About us
Nina Sunday, CSP, Managing Director of Brainpower Training, started her enterprise in 1990 with a vision - to establish an organisation delivering tailored, results-focused training, targeted to clients' specific outcomes.
Brainpower Training is a growing people development company offering a range of soft skills programs in Productivity, Communication, Customer Service, People Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Knowledge capture and Leadership.
We help Australian companies achieve a higher level of success
Our national network of qualified and quality-assured Facilitators - in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland - can deliver training at your workplace, usually to groups of around 10-15 people.
NATIONAL OFFICE
Brainpower Training Pty Ltd
ABN: 63 064 883 932
Forest Corporate Centre
Unit 8, 19 Rodborough Road
Frenchs Forest
Sydney NSW Australia 2086
Meet the Founder and Managing Director
Nina Sunday, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional)
BA, Dip Ed, Dip Arts (AustFilmTVSchl), Cert IV Training and Assessment, NLP Practitioner
Nina Sunday is Managing Director, workshop designer and Training Solutions Specialist at Brainpower Training.
Founded in 1990, Brainpower Training won a prestigious Innovation in Learning national award from the Australian Institute of Training & Development. Nina is listed in the 'Who's Who of Australian Women' and was NSW runner-up in a Telstra Executive Woman award.
Nina Sunday has a quality the French call 'soif', thirst for knowledge. As a speed reading 'maven', she takes delight in capturing information, then passing the insight gained onto others.Nina is often the first to pick up on new trends. Her need 'to know' combined with a need 'to share' means Brainpower course content is constantly refreshed and kept up to date.
Nina Sunday says, 'I love seeing the lights go on in people's heads.'
Prior to starting Brainpower Training, Nina taught high school English in Queensland and NSW high schools, was a Production Manager at ABC Television (The Investigators, Geoffrey Robertson's Hypothetical and Playschool), and Professional Conference Organiser for BIS Shrapnel.
Nina is a leading educator who captivates audiences everywhere with her stories, perspective and effervescent presentation style.
- CSP* and 2012 NSW President - National Speakers Association of Australia (What is a CSP?)
- Member - Australian Institute of Training & Development
- Member - Customer Service Institute of Australia
* CSP accreditation has been achieved by fewer than 150 women worldwide.
Click Play to view Nina Sunday's acceptance speech for CSP award
at 2010 National Speakers Association of Australia convention.
< 2:18 sec>
Our Facilitators
How important is it to you that your people walk out of a training session saying, 'That was great; I learned good things; it was worth my time'?
Brainpower Training has a team of trainers with relevant qualifications, industry experience and excellent record in delivering high quality programs. They are collaborative Facilitators, adept at enthusing participants and inspiring application.
Brainpower Training's stringent quality control during selection and accreditation gives you peace of mind.
Brainpower Training's Facilitators
are tertiary qualified with degree or diploma
have Certificate IV Training and Assessment
are experienced professionals
are up to date with latest trends
have 'likeability', combined with strong presentation skills
are well-groomed and dress to impress
apply interactive Adult Learning methods to keep participants engaged
pursue lifelong learning and professional development.
Read about our Facilitators in . . .
SYDNEY
Matt Featherstone - BA (Psych), Cert. Advanced Facilitation for Adult Learning (U.Syd), