Dr Shannon Schedlich is an experienced leader and advocate whose work is grounded in both professional expertise and lived experience. With a background that spans community development, disability, and government, Shannon combines academic insight with a deep personal understanding of the challenges and strengths that shape families of people with disability and chronic illness.
As Chief Executive of Siblings Australia, she brings people with lived experience into the heart of program design, co-creating initiatives that are evidence-based, inclusive, and responsive to community needs. Drawing on her PhD in Australian history, Shannon has a long-standing interest in how stories, relationships, and social structures shape collective wellbeing. She is passionate about building systems and supports that recognise siblings as vital contributors to stronger, more connected families and communities.

Sonali is a parent coach, speaker, and the founder of Forward Together Parenting. She has been where you are with her own sensitive, strong-willed kids and has worked with thousands of parents worldwide. Her work is dedicated to helping families parent with confidence, have more fun, and create lasting change that truly feels good by addressing the core underlying needs at the root of the unrest both parents and children experience.

Sonali is also legally blind and has albinism, experiences that have shaped a lifetime of navigating difference, curiosity, and belonging. Drawing from being both THAT kid and the parent of THOSE kids, her work extends beyond parenting into how people of all ages can meet difference with understanding, dignity, and connection. This perspective informs her approach to communication, feedback, and the simple but powerful ways we create belonging through how we speak and listen.