About Us

Connect. Learn. Thrive

About Little Stars Learners

Little Stars Learners is based in Newstead, Brisbane and has been providing services across South-East Queensland since 2020.

Our educational support program provides specialised educational support to children and young people living in foster, kinship and residential care in Queensland.

Meet Our Board of Directors

We Have a Large Team of Education Support Mentors. Here are Just a Few of Them...

They know the challenges people face when they’ve experienced complex childhood trauma and know how to work with these students to improve outcomes.

TAMRIN

TAMRIN

Studying Law and Data Science

ISOBEL

ISOBEL

Studying Criminology

TERENA

Studying Zoology and Ecology

AVA

AVA

Studying Psychology

Lisa Honeychurch

Lisa is the Founding Director of Little Stars Foundation. Lisa is a qualified lawyer and practised as a lawyer in private practise for over 20 years. Lisa also holds a double major in psychology and has completed a significant amount of training and assisted in developing training on the impact of trauma on the developing brain. Lisa has a particular interest in the rights of the child in the legal justice system and has been involved in advocating for the rights of the child in a litigation role and a non -adversarial role for many years.

Lisa is particularly passionate about improving the outcomes of children who are living in out of home care in Queensland and developed the first day camp program for children who have experienced trauma in Queensland.

Lisa was a finalist in the Queensland Community Foundation Emerging Philanthropists Category in 2019 for her work with children who have experienced abuse and neglect. She has worked in the area of advocating for the rights of children in care since 2012 in various ways including acting on behalf of a child living in care in court proceedings and developing social and educational programs to support children living in care.

Kerri Chard

Kerri Chard is a leading authority in Child Protection with a background in psychology and over two decades of professional experience in the Non-Government and Government Sectors. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with families impacted by intergenerational trauma, abuse and neglect. Kerri has spent significant time working in the court system with these families and has also run a regional intake service to determine intervention responses to children to meet their safety needs. She has developed award winning interventions within the Education sector, and spent time assisting schools to better understand complex developmental trauma and support children in the education system as well as bringing trauma informed curriculums into the classroom.

Kerri is Queensland’s leading Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) practitioner, having studied directly with Dr David Cross and the Karen Purvis Institute of Child Development team. Kerri trains residential care workers, foster and kinship support staff and also works directly with foster and kinship carers as well as biological parents using TBRI®. Kerri has spent time working in the USA with leaders and innovators helping children heal from their trauma. She is well known for her passionate yet pragmatic approach to the complex issue of Child Protection.

She is highly regarded as someone who can think differently and translate psychological theory into practical interventions that transform lives. Kerri is also a foster carer who successfully uses TBRI with children in the care system in her own home – and also on her own 3 sons (and husband!)

Tristan Van Riel

Tristan is the Dealer Principal and Chief Operating Officer of the Keema Automotive Group in Queensland which operates over 5 sites across Brisbane and employs around 250 staff.

Tristan has an accounting background and was previously the Chief Financial Officer of the Keema Automotive Group.

Tristan has significant experience in financial matters and developing the strategic direction of the Keema Group.

Tristan is committed to making a difference in the lives of children living in care through the work of the Keema Childrens’ Foundation. He has been a Pyjama Angel with the Pyjama Foundation for several years, working with children in care to increase literacy and numeracy.

Randall Bryson

Randall is a Director at BDO Australia, an international accountancy firm, and has extensive experience in retail, particularly in the automotive sector but also more broadly with experience in food and beverage retail. His employment with a multi franchise dealership and a national automotive retail chain, as well as 15 years in chartered accounting, provides an excellent platform for specialist professional services. He is able to understand and support his clients with their operational and statutory requirements.

Randall is committed to making a difference in the lives of children living in care through the work of the Little Stars Kids and our Little Stars Kids Camps which provide so much Fun and laughter.

Katie Taylor

Katie Taylor and her husband have been fostering children for over ten years. In that time they have fostered respite, emergency and long term children. Katie has a passion for caring for kids with special needs and currently has 10 full time children in her care and one part time ranging from 7-16 years of age.

Katie has been involved with Little Stars Kids since it’s inception and is passionate about our programs and the huge impact that both the camp and cuddle cases program have on children living in foster care in Queensland. Katie also volunteers with Queensland Foster and Kinship Care as a delegate and in this role successfully supports and assists other carers to navigate what can be a very challenging system.

Katie brings a wealth of knowledge regarding the needs of foster carers and the needs of children living in foster care to our Board.

Martin Greller

Martin has extensive experience in child and family well-being and has worked for both for-purpose organisations and statutory child protection.

Martin has held senior leadership and executive positions for over a decade, most recently at Mercy Community, where his portfolio stretches across the continuum of child and family services, including universal services, counselling, family support and intervention, family based and non-family-based care, early years support, and multicultural programs.

Martin is passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and families through strong leadership, innovative and practice excellence. He has a strong focus on genuine sector collaboration and partnerships.

Martin is a father of two and loves nothing more than spending time with his family and living an active lifestyle.