Our People
Meet the team
Ben gathercole
Meet Ben
Ben commenced as Menslink CEO in May 2023.
He joins Menslink with an long history of helping young men either personally or in a team environments.
Henry Goodwin
Meet Henry
Henry commenced with Menslink in June of 2024.
He joins the team from a diverse background of senior roles, having managed sites and teams around the world from small businesses through the multi-nationals.
Recently returned to Australia from years of living in America, Henry is a recent arrival to Canberra but already a convert to the lifestyle. If he isn’t in the office, you can usually find him hiking around Canberra or enjoying a more leisurely stroll down Lake e Griffin.
Within the team at Menslink, Henry’s role as Chief Operating Officer is to ensure that the team is set up to continue doing the amazing work they’re doing in the Canberra community.
Fiona Mcdougall
Meet Fiona
Fiona joined the Menslink team in October 2022 as an Office Manager.
Fiona has over 30 years background in hospitality and customer service, as well as experience dealing with DVCS, Onelink and Toora clients.
Her interests include gardening, walking and travel.
WILL MOLLOY
Meet Will
Will joined Menslink in 2023 as a part of the Education and Mentoring team, delivering workshops to schools and supporting young men in the Menslink Mentoring Program.
Since beginning at Menslink, Will completed a counselling degree at the University of Canberra. Now a registered counsellor at Menslink, Will is available for online counselling sessions.
In 2025, Will moved into a Program Strategy and Development role. Focused on supporting each of Menslink’s programs to improve, adapt and think strategically about how best to support young men in the ACT. All in an effort to ensure Menslink’s programs are accessible, effective and impactful.
When Will isn’t working, he loves playing sports, listening to music and spending time with his family and friends.
Counselling
Matthew Taylor
Meet Matthew
Matthew officially joined Menslink in 2017 after completing his graduate diploma counselling placement with us in 2016. Matthew comes to us with a wealth of experience working with people in a range of settings. These roles have included working with young people as a Youth Worker, client Case Work and Client Support in the area of Mental Well-being and as a team member and leader in the public service.
Matthew holds a Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Certificate in Community Counselling, Diploma in Youth Work and Certificates in other related social welfare areas.
Matthew believes passionately that everyone has their own personal “greatness” and is dedicated to assisting people to reach theirs.
For fun Matthew enjoys practising his skills in balance, managing his time between his physical hobbies, his love of cooking, eating and more.
Jason britten
Meet Jason
Jason joined Menslink in 2022 from his practical placement for a Graduate Diploma of Holistic Counselling.
With a diverse background including aviation and conservation, Jason’s passion is now for supporting and empowering young men.
Otherwise, he usually has his nose in an obscure book, or takes off into the hills to recharge.
Ben Triglone
Meet Ben
Ben has been a part of the Menslink family for over a decade, originally within the mentoring team and more recently as a counsellor.
He is a strong believer in the potential of young men and feels privileged to work with them as they navigate their way through life.
His qualifications include a University in Science (Psychology) at the Australian National University, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Counselling from Western Sydney University.
Ben is experienced in the use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Restorative Practice.
Outside the office, Ben likes getting his hands dirty fixing up old cars and sharing the odd dad-joke.
Tim Dent
Meet Tim
I’m driven by a simple but powerful goal: helping young guys navigate life’s tricky moments and watching them come out the other side stronger, happier, and more confident. Working with Menslink allows me to be right there in the corner for young blokes when they need it most.
When I’m not at work, you’ll usually find me outside chasing the next adventure. I’m big on sports and the outdoors—whether that’s playing basketball, tennis, or ping pong, hitting the trails for some mountain biking and bikepacking, or heading out for camping, hiking, sailing, surfing, and snorkelling.
But that’s not all… I also have a major self-confessed bookworm side. I’ll read just about anything as long as it keeps me hooked—especially detective thrillers, spy novels, travel writing, fantasy, and supernatural crime. Oh, and I also play card games and chess (shh, don’t tell my mates!).
Fun fact: I can sort of speak Spanish, and I know enough Italian to confidently order a great meal off a menu.
My Counselling Style:
I believe the best work starts with a real connection. My style is adaptable—I can be very playful and light-hearted when it helps, but I have a very serious, focused side when it’s time to pull those tools out of the box. Ultimately, I meet you where you’re at, build a genuine connection, and we go from there together.
My Approach & Training
Because one size definitely does not fit all, I don’t believe in a cookie-cutter approach to therapy. I draw from a mix of evidence-based therapies to find exactly what works best for you. My primary approach is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), but I frequently integrate tools from Narrative, Transactional Analysis, Person-Centred Therapies.
Mentoring
David Parkes
Meet David
Dave became involved in Menslink initially as he knew it was a service he would have benefited from at a young age and wanted to give back the support he had always been lucky to receive from two brilliant older brothers as role models, as well as parents who never gave up on him. Outside of his family, he is very lucky to have a very close circle of friends that always support and encourage him with all his pursuits at Menslink and in life.
After 12 months of volunteering as a mentor and Silence is Deadly presenter, Dave was offered a full-time position and did not hesitate to leave his role working as an operations manager for a global outsourcing company for 8 years.
Outside of work, you can usually spot Dave playing Oztag, at the gym or spending time with his Dog “Cap”. You might also find him lying on the couch watching Marvel movies for the hundredth time.
Ben Keens
Meet Ben
Ben has been with the Menslink family for over 6 years both as an active youth mentor and now as our Mentor Program Coordinator.
Ben joined Menslink following over 20 years of Australian Government experience working in senior executive positions across several top national security and law enforcement agencies including the Department of Defence, Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Within these organisations Ben oversaw the delivery of a wide range of human resource capability assessment and engagement programs, workforce risk identification and mitigation activities and professional workplace code of conduct investigations.
When not at work, you’ll find Ben embedded within the local Canberra community, mentoring and developing aspiring junior cricketers through volunteer leadership and coaching roles at both the Western District Cricket Club and Cricket ACT where he has been responsible for the development and delivery of high-performance training environments whilst also fostering appropriate team culture, player mentorship, guidance and growth.
Ben understands the importance of having strong role models in the community and the untold benefits that a steady and consistent mentor can have on those who may be navigating difficult times, who may need to talk through tough decisions or who would need a little support to help build some enduring self-confidence and esteem.
Brendan Cuming
Meet Brendan
After spending 12 months giving back as a volunteer, Brendan jumped at the chance to officially join the Menslink mentoring team in 2026.
He is almost finished a Bachelor of Counselling and has enjoyed learning new ways to support and empower young guys who grow up without male role models in their lives.
When he is not working or studying, you can usually find him travelling with his wife and
son, out riding his bikes, or fuelling his self-confessed coffee addiction.
He is also a passionate and long-suffering Canberra Raiders supporter.
Education
Graeme Hincksman
Meet Graeme
In terms of professional background, Graeme has 22 years of past experience within the education sector, both within the ACT Government and Independent School systems, eventually leaving education as Principal of St Peter’s, a Pre-K/ Year 12 school located in Broulee, NSW. From there, Graeme moved into Leadership and Management Development before working as a Transformational Change Manager and Executive Coach.
Graeme has a deep commitment towards positively influencing youth mental health and well-being and is really looking forward to engaging with your students and discussing the many complex and multi-faceted issues which presently influence their personal development. He has a strong track record in building open and transparent relationships with key stakeholders.
Graeme has a life-long passion towards recreational physical activity and treasures spending time with his two daughters – Lucy and Alice and wife Jane in Sydney and the Southern Highlands.
Kial Malone
Meet Kial
Kial is the Education Program Facilitator at Menslink, delivering face-to-face programs in schools to young men across Canberra. With a background in education, he has spent many years facilitating health and wellbeing programs throughout the ACT and regional New South Wales. Kial is passionate about being a positive role model for young fellas, through empowering self-belief and guiding them to find their values.
Outside of work, Kial enjoys life on the farm with his wife and animals, writes and tours as a musician, and volunteers as a wildlife rescuer.
Governance
Our Board
michael Battenally
Justine Saunders
Bruce Papps
Daniel Oyston
Katy Balmaks
Craig Allen
Frank Lo Pilato
Paul Eccles
LUCIE HOOD
