpig
FounderPRINCE2 Project Manager · Accredited Mediator · DISC Behavioural Assessor
Kirsty Tschirpig knows what it looks like when systems fail people, because she spent more than 15 years inside one of Australia's most complex and demanding environments working to make it better. Her career at Queensland Corrective Services, including executive leadership and Parole Board roles, gave her a front-row seat to the consequences of harm that went unaddressed, and a fierce conviction that prevention had to come first.
That conviction led her to Griffith University in 2019, where she shifted her focus from crisis response to early intervention and where the seeds of Be There Group were planted. In 2023, she and Shaan Ross-Smith co-founded Be There Group, bringing together everything they had learned across decades of working at the coalface of harm, justice, and culture change.
Kirsty is also a co-founder of Be There Foundation and a Founding Director of the Kelly Wilkinson Foundation, two organisations that reflect her belief that prevention and support are not separate conversations. They are two sides of the same commitment.
In the room, Kirsty brings a rare combination of warmth and authority. She has the kind of presence that puts people at ease and holds them to account at the same time and she has spent years learning how to have the conversations that most people find hardest. As a trained mediator and DISC Behavioural Assessor, she understands what drives human behaviour, what gets in the way of change, and what it takes to shift it.
Kirsty believes that respectful workplaces don't just happen. They are built, one conversation, one decision, one courageous leader at a time.
FounderShaan Ross-Smith
Registered Psychologist · Accredited Mediator · NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioner
Shaan Ross-Smith has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of psychology, justice, and prevention, and she has never been content to work at the edges of a problem when she could be addressing its roots.
Her career spans government, corrections, higher education, and the non-profit sector. She currently serves on the Queensland Parole Board and across multiple peak bodies, and previously chaired DVConnect for seven years one of Australia's most significant domestic violence peak organisations.
Shaan's leadership has changed systems and built things that didn't exist before. Among her proudest achievements is Bella's Sanctuary, a world-first transitional housing project for women and children escaping violence, developed in partnership with Mirvac and Halcyon. It is the kind of solution that only comes from someone willing to think beyond what already exists.
As Director of Griffith University's MATE Bystander Program, Shaan helped pioneer a national conversation about bystander action and co-developed the Be There App, still the only bystander-specific app in the world. In 2024, she was invited to meet His Majesty the Queen at Parliament House in recognition of her work in violence prevention, and has represented Queensland at COAG. She regularly MCs, moderates, and keynotes landmark events alongside organisations including The Man Cave, No to Violence, and The Hatchery.
Today, as Co-Founder and Director of Be There Group, Shaan leads a team working across corporate, government, education, and sporting sectors, equipping people with the skills, language, and confidence to challenge inequality and prevent harm. Clients include Volvo Group, Aurizon, Hastings Deering, Perenti Group, Barminco, CASA, state and federal government, and community organisations across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Shaan is known for bold leadership, systems thinking, and an unwavering belief that prevention, done well and early, changes everything.
Founding Partner
Hayden Whitworth
Founding PartnerExecutive Leader · Facilitator · Engineer. Men's Behaviour Change Specialist
Hayden Whitworth has spent more than 20 years building something in every room he walks into, trust. From his early career in civil engineering to leading Juice FM as CEO, to running City Impact, one of Queensland's most significant community charities, Hayden has always been drawn to the work of bringing people together around something that matters.
What changed the direction of his career wasn't a single moment, it was a growing realisation that the most important infrastructure we can build isn't physical. It's cultural. It's the conditions that determine whether people feel safe, valued, and able to show up as themselves. That realisation led him to Be There Group, and to the work he now considers the most meaningful of his career.
Hayden facilitates court-ordered Men's Behaviour Change Programs, some of the most challenging and consequential work in the prevention space. He also speaks in boardrooms, conference rooms, and community halls across Australia on gender, power, and what it actually takes for men to be part of the solution. He is disarming, honest, and deeply effective at creating the kind of psychological safety that allows difficult conversations to go somewhere real.
His background in radio and media means he understands how to read a room, hold attention, and communicate complex ideas in ways that land, not just for people who are already convinced, but for the ones who aren't sure yet. That's where Hayden does some of his best work.
As Executive Director of Partnerships and Strategy, Hayden is the person who builds the relationships that make Be There Group's reach possible — with clients, with communities, and with the sectors that need this work most.
He shows up. Every time.
Exceptional Team
Jesse De La Croix
Senior Facilitator and Program DesignerDeb is an experienced facilitator, professional supervisor, and author with a diverse background in health, education, and leadership. At The Be There Group, she is known for creating safe and reflective spaces that invite honest self-awareness and growth. With over six years of training experience, Deb brings compassion, wisdom, and a practical approach that helps individuals and teams connect more deeply and create meaningful change. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision, a Master’s in Theology & Leadership, dual Diplomas in Business Leadership & Management, and advanced qualifications in Applied Science, Oral Health Education, and Child Clinical Dentistry.
