We offer one-on-one and small group professional supervision (Figure 1) for people leading, coordinating or commissioning all kinds of community engagement and co-design.

Generally we work in one of two ways.

1 Meeting with you one-to-one regularly (such as bi-weekly or monthly) or when you need it. 1 or 1 ⅕ hour virtual sessions usually start with checking-in using a ritual we’ve agreed to (for example, celebrating something big or small, connecting with Country) before revisiting the functions of co-design supervision (Figure 1) for you to direct the session to what you need. It's your session so it's okay you talk a lot. I listen and ask questions. I might offer resources and will often re-frame something you told me in a different way. I'm in your corner.

2 Being an external supervisor across a co-design project or project involving/ aspiring toward co-design. This usually involves establishing agreements up-front, supporting you to scope and right-size co-design and then taking your lead on how regularly and where you/the team would like support (for example, in learning a new role). Some teams opt for weekly support, while others monthly or quarterly. Generally, it helps to check-in at key transition points (for example, submitting ethics, planning for a first gathering, planning for co-analysis, naming insights). We might meet more regularly in some project phases and less often during quiet times.

Here are some aspects we might focus on:

• Planning a co-design project or initiative (or specific activities such as workshops, working with communities, influencing senior stakeholders) 🗓

• Identifying your current skills and learning new skills in co-design and facilitation 📚

• Exploring the human experience of your work, sources of strengths and strain 🎁

• Building structures for community partnerships, design and/or co-design in your organisation 🧰

• Articulating your values and ethics and how you’re using them in practice 🪜

• Identifying where a project isn’t as impactful as it could be and potential changes 📝

• Identifying what went wrong and what might be different in the future 🪦

Read more about co-design supervision.

“Coaching with KA has been an invaluable experience for me, they have really helped me to tailor the wisdom available in their written resources to suit the context of my work. As a PhD Candidate there is continual pressures to achieve academic rigor, however creating the conditions for meaningful co-design was sometimes at odds with those academic research priorities. KA often helped me to navigate and reflect on how my decisions would support or engage the people with disability whom I was working with, to meet their needs; whereas my academic supervisory team really focused on how I was meeting the needs of the research aims. In a non-judgemental way KA really supports you to reflect on your choices and guide future steps without making decisions for you. They are an excellent coach, mentor and cheerleader who meets you where you are, and supports you in getting where you need to be, for the benefit of you and the wider community.” Cloe Benson, Allied Health Professional and PhD Student ”

“KA was able to bring deep strategic guidance and design knowledge every week to assist and support us as we began to build strong foundations. The beauty of this model was the flexibility it gave me and the team to be able to bring different challenges or topics each week to the session. KA was willing and able to jump in and offer advice and support to best meet the needs of our changing working environment every week. This proved far more valuable than a more structured project-based approach.”

Susie Flynn, Head of Community Experience at Beyond Blue

We work with communities and organisations to deliver introductory, intermediate and advanced training in understanding and facilitating co-design. We bring deep knowledge of co-design in health and social care. Get in touch.

“Having had various experiences with co-design, what I appreciated most in KA’s workshop was the model of care for co-design, which provides a practical and empathic blueprint for success at all stages of co-design from pre-planning to follow-up. KA’s approach is inclusive and trauma-informed, and is unique in that it enables people from diverse disciplines to understand and embed design principles for effective co-design. KA is an engaging and thoughtful facilitator. I feel much more confident in navigating co-design and recommend this to anyone who values the relational aspects of co-design.”

Dr Patricia Cullen, Population Health UNSW

“I love that there is so much opportunity to focus on things like safety and inclusion in different elements of practice. The thing I am constantly struck by is the kindness and spaciousness in which you hold a space, how you model what you are teaching and how you balance sharing, boundaries, vulnerability and trusting the group to stay connected and focus.”

Lisa Fitzgerald, VicHealth

”You've brought us an external perspective that outlined the rigor (and visual tools to memorialize this rigor) one can take to ensure people are cared for as we design with them. The way you modeled how to do work that makes space for all of our humanness, from principles down to checklists is inspiring.”

Emily Herrick, 18F (US Federal Government)

We facilitate co-design projects across Australia with community and creative partners.

See our recent work with NSW Health. Get in touch to see if we can help.