OUR SPEAKER PANEL
Elle Halliwell, Author, journalist, speaker
Elle Halliwell is a fashion, beauty and entertainment journalist. She began her career covering style and celebrity for The Sunday Telegraph and is currently Digital Editor – Luxury & Lifestyle at The Australian. Elle is also an author, inspirational speaker, passionate advocate for blood cancer research and currently living – and thriving – with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia. Elle is also mother to her four-year-old son, Tor.
An advocate for health and wellness and a trained natural health practitioner, Elle’s personal mission is to inspire people to live their best lives – a true fit for the work of What Ability Foundation.
Sean Keppie, NRL player & supporter worker
Sean Keppie is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL. He is a great friend of What Ability disability support service and an inspiration on and off the field.
One of the most talented young forwards at Manly, Sean made his NRL debut for the Sea Eagles in 2019. Off the field, Keppie won the Sea Eagles Community Award in 2021 in recognition of his outstanding work with the Sunnyfield, Heroes with Ability, and our What Ability disability services organisations.
Sean has worked as a disability support worker for What Ability and is a great advocate for the work of our organisation. Keppie is also a devoted family man and a proud father to a young daughter, Callie.
Cheralee Kemp, Mother to a child with Autism
Cheralee is a Sydney radiographer and mother to both Lana and Will, who is aged nine. Will has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but also has a genetic deletion of Vamp2 (Vesicle Associated Membrane Protein2) which causes issues with his neurochemistry and cognitive development. He is the sixth person in the world to be diagnosed and the only known case in Australia thus far.
Cheralee brings an interesting perspective as a health professional and the parent of a child with complex medical and additional needs. For Cheralee, accessing an Experience provided by What Ability Foundation is a benefit not just for Will and herself but for the whole family.
Kai Sakakibara, BMX rider
24-year-old Kai Sakakibara is an Australian BMX rider who has represented his nation at many international competitions. Kai was all set to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo with an Olympic medal chance before suffering severe injuries in a crash while competing in a World Cup race in Bathurst in 2020.
He spent eight months in the brain injury rehabilitation unit at Liverpool Hospital learning how to talk and walk again. He also learnt how to ride a bike again. Kai’s recovery has been an inspiration to Australians. Incredibly, he was able to join his sister Saya in Tokyo earlier this year, and was a torchbearer in the Paralympics in Japan.
Steve Dresler, CEO
Steve is a former Parramatta Eels and NSW Cup player turned CEO of What Ability Pty (Support Service). He is also the founder and visionary of What Ability Foundation. Prior to this, Steve combined his NRL career with his true vocation working with children on the Autism spectrum as a support educator at Giant Steps, a specialist education school in Sydney.
Steve brings passion, vision and bucketloads of youthful energy to the Board. Having faced early retirement through injury, What Ability Foundation is the evolution of Steve’s desire to create a positive change for children and adults with disabilities.