ABOUT US
PROJECT TEAM
JEFF BUCKLEY
Principal Consultant
Jeff is a qualified Social Worker with 12 years experience in youth work and community development practice both in Australia and overseas. He has worked across the community youth sector, within local and state government and as a private consultant, dedicating much of his career to working with young people experiencing homelessness. A strong advocate for genuine youth participation processes, Jeff strives to ensure that young people are always 'designed-in' to both program development and direct service delivery.
Jeff is also a Lecturer in Youth Work Practice at Griffith University and a casual staff member of the Fortitude Valley "Chill Out Zone" as part of the new Drink Safe Precinct initiative. He has a keen interest in youth arts and community cultural development, festival and event planning and community engagement. He also likes comfortable slippers, western shirts, magic tricks and playing dress-ups, but he is not a big fan of cats and doing the dishes (although vacuuming is something that he quite enjoys). He also tries to get as much mileage as he can from sharing his name with a famous dead folk singer.
CAMERON FRANCIS
Social Worker
Cameron is a Social Worker with ten years experience in the youth alcohol and other drug sector. Starting off with a field placement at QuIVAA and going on to be employed as an outreach worker, Cameron developed a passion early in his career for working with young people who use alcohol and other drugs. Further positions as a peer educator with Brisbane Youth Service and later operating the Needle and Syringe Program with Youth and Family Service (Logan City Inc) firmed up his commitment to working with young people who use alcohol and other drugs.
Prior to working at Dovetail, Cameron worked for 4 years at Ipswich ATODS, primarily as an individual counsellor for young people, but also assisting other local services to build the capacity of their workforce in alcohol and other drug practice. In this role, Cameron developed and delivered training and support programs and acted as a consultant on complex cases that required multi-agency responses.
Cameron brings a diverse set of experiences to the Dovetail team and is excited about supporting the sector in an increasingly complex environment.
Leigh Beresford
Clinical Nurse
Leigh is a Clinical Nurse with a wide range of experience spanning 25 years. During her rewarding career in midwifery Leigh became interested in grief and loss which subsequently lead to a move in to alcohol and drug nursing. In 2001 Leigh began working for Queensland Health's Alcohol and Drug Service case managing clients at Melaleuca Clinic, during which time she developed a passion for working with young people. As a result she jumped at an opportunity in 2005 to work on the QIDDI team delivering interventions to young people at Hot House and Biala.
Leigh's other passion is travel and she has managed to spend many years exploring the world, primarily around third world and developing countries. Now Leigh brings her rich personal and professional life experience to the Dovetail team in the role of Clinical Nurse.
Benjamin Dougherty
Project Officer
Ben is the Project Officer on the Dovetail Initiative. He has over five years experience in working with young people as a Facilitator of Art and Design for Speak Out and Artspace (ADAWS), a Multimedia teacher for Brisbane North Institute of TAFE and a support worker at the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service.
Ben has a Degree in Arts Writing from Southern Cross University and a Degree in Screen Production in Digital Media from Griffith University. He brings skills in writing, design and administration to the Dovetail team as well as experience in various 'frontline' work with young people.
