“Verity brings her great love of the natural world to her work. She also brings her empathy and understanding as a mother to her role as an expert in early childhood environment and sustainability education. Her passion is infectious. As an educator at the Port Phillip EcoCentre, I had the pleasure and privilege to collaborate with Verity to provide a number of programs ranging from educator professional development to place based nature play activities for the early years. Our collaborations were always inspiring, her gentle guidance, her profound understanding of what was needed in this sector and her enthusiasm instilled a high level of trust in those who worked with her. She really understands how to nurture professional relationships to bring out the best in people, the evidence was plain to see – the early learning centres and communities she worked with have the utmost respect for her, as do I.” ​ Sharron Hunter Education Programs Facilitator Port Phillip Ecocentre

“Clarendon Children’s Centre was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Verity over a period of almost five years. During that time we benefited enormously from her expertise, enthusiasm and commitment to sustainability pedagogy and, with her support, we have been able to embed sustainability perspectives in all aspects of our curriculum and with all age groups. Verity took the time to become familiar with the particular needs and circumstances of our Centre and to build strong relationships with our educator team. Her targeted support combined practical suggestions with genuine encouragement and appreciation for the steps we took (both big and small) towards our sustainability goals. In particular, Verity was able to support and inspire us to take on new and bigger challenges – devising action research projects, writing short journal articles and even presenting at the Steps to Sustainability Conference in 2017. Verity has helped us to make sustainability the strong focus of our everyday pedagogy and practice which has contributed to our Centre twice achieving a rating of ‘Excellent’ from ACECQA.” ​ Linda Davidson Centre Coordinator Clarendon Children's Centre

“Working with Verity to create a shared vision around our sustainability goals has been a truly inspiring process for everyone involved. With Verity’s support and guidance our little Kinder has achieved our big goal of obtaining carbon neutrality. We couldn’t have done this without Verity’s expertise and inclusive, calm approach that has enabled us to bring our whole community on this important journey for our planet and each other.” ​ Jenny Whelan Director Albert Park Kindergarten

“I've had the pleasure of working closely with Verity on many community-focused sustainability projects, programs and events in a local government context over the years and can honestly say that everything that she touches turns to gold. Not only does she consistently achieve successful outcomes through her work, but the experience of working with her is always fun and easy. Her genuine love for people and passion for working together toward a more sustainable world shine through in everything she does. Verity's extensive experience, broad knowledge and professionalism mean that I always feel confident that any project she takes on is going to be a success. She also knows how to bring out the best in the people she is working with, whether they be part of her team, or from other organisations or the community. Verity is particularly skilled at crafting sustainability communications that resonate widely and get people on board. She takes the time to listen carefully to what the community is thinking and feeling and uses her knowledge and experience to plan and create content that inspires them to take positive action. I would not hesitate to recommend Verity to help you engage your community to take on more sustainable behaviours - once you work with her you will wonder how you ever worked without her!” ​ Belinda Evans Sustainability Officer City of Port Phillip

“I was lucky enough to work with Verity on a number of sustainability leadership and education projects. Her care, insight, professionalism and ability to listen to people really shone through and taught me a lot. Her direct partnership with me to create the City of Port Phillip Sustainability Philosophy program launched a whole new world and mode of thinking for me (and others) that has led to profound outcomes.” Brett Hedger Greenhouse Programs Officer City of Port Phillip

“Verity has been a tremendous help on our sustainability projects through the years we have known her. She is very knowledgeable with great ideas and has helped us put in place an Action Plan for our centre. Thanks to Verity, our sustainability program has been extremely successful and we look forward to working with her in the future.” Julia Lu Centre Director Kinderclub Childcare

“Verity is a warm and engaging sustainability professional who designs and delivers programs that bring everyone along on the sustainability journey. Her strong commitment to positive outcomes for the environment and the community shines through and inspires positive change. As the officer responsible for delivering the ‘Seedlings’ program, she not only achieved significant resource use reduction at participating sites but also influenced countless children and their families to make sustainability changes to their lives.” Lisa Paton Coordinator, Sustainability Programs City of Port Phillip

"'Knowledge and experience driven by commitment and passion' – I had the pleasure of working with Verity on the delivery of the Seedling program across different Local Government settings. Verity is both professional and resourceful in her approach, engaging children, families and services to connect, develop and embed learning for sustainability practices into everyday behaviours and programs.” Claire Rock Executive Officer Family & Children Community Support Services Yarra Ranges Shire Council

“I had the pleasure of working with Verity from 2018 to 2019 when we were given the immense task of developing a sustainability action plan for the Family Youth and Children department at the City of Port Phillip. This was designed to build on the success of the Early Years Sustainability Education Project (Seedlings) that Verity had implemented over a 3 year period at the Children’s Centres and extend it to the entire department including Maternal and Child Health, Family Support, Youth and Middle Years Services and Children’s Services including playgroups and parent information sessions. I found Verity to be incredibly knowledgeable and solutions-focused. She takes the time to understand service and business constraints and can also steer you toward what is possible with empathy, inspiration and new ways of thinking. She is very systematic in her thinking, and an excellent writer and presenter, so is able to bring all groups along with her on the journey – a vital skill in this area indeed! Thanks to Verity’s passion and persistence, we set very ambitious goals such as a 50% reduction in energy use, water use, waste to landfill and an 80% reduction in printing over 3 years. However our targets were just one component. Verity showed us how by increasing our awareness on our current waste practices we were able to increase our capacity to achieve our goals. Not only did we meet our targets, but staff from all areas in our department were, perhaps more importantly, able to embed sustainability into their daily business and now role model this behaviour to our community.” Hayley Crawford Family Youth and Children Development Officer City of Port Phillip

"Verity provided a very informed, flexible approach to develop and support the implementation of change initiatives within our centre. I was so impressed by how she understood individual leadership priorities, tailoring her approach while providing fantastic opportunities for positive environmental outcomes. With Verity’s support, we were able to progress through some difficult territory and develop a strategy to move forward with. Verity developed some lovely relationships with our staff, which definitely helped progress the outcomes.” Sharon Bibby Assistant Coordinator/ Educational Leader City of Port Phillip

"Over the years I have taught and mentored Verity, she has shown a very strong, genuine and long-standing commitment to the environment. I have observed her career achievements in the government and NGO sectors and feel she has much expertise and enthusiasm to offer organisations, businesses and communities via her Wildflower consultancy." Associate Professor Ian Thomas RMIT University Melbourne City Campus