Bonnie Lee B.HSc(OT)
Director / Occupational Therapist
Bonnie completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in New Zealand and has 15 years of experience working with children. She specialises in paediatrics and has an interest in; Sensory Processing, Anxiety, Social Skills and Autism (ASD), Executive Function Disorders, Developmental Delays, Dyspraxia/Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Learning Difficulties.
Bonnie enjoys being outdoors and is passionate about travelling. Although Bonnie now considers the Gold Coast home, she loves returning to New Zealand to visit family and friends.
Kristy Harris B.Occ.Thy.
Director / Occupational Therapist
Kristy has a strong interest in helping children to overcome the challenges impacting their participation in important daily activities such as learning, playing, and social interactions. This includes children experiencing difficulties with executive function skills, emotional regulation, social skills, and general academic pursuits.
Kristy is actively engaged with Southern Cross University where she supervises occupational therapy students and contributes to the Occupational Therapy program. She is also a member of OT Australia and an associate member of Indigenous Allied Health Australia.
Being married with 3 young girls, like many parents Kristy’s spare time is spent doing homework, cleaning, and making school lunches. However, when she’s not working, she is a proud Manly Sea Eagles supporter (don’t hold it against her), and enjoys going home to the country to spend time with extended family. Kristy feels privileged to be welcomed into the lives of the families she works with, and feels truly blessed to have a career that she loves!
Sarah Lang BSc(Hons) OT
Occupational Therapist
Sarah completed her Occupational Therapy degree in Scotland in 2004 with her honours project researching how OT’s can improve a child’s quality of life in paediatric palliative care.
She believes that empowering children can have a tremendous impact on a child’s performance, both in the home and school environment and can have a lasting effect as they move through life.
She is also particularly inspired by the many positive benefits that yoga and mindfulness can have on children and is a qualified children’s yoga instructor.
Sarah loves living by the ocean and enjoys stand up paddle boarding, yoga and camping with her husband and young daughter.
Emma Hoare B.Occ.Thy (Hons)
Occupational Therapist
Emma completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at Southern Cross University on the Gold Coast. Emma has always been passionate about paediatrics and as an occupational therapist believes all children should have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential and lead happy and fulfilling lives.
Emma has had a special interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for many years. This interest continued throughout her studies and as a result she formed her honours thesis research on the ‘Professional development needs of early childhood educators to provide an inclusive classroom for children with ASD’. From this research, she developed a free online resource for early childhood educators with information about ASD and strategies that can be implemented in the classroom to support inclusive education.
Emma loves spending time with her partner, family, friends and two silky terriers, spoiling her three nieces, keeping active, playing netball and swimming in the ocean.
Sara Hansen
Admin Support
Sara is the ‘Chief of Admin’ with Empowered Kids, and is an integral part of the team! She brings a wealth of experience to her role including a Bachelor of Education Early Childhood with a minor in Human Resource Planning, and a Diploma in Children’s Writing.
When not supporting the Empowered Kids team, Sara is a pop culture enthusiast with a fondness for movies and superheroes. She loves early morning walks around the beautiful beaches of the southern Gold Coast, and being a little bit silly with her partner and ten amazing nieces and nephews.
Rachel McCulloch B.Occ.Thy
Occupational Therapist
Rachel completed her Occupational Therapy degree at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Rachel has always loved working with kids and during her studies she worked at the Screech Theatre in Brisbane to support children and teenagers to grow in their confidence and embrace their differences.
On the weekend, Rachel loves spending time with her husband Jordan (who is also an OT!). She also enjoys arts and crafts, playing guitar and gardening.