A huge congratulations to Brighton Council’s Community Development Officer, Kylie Murphy who has recently received her Master of International and Community Development from Deakin University.

Kylie is an inspirational community development worker who is not only dedicated to working alongside our communities to be the best they can be but is passionate about continuous improvement as a professional. She has a thirst for learning and knowledge in her field and achieved her master’s degree while working full-time at Brighton Council. An outstanding achievement by anyone’s standards.

Kylie’s thesis is titled “How do we support better health and wellbeing outcomes for communities, by using a strengths and Asset- Based Community Development (ABCD) approach in Tasmanian Local Councils?”

Her thesis involved looking nationally and internationally at case studies that demonstrated the opportunities available to local government in Tasmania through embedding strengths-based methods and the ABCD frameworks into community development strategies. The guiding principles of ABCD include asset mapping, community-driven development, strengths-based approaches, relationship building, inclusivity, and equity being embedded in local councils’ practices and community development approaches. Strengths based community development work ensures that councils are working with, understanding what community wants and not ‘doing to’ community.

Kylie’s nickname is Kylie Smiley and she beams her beautiful warm smile as she explains, “Working with community is what inspires me, working together, sharing conversations and bringing ideas to life as a community. Working at Brighton Council gives me the opportunity to work with a lot of young people and these amazing young people inspire me every day with their understanding of their community and thoughts on how as community members they can support and create new opportunities, and instigate the change they want to see.”

We are very fortunate that Kylie has chosen to work here in our communities with her kind and gentle nature combined with a fervent drive to positively support community to achieve their goals. Congratulations Kylie on graduating with your master’s degree and as Kylie reminds us often “Whatever the problem, community is the answer!”