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About Us

Aha! Consulting is a boutique consulting firm, delivering quality consulting services since 2004. With clients from around Australia and overseas, Aha! Consulting works cross multiple sectors bringing their knowhow about what makes people, organisations, and community’s work.

Lead by Founder and Managing Director Joel Levin, 

Aha! Consulting draws on a skilled team of people that put our clients at the heart of our business.

 

Our commitment is to provide services that are tailored to your needs.

Our expertise in engagement & facilitation has been applied to strategy, policy, infrastructure, health, community services and more. We improve the quality of decisions and outcomes by bringing the diversity of voices to the table in a way that is inclusive and generative. 

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Our ability to work across a range of contexts has seen our company grow and now service all tiers of government, the resources sector, major infrastructure projects, health, disability, human services, emergency services, environment and not-for-profit organisations.

OUR TEAM

JOEL LEVIN 

MANAGING

DIRECTOR

JANELLE EASTHOPE

SENIOR

CONSULTANT

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DONNA GIBSON

COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST

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NICOLE SJARDIN

OPERATIONS MANAGER

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Dr HECTOR PALADA

DATA ANALYST

Our Team Read More
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Joel Levin | Managing Director

Joel Levin is the founder and Managing Director at Aha! Consulting and has over 20 years experience working across a broad range of sectors both in Australia and Internationally.

 

His organisational, engagement and facilitation skills stem from a background in counselling, training, community work and senior management. Joel was the Senior Training Consultant for the Department of Community Development, focusing on the development of their services and funded not-for-profit services and established the Not-For-Profit Development unit for the WA Council of Social Services. 

 

Joel is a licensed trainer and board members for the International Association of Public Participation Australasia (IAP2) and the former Co-Chair of the Global Practise Development Committee.  In 2018, Joel was awarded the Distinguished Fellow Award from Leadership WA for outstanding commitment to the organisation and service to the WA community.

 

In 2015, Joel began working with the United Nations, exploring how they can use the engagement approach to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. This work led to the establishment of a partnership with IAP2 and the UN, leading to in country work across Asia-Pacific.

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Janelle Easthope  | Senior Consultant

Janelle brings more than 20 years’ of experience working in the WA Local Government sector. She was the community engagement lead for the City of Bayswater, helping to coordinate, support and embed community engagement practice. With a strong background in place management and community development, Janelle has a great understanding of the needs and expectations of both internal and external stakeholders.

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Janelle is skilled in engagement design, policy, facilitation and strategy development and has worked across a broad range of sectors and areas including strategic land use planning, health, youth engagement, infrastructure planning, strategy development and participatory budgeting.

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Donna Gibbson | Communications Specialist 

Donna is an experienced engagement practitioner and marketing, communications and media relations specialist.

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Working in the private, government and not-for-profit sectors in South Africa and Australia for over 25 years, she is experienced in stakeholder engagement, crisis communication planning and support, developing innovative communications strategies and creative media plans and content. 

Donna has managed stakeholder and community engagement for large-scale water, transport and energy infrastructure projects in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia and led regional stakeholder engagement for two renewable energy projects in the Goldfields Esperance region.

One project was the first of its kind in Australia and involved transitioning broadacre farmers off the electricity network to standalone power solutions to improve power reliability and reduce bushfire risk.

 

Donna has worked in a parliamentary office for two years and started her career as a journalist in South Africa. She was privileged to meet, write about and photograph the late Nelson Mandela.

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She was the recipient of the South African Government Communicator of the Year Award in 2006, awarded by the South African Presidency, for an engagement project with remote, Zulu-speaking communities for regional government.

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She holds a Master of Philosophy in Linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science and is an accredited IAP2 practitioner.

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Dr Hector Palada | Data Analyst

Hector has a background in psychology and cognitive science. He graduated from the University of Queensland (UQ) with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Hector is in the final stages of completing his PhD at UQ where he applies mathematical models of decision-making.

 

Hector has worked on a range of projects with clients including Defence Science Technology Australia, Boeing and Queensland Bariatrics. His skillset includes research and questionnaire design, literature evaluation, exploratory data analysis, statistical and machine learning analyses, data visualisation and interactive dashboard development. Hector also has strong programming experience which he uses to streamline data processing and analysis.

 

Hector values conveying data in a meaningful, effective, and simple way.

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Nicole Sjardin | Operations Manager

Nicole is the Office Manager at Aha! Consulting, she helps keep everything running smoothly, keeping all the balls in the air and making sure they land in the right place. 

Nicole has a background in business support and planning, account management, sales, event management and community services, business management, and counselling.  

She is passionate about customer service and good communication and supporting the team out in the field.

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TESTIMONIALS

Working with Joel reinforces how important people are in an organisation.  His "go gently" way allows consideration of the emotions inherent within any change management and how to communicate your message so it can be consistently understood.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / PUBLIC HEALTH & AMBULATORY CARE

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