This month we spoke with Bree Goodchild, Senior Manager - Community Engagement & Experience, City of Playford, about her role, professional development and what's next for her. 

How long have you been in local government and what is your role?

I have been fortunate to be a part of this sector for 20 years, working across a number of communities with a diverse range of needs, challenges and opportunities. The chance to support people to live well and to thrive is what drives me.

I have recently started as the Senior Manager for Community Engagement and Experience with City of Playford. I feel so lucky to continue to work with passionate and experienced people who have the right combination of vision and capability to support our community to grow.

What does a typical day look like for you?

At the City of Playford we are focused on the emerging and future opportunities for our community and region. Growth for our community in the right way, for the right reasons is exciting and rewarding. By 2046 we will welcome 10 new residents a day to City of Playford. On a daily basis we are working to set a future for our community (and for all those people who will call the City of Playford home over the next 20 years). We support the Strategic intent through planned communications efforts. We bring together data and research with community feedback and sentiment to inform decision making. At the heart of our daily work is the residents, business owners, workers and visitors to our area who we engage with daily, providing customer service and supporting them to live happy and prosperous lives. And, we get to do it all as a team.

Last year you participated in the LG Professionals SA Executive Leaders Program; can you share some reflections from your experience?

What an opportunity! I would recommend this program to everyone.

Dedicating time to your professional development is such an important part of continuing to grow and evolve and our communities benefit from this investment - they deserve the very best effort and ideas from us to make their neighbourhoods safe, happy and healthy.

My key takeaways from the Executive Leaders Program (XLP) were that there is always opportunity to see things from new and different perspectives, that our collective consideration of challenges is powerful, and that we are capable of new thinking and doing difficult things.

The challenges and opportunities our communities face range from simple through to complex, and the XLP is specifically designed to get to the crux of the challenges and chip away at improvements. Through the XLP, we were able to combine academic discipline, science, emotional intelligence and creativity in a unique learning environment.

And, I have gained a group of incredible peers to learn from, lean on and cheer on.  

What would be your advice to others thinking of participating in the Executive Leaders Program?

Don’t hesitate – its worth the effort. The program is rewarding and continues to be valuable in the work that I do. The opportunity to learn in an environment with other committed and like minded local government leaders is pretty special. The unique and tailored guidance from Andrew and Rhiannon (and the support from their team of experts) makes the experience.

Recently you volunteered at the Rural Management Challenge – what do you love about these professional development events?

Quite honestly one of my favourite days of the year. I have so much respect for the talented and dedicated participants who put months of effort into preparing for Challenge day. To see each person move through the excitement and nervousness, manage their energy and create amazing outcomes is inspiring. They lean on each other and lead each other, they allow themselves the opportunity to make safe mistakes and to make even bigger and better come backs as a result. Mostly, to experience the relief and pride in their achievements at the end of the day – it was a privilege to be a part of it.

What’s next for you in your professional development journey?

I have formed some special working relationships over my time in the sector and rely more and more on the joy of learning from and with others. I would love to continue to study when the time is right, and look forward to the next offering from LG Professionals SA.