We are excited to announce Rachael Bowen from Giant Steps Australia as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Chatswood!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Rachael and Giant Steps Australia to continue to grow their impact in the local community

The 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million to support local communities.

For further information or to discover the Westfield Local Heroes at other Westfield centres, visit the Westfield Local Heroes website.

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Your 2023 Westfield Chatswood Local Hero is:

Rachael Bowen

Giant Steps Australia

Creative, Empathetic, Mentor.

Rachael Bowen has gone above and beyond for 17 years to help people with autism achieve their best life.

Rachael is the National Director of Speech Therapy at Giant Steps Australia, which provides innovative educational opportunities for children and adults on the autism spectrum.

Rachael started at Giant Steps as a university graduate and makes a significant impact on students and the community.

Almost 150 local children and adults with complex needs benefit from Rachael’s work. She also supports the broader community with free online resources and contributes to professional development and research.

With her outstanding work ethic, Rachael is always willing to mentor new graduates, teachers, therapists and aides.

Rachael has an innate sense of what students and their families need and motivates and coaches parents to help them do the best for their children.

One standout success was her work with a child experiencing anxiety who had disengaged from learning. After more than 12 months of Rachael’s communication support, the child has flourished and attends school on a full-time basis.

Rachael feels humbled to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “The work I do supports autistic children and adults to learn to communicate and participate in family and community life,” she says.

Giant Steps Australia will put its funds towards developing a course to upskill teachers at mainstream schools to work with autistic students.

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We'd like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Ceiny Maybury from Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney

Ceiny Maybury has been a Lifeline volunteer for the past 21 years, volunteering more than one thousand hours. Many people across the North Shore owe their life to her compassion. Her roles have included the answering the crisis line, visiting recently bereaved families, support groups for people who have attempted experienced mental health crisis and volunteer training.

John Lui from The Shepherd Centre for Deaf Children

John Lui uses his experience as a deaf person to help make the bumpy teenage ride a little smoother. He’s the National Manager of the Hear-For-You mentoring program, which runs workshops that help deaf and hearing-impaired teenagers realise they are not alone in navigating a world in which others take hearing for granted.

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If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14

Recognising all our 2023 nominees

View all of the Westfield Chatswood nominees and their organisation