Kirsty holds the needs and desires of people and their communities as central to the way she works. She is a development practitioner who supports any and all stages of the project cycle, including from initial grant application-writing to project implementation. 

She applies creative-thinking to the complexity of project scenarios, holding technical skills in research, data collection and coding, report-writing, community facilitation and monitoring, evaluation and learning and diverse SOGIESC inclusion. Kirsty also has experience working in the humanitarian sector, including work that supports the inclusion of communities with diverse SOGIESC in crisis, and her time spent in Maharashtra, India with RedR for post-flood hygiene promotion. 

Before working for Community Works and Kindred, Kirsty was a consultant with Edge Effect, an organisation that assists humanitarian and development organisations to work in genuine partnerships with sexual and gender minorities. At Community Works, Kirsty informs decisions around work that requires a deeper understanding of diverse SOGIESC inclusion.

Kirsty graduated from the Master of Development Studies at the University of Melbourne with Honors, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics & German, and a Diploma in French. She wrote her Master’s thesis on the disaster risk reduction agenda within the context of floods and the monsoon season in Bihar, India. She was interested in uncovering how the writers, implementers and improvisers of disaster management flood policies in Bihar imagine, prepare for and absorb the annual monsoon season. Specifically, she focused on examining the ontologies behind the international disaster risk reduction agenda, and what it can mean to live with uncertainty.