Jessica Scannell

Project Coordinator, the Active Women Project, Welcoming Clubs @Welcoming Australia

Melbourne, AU

I currently coordinate our newest program: The Active Women project - a targeted inclusion initiative aimed at women aged 30+ with a focus on women from migrant and minority ethnic groups (MMEGs) who have limited access to social sports and physical activity in their community. It caters for individuals who may have lacked early exposure to physical literacy or have been inactive for reasons such as having children, injury or illness. In partnership with local councils and community organisations including local sporting clubs, the project has 3 key components:• Place-based, community-led social recreation programs• Individual Capacity building, and• Community capacity building. Another key program I\'ve coordinated for Welcoming Club is: Welcome to the Game - a program dedicated to support children and young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds who live with disabilities, autism and additional support needs to access and feel a sense of belonging in their local community sport settings, along with their families. Success factors for the program include, trusted partnerships, strategic selection of program locations, trust and relationship building with families, sport delivery expertise, person-centred design, co-design and co-delivery. I also support various activities within the Welcoming Clubs initiative, Welcoming Australia\'s overarching Sport Inclusion Initiative including the delivery of capacity building work shops for clubs and recreation centres which focus on strategies for welcoming and including new and non-traditional member groups, and a dedicated framework for responding to and preventing discrimination and racism, ensuring members and participants are safe and can thrive in any sporting environment. As well as, top strategies for inclusive coaching and supporting participants with Autism, intellectual disabilities, neurodiversity, trauma, and additional support needs, to be able thrive and belong in their local sporting communities.

Iona University

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist

St. Vincent's Secondary School, Cork, Ireland

Leaving Certificate, English, Irish, Maths, French, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, LCVP

Pace University

Master of Arts (M.A.), Media, Communications and Visual Arts