Artist · Business Owner · Psychosocial Safety Specialist
Jesse is proof that the best people in this work rarely arrived at it in a straight line.
An artist, business owner, cook, and mother, Jesse brings her whole self to everything she does and in the context of Be There Group, that turns out to be exactly what's needed. Because the work of shifting workplace culture is human. It requires creativity, warmth, instinct, and the ability to hold a room full of people through something genuinely challenging and make them feel safe enough to go there.
Jesse is the creative and conceptual force behind the psychosocial safety programs Be There Group delivers. She takes content that could easily feel heavy or confronting and shapes it into something people can actually connect with, sit with, and carry with them. The thinking, the structure, the moments that land, that's Jesse's work.
In the room, she is magnetic without trying to be. She has a way of meeting people exactly where they are, whether that's a construction crew in regional Queensland or an executive team in a Sydney boardroom and creating the kind of space where real conversations happen and real change becomes possible.
Jesse is the kind of facilitator participants remember. Not because she performed, but because she showed up.
Deb Candler
Ben Crawford
Senior Facilitator Trainer & Assessor · International Business Graduate · Music & Creative Industries Specialist.
Ben Crawford is what happens when curiosity refuses to stay in one lane. With degrees in International Business and Popular Music and more than 20 years of training and assessment experience spanning music, production, technology, multimedia, and marketing. Ben brings a perspective to this work that is genuinely unlike anyone else in the room. He has delivered training across government and private sectors, worked with small businesses and large-scale organisations, and facilitated learning at tertiary and university level. He knows how adults learn, what gets in the way of it, and how to create the conditions where something actually shifts. What Ben understands and what makes him such a natural fit for Be There Group is that culture change is a creative act. It requires the same skills as any great performance or production: reading your audience, holding attention, knowing when to push and when to let something breathe, and caring deeply about what you leave people with at the end.
And yes, when he's not in the training room, Ben is on the road with one of Australia's most iconic rock bands. Weekends look a little different for Ben. Which perhaps explains why he walks into every facilitation session with the kind of presence, timing, and ability to hold a crowd that most facilitators spend years trying to develop. For Ben, it's just Saturday night. He is warm, adaptable, and deeply skilled at making complex ideas feel accessible. Whether he's working with a team of executives or a room full of frontline workers, Ben meets people where they are and takes them somewhere better.
Nadima Peer
Senior Facilitator, Counsellor and TherapistNadima is a certified professional counsellor (PACFA) with a Bachelor of Psychological Science and Counselling. She specialises in supporting women and couples on their journey to emotional well-being, personal growth, and healing. With over 22 years’ experience as a business owner and strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community safety, Nadima brings warmth, cultural sensitivity, and deep insight to her facilitation work. Her approach is evidence-based, compassionate, and grounded in her own lived experiences.
Adam Chapman
Lawyer, Aboriginal Elder and FacilitatorAdam is an Aboriginal Elder, facilitator, and mentor who brings cultural wisdom, professional expertise, and lived experience to his work with The Be There Group. With a background in law, governance, and leadership, he is known for creating safe and respectful spaces where people can reflect deeply, challenge assumptions, and engage in meaningful dialogue. Adam combines his legal training with his cultural knowledge to help individuals and organisations navigate complex issues with integrity and courage. He is passionate about truth-telling, reconciliation, and equipping people with the skills to build safer, more inclusive communities.
Mitch Stent
Facilitator and Rites of passage MentorMitch is a preventative mental health and transformational facilitator with 10 years of experience across the not-for-profit and corporate sectors. He specialises in transformational program design and facilitation training and development, and has worked with organisations including The Man Cave, Monash University, Movember, The Rites of Passage Institute and The Be There Group
Much of Mitch’s work has focused on teenage boys, helping them navigate the challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities of growing into whole-hearted, engaged adults. He brings those insights into workplaces and adult groups, promoting empathy, intergenerational understanding, and authenticity. Mitch is known for leading with warm curiosity, sincerity, and creating spaces where people feel safe, seen, and heard, inviting courageous conversations.
Sheldon Smith
People and Culture SpecialistSheldon began his career in South Africa, where he focused on creating pathways to education for marginalised communities. Since relocating to Australia in 2010, he has applied these skills to supporting First Nations peoples, CALD communities, women in STEM, neurodivergent people, and LGBTQIA+ Australians. Sheldon is Curtin University’s Senior Diversity & Inclusion Advisor, specialising in inclusive practice, cultural change, and gender and LGBTQIA+ inclusion. He chairs Curtin’s ALLY Network, co-leads the Creating Respectful Workplaces Framework, and contributes to national projects on building safe and respectful workplaces. In 2024, Sheldon was recognised as the inaugural Individual Changemaker by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for his leadership in diversity and inclusion.