Our people

Master of Business Law
Master of Applied Finance and Investment Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors

 As Social Enterprise Lead, John Koerber is working to nationally scale a new social enterprise offering of capacity building, resource/tool development and dissemination, and secondary consultation across hospital discharge teams, support coordinators, and allied health professionals, drawing on the work of UpSkill and the Housing Brokerage Service pilot.

Prior to joining the Summer Foundation, John was the CEO of the Victim Support Service in Adelaide, which delivered a range of client-focussed programs, including therapeutic counselling and criminal justice support services to victims of crime, as well as educational programs and capacity building for key stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

Bachelor of Business

Helen Jeisman provides project support to Summer Foundation executives and works with managers to coordinate project planning, monitoring and reporting, as well as problem solving and managing relationships with external organisations.

Helen has worked for the past 7 years in event and project coordination within the not-for-profit sector, including nearly 3 years at the Summer Foundation.

Master of Public Health, Bachelor of Occupational Therapy

Kaitlyn King is responsible for helping find appropriate housing for people with disability who are otherwise unable to leave a hospital setting. This includes engaging with health teams and support coordinators and completing a search to find housing that aligns with their needs.

Before joining the Summer Foundation, Kaitlyn worked as an occupational therapist for more than 10 years in inpatient and community rehabilitation in the areas of acquired brain injury, neurological and amputee rehabilitation, in both the private and public sectors.

Master of Laws (Human Rights), Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology and Political Science)

Sholeh Rutstein is responsible for ascertaining the housing needs and preferences of people with disability who are unable to leave a hospital setting due to a lack of suitable housing.

She was involved in the pre-pilot stage of the Housing Brokerage Service project, which refined Summer Foundation processes in order to provide intervention with increased efficiency.

After completing her law degree, Sholeh pursued a Masters in Human Rights Law in the USA. She gained extensive experience in Washington, DC, and later returned to Australia where she continues to pursue her passion for human rights with the Summer Foundation. The lived experience of a close family member living with a disability further inspires Sholeh in her passion to build a more just community for all.

Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (with Honours)

Alison’s role involves working with a person’s hospital team and Support Coordinator to identify an individual’s housing needs and preferences. Once their housing needs and preferences are known, she then works with their hospital team and Support Coordinator to locate appropriate housing.

Prior to starting her role at the Summer Foundation, Alison worked as an Occupational Therapist, providing community-based NDIS services to people with neurological disabilities. She has also worked as an Occupational Therapist in acute hospital wards, rehabilitation wards and in the aged care sector.

Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Master of Social Science

Linda’s role involves building the capacity of support coordinators and allied health professionals, so they have the skills and knowledge needed to provide high quality support to people with complex needs. This includes offering training, resources and a community of practice to help develop the professional skills of support coordinators and allied health professionals. Linda is also working on the development of an online directory for NDIS participants and others to connect with skilled support coordinators and allied health professionals.

Linda has been immersed in the NDIS since its launch in 2013, working as a support coordinator and leading a support coordination team. She has a long history in disability advocacy and is also a parent of a man who has disability. Human rights, equality and inclusion of people with disability are integral to all her work

In her role, Sarah Turbutt is responsible for creating awareness of SDA opportunities and identifying people with disability who are SDA eligible. Once identified, she assists people with disability to understand their choices and options in finding a home that best suits them.

Sarah has an extensive background in community disability housing and disability services management.

Most recently she managed a large NDIS community and accommodation division, where she established a Supported Independent Living area that concentrated on participants who had complex needs and required 24/7 acute nursing services. She developed a partnership with a local hospital to deliver a “transition to home” program that allowed fully ventilated quadriplegics to move back to their homes after years in a hospital setting.

Bachelor of Psychology (Hons)

Robin Ramme joined the Summer Foundations Research Unit in 2021 to take on the role of Research Project Manager. In this role, he manages data collection and statistical analyses for the Housing Brokerage Service project whose aim it is to support and build the capacity of key professionals working alongside people with disability who are stuck in hospital and require suitable housing.

Robin has 6 years’ psychological research experience spanning all aspects of the research process from study design to statistical analyses in projects ranging from body image to cognitive psychology. Prior to his work as a researcher, Robin spent close to 3 years working in residential aged care in Sweden. In addition to his work at the Summer Foundation, Robin is currently in the process of writing up his PhD at Griffith University where he’s utilised experimental design to examine, and disrupt, factors resulting in motivational inconsistency during working memory training. During his time at University, Robin has also taught undergraduate students in courses focusing on quantitative research design and statistics.

Diploma in Housing; Diploma in Business & Finance; Foundation in Leadership & Management.

Jo collaborates with healthcare and support teams working on the hospital discharge process for people who need to find a suitable place to live. Jo’s focus is to ensure people can choose where they live, and that they have a safe and sustainable home to go to when they are discharged from hospital. Her role will contribute to shaping the Housing Brokerage Service so it can continue to provide meaningful support to people leaving hospital.

Jo has a background in community housing and has around 20 years’ experience both here and in the UK. She has undertaken a variety of front line, technical and management roles, working with tenants and housing contracts throughout her career. Most recently she has worked with an SDA-registered disability community housing provider in South Australia, where she developed a tenant wellbeing program to minimise the risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people living with disabilities.

Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing and Management)

Lynette holds the role of Housing Brokerage Service Coordinator and is responsible for supporting and building the capacity of key professionals working alongside people with disability who are stuck in hospital and require suitable interim/long-term housing.

Lynette works on referrals from hospitals in Victoria and South Australia by helping patients, healthcare teams and support coordinators/guardians/allied health professionals in the transitioning process from hospital back to the community. This includes finding suitable interim or long-term housing by using NDIS funding or Pathways to Home funding.

She has several years’ experience in the social services and housing sectors. Prior to joining the Summer Foundation, she worked as a retirement village manager and as participant liaison oficer (SIL & SDA Provider).