Education and Service Development Consultant
Shehani DeSilva
Hi, I’m Shehani and I’ve worked with VTMH since 2013. I have a background in psychology and community development and more than 20 years of experience working directly with marginalised communities and grassroot community and mental health organisations.
Before joining VTMH, I coordinated the transcultural mental health access program at Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities (ADEC) in Melbourne, working with communities from diverse cultural backgrounds. I also worked in New Zealand with a trauma service for refugees and asylum seekers as a counsellor and advocate and at Schizophrenia Fellowship supporting consumers and carers to access housing in urban Wellington. I have also had the opportunity to undertake international development work through UNICEF Sri Lanka where I worked as a psychosocial specialist supporting and building the capacity of community organisations funded to work with communities impacted by civil war. I look forward to continuing to play a part in VTMH and its role in building the capacity of the workforce to provide equitable services to the culturally diverse communities of Victoria.
