Simone Atkins

Executive Manager, Programs
Accordwest

“To hear those stories when something has been achieved together as a group, it’s a real adrenaline rush. It makes me feel really proud to be a part of something bigger than me or Accordwest as a whole.”

Through our journey in life, we all leave behind footprints – some deeper than others. As Executive Manager of Programs, Simone treads an inspiring, life-changing path that lifts the ability of the teams she supports to help people in the community live a life they truly want. Her story is one of passion meets high performance. With an unconventional background in quality management and human resources, Simone brings a unique perspective that values collaboration, creativity and flexibility over rigid service delivery. A natural problem solver who hunts out efficiencies, Simone is constantly finding unique ways to improve systems and processes. Just when you think you have her pinned down, she’ll surprise you. For Simone, better outcomes aren’t achieved alone, but as a collective. Her can-do attitude is contagious, inspiring leftfield thinking as she grants her teams the freedom to imagine alternative ways to deliver better solutions.

At the heart of it all, Simone knows this is about one thing – people. Their stories matter. As a people person, making a positive real-world impact stokes Simone’s fire. You’ll find her fingerprints not just in the communities she lives in, but in the positive culture instilled within the walls at work that fosters peer empowerment, professional development, confidence, and communication, so that all the individual elements work as one. Most people see a single case worker for every individual. Simone sees the enormous, passionate team rallying behind them to connect them to life-changing services. It’s not about being the solution, rather wanting to share the journey and lifting each other. It’s bigger than her, bigger than Accordwest – a humbling realisation that keeps Simone grounded and inspired, day in, day out