In the National Office December

Let's find out who's who ...

Who's Who in the Office: Melissa and Kit

In this edition of In the National Office, we’re excited to introduce you to Melissa and Kit, HIPPY Australia's Quality and Performance Officers. While their work might sound technical: ETO training, data quality assurance, report writing, and analysis, it's actually the foundation that helps us understand HIPPY's impact and support sites to deliver the program with excellence.
From training coordinators to building advocacy reports, their work touches every corner of the network

Melissa joined HIPPY nearly nine years ago as an Administration Assistant Trainee, while Kit came on board more recently, bringing a love of data analysis and continuous improvement.
Both share a passion for gaming, continuous learning, and the meaningful purpose that drew them to HIPPY in the first place.

Let's start with the basics. Melissa, what's your role at HIPPY, and what does your day-to-day work involve?

I'm one of two Quality and Performance Officers here at the HIPPY National Office. Most of my daily tasks consist of data quality work on the ETO database, training HIPPY staff from all sites to use it, and pulling data from it to assist in advocacy work or write reports for our funder.

Kit, does that resonate with your experience too?

Absolutely! No two days are ever the same in this role.

But honestly, my day-to-day can be quite diverse! It could range from data and business analysis projects to quality assurance, and compliance work, to ensure sites are on track with their obligations, to continuous improvement projects, site support and training, ETO system support, and report writing.

I don't think my Monday board has ever been empty!

One day we might be training coordinators on ETO, the next we're diving deep into data analysis for an advocacy report, and then we're troubleshooting system issues or pulling together performance reports.

The variety is actually one of the things I really appreciate about the role. There's always something new to learn, always a different challenge to tackle

Melissa, you've been with HIPPY for nearly nine years! that's quite a journey. How did it all begin?

HIPPY Australia took me on as an Administration Assistant Trainee nearly nine years ago, as my first serious job after years of soul-destroying job searching. No one would take a chance on a young new immigrant who hadn't worked before.

All I needed was a foot in the door

And HIPPY gave me that foot in the door. I actually joked in my profile that I "looked after the coffee machine" in that first role, but really, that opportunity changed everything for me.

HIPPY has four outcome areas. Which one speaks to you the most, and why?

Kit: I truly believe that Tutors are the best part of HIPPY! Supporting Tutors as a Coordinator was one of the most rewarding experiences for me in my previous role.

Their passion for the program, determination, and hard work in delivering HIPPY to families while also developing their own skills and knowledge in their chosen career pathways, and juggling their role as parents, it's truly inspirational.

Melissa: (Laughs) As someone who doesn't have children myself, the outcome area that relates to the training and employment of Tutors speaks to me the most. The Tutor role is that chance for hundreds of vulnerable people who were in the same situation as me, needing someone to take a chance on them.

Working for HIPPY has changed my life for the better, and in the stories we hear every year of Tutors finding meaningful work after HIPPY, I see reflected my own experience with the National Office

You both mentioned you're gamers. Tell us more about that!

Kit: (Big smile and responds) I play a lot of video games! My most-used app is Twitch, and I love going for a walk in my neighborhood with a podcast in the afternoons during sunset. My go-to coffee order is a large skinny latte, usually with three espresso shots!

Melissa: As an unapologetic nerd, I have been enjoying the proliferation of video games this year, developed by small studios that create some amazing, heartfelt stories and memorable characters. (with Melissa's classic big, bright, infectious smile) I recently finished Dispatch, which is about superheroes. I'm about to start Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was developed by a French studio of about 30 people and is considered one of the best of the year.

This song from the trailer immediately tipped my ear as beautiful and caught my attention. I’m very excited to see what all the fuss is about!

Tell us three things about you that we wouldn’t find on your resume