Bree Katsamangos

Snapshot:

• Industry / Sector: Community Services, Not-For-Profit

• Career Type: Employed

• Education Pathway: University

• Mid Coast Connection: Born & raised on the Mid Coast

The Blurb:

Bree Katsamangos is a Program Manager at Mission Australia, where she works in community development and social impact — designing and implementing services that meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people, and strengthening human service systems alongside community partners.

Raised in Taree in a family deeply embedded in community life, Bree credits her early exposure to community leadership and a strong sense of social justice for shaping her direction. She studied social science at Southern Cross University, completing an honours degree examining how national competition policy was applied to the human services sector — a curiosity about why systems look the way they do that has underpinned a 20-year career in community services.

For Bree, partnership is the standout skill: an "art form" blending creativity with theory, and the key lever for tackling complex social challenges. Her advice to others is to go with your gut, persist, and don't fear the less-trodden path — because a no can be a gift when the right opportunity is the next one.

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• Video Highlights

  • Current Role: Program Manager at Mission Australia, working in community development and social impact to design services for vulnerable children and young people.

  • Career Path: Grew up in Taree; completed a social science undergraduate degree and an honours degree at Southern Cross University; has since built a 20-year career in community services.

  • Key Skills: Partnership-building, creative problem-solving within complex systems, and persistence.

  • Challenges Shared: Navigating the complexity of both the people the sector supports and the systems they engage with; managing partnerships where parties don't always share a common vision.

  • What She Loves: Working with dynamic, passionate and caring people, and the thrill of creatively solving complex problems aligned with her values.

  • Advice to Younger Self: Go with your gut, be persistent, and don't be afraid of the road less travelled — a no can be a gift if the right opportunity is the next one.

• Key Quotes

  • "I sit in that community development and social impact space, and most of my days are actually taken up with working with different organisations to design and implement services that meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people in the community."

  • "There's a unique type of people that move into caring professions and it's a delight to work with them."

  • "So partnership is like the key lever, to my mind, around how we approach some of these challenges."

  • "As long as it's attuned with your values, the difference that you want to make, I think you're on to a good thing."

  • "Don't be afraid to take the path that's not as well trodden. And when people say no, that's not necessarily the end of the road. Sometimes it's a great gift, because the right opportunity was actually the next one."

• Transcript

  [00:00] Intro

  Hi, today I'm joined by Bree Katsamangos, a Program Coordinator at Mission Australia. Bree will share with us a little bit about her pathway and the road she's taken to get to where she is today. Hi Bree, thanks for joining us today at our TUC Human Library. 

  [00:27] To start off with, could you share with us a little bit about what your professional life looks like today?

  At the moment I'm a program manager with Mission Australia. I sit in that community development and social impact space, and most of my days are actually taken up with working with different organisations to design and implement services that meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people in the community. 

  We also work together to look at some of our human service systems and we really try to find areas where we can strengthen those. So we work collectively with other partners in the community around a range of issues that can help improve outcomes for children, young people and families.

  [01:18] And can you share with us a bit about your pathway that led to where you are today? Is working with young people or organisations something that you came across? Did you study? What did you want to do when you were young?

  I grew up in Taree, and I grew up in a family that was unusually embedded in the community and took on a real leadership role in terms of convening community events and activities that brought people together. So I've had a very early introduction to community development, I guess you would say. I think I was also brought up with a really strong sense of social justice. So that kind of naturally led to my interest in the Human Services field and an idea that I really wanted to make a difference in some capacity in our community, in the world more generally. 

  So on that basis, I went to Southern Cross University and I did an undergraduate degree in social science –  counselling, mediation, social welfare. And then while I was there, I was very curious about why our system looked the way that it did when there were a lot of issues around how Human Services were delivered. So I actually stayed on to do an honours degree and I looked at how national competition policy came to be applied to our sector and the opportunities and limitations of that. 

  I've gone on to have a 20-year career in community services, really leaning into that community development and social impact space and really created some good opportunities locally for myself that have allowed me to make a difference, but also just to work with some really dynamic people. I like to attract them.

  [03:21] Bree, what is it that you love about your job?

  Well, I think it aligns with my values and my vision for what I wanted out of life. I think also that it does allow me to meet a lot of dynamic, passionate, committed, caring people. There's a unique type of people that move into caring professions and it's a delight to work with them and to align my own passions with theirs and to be able to work creatively to solve really complex problems. 

  The people our industry supports often come with a lot of complexity, but the systems they have to engage with also have a lot of complexity. And so those two things coming together create a lot of challenge, but that's something that I really get a thrill out of engaging with. So it's a really good fit for me.

  [04:20] What are some skills that you've utilised throughout your life that have helped you get to where you are today?

  I think partnership, partnership, partnership. We do exist in a world that is increasingly complex. There are so many needs and there's a limit to the resources that we have to address those. And the complexity is such that there's no one person or one organisation that can solve or improve these things on their own. So partnership is like the key lever, to my mind, around how we approach some of these challenges. 

  I think partnership is an art form — it's an art in that it's creative, it's a science in terms of some of the theoretical frameworks that sit behind it. And it's really challenging. We don't always get along. We don't always have a common vision and view. So how do you work through those challenges together in order to create some kind of social value? So I think really focusing on developing that skill set across any field is universally valuable.

  [05:36] What's one piece of advice that you would give to a young person maybe interested in even going into that community development space, maybe someone interested in a career change or just someone looking at: “where do I start? What do I do?” Even if it's not in your space, what's a piece of advice you might offer?

  I think “go with your gut” is always a good piece of advice. Our world today is just overwhelmed with information and opportunities and choices. But I think you really need to be able to sit with yourself and to think about what kind of contribution you want to make to the world and also think about what you're good at and how you can apply that to make that difference. And that might be medicine, it might be Human Services, you might want to move into a legal field — whatever that is, as long as it's attuned with your values, the difference that you want to make, I think you're on to a good thing. 

  And I would say that persistence is also a really valuable tool to have throughout your life. Don't be afraid to take the path that's not as well trodden. And when people say no, that's not necessarily the end of the road. Sometimes it's a great gift, because the right opportunity was actually the next one. So there's a little bit of trust involved in following your path. It's difficult to not always know, but it'll be OK.

Please note: All content is correct at the time of recording.