Hi, I'm Si.

Strong Dads started in October 2023, after I helped start a local dads group in Ocean Grove and completed the Working Out Dads program. What stood out wasn't the content, it was the connection. Real conversations. Friendships. Something most of us had quietly been missing.

It began as simple exercise sessions for dads and their kids. Relaxed. Natural. Well-attended. When winter hit, we moved online and something shifted. The conversations deepened. Dads started opening up and supporting each other in ways that went well beyond a workout.

That experience pushed me further. I spent a year working as a national dad mentor and facilitator with Dads Group, while also working on the frontline as a registered nurse. Alongside this, I've contributed to the broader fatherhood space through the Australian Fatherhood Research Symposium, the Paternal Plus network with Healthy Male, and research focused on improving how services engage and support fathers. I've also come full-circle and am a Working Out Dads Facilitator.

All of it has been building toward a bigger idea: creating a Dad Practitioner role within the healthcare system here in Geelong.

That's where the Wholehearted Dad Program came from, built by a dad for dads, combining my nursing background with real-world insight into what dads are actually navigating.

Today, I work directly with local fathers, supporting them through the transition into parenthood and beyond.

The vision is bigger than me: Dad Practitioners embedded in hospitals and early parenting services, so fathers are properly supported from day one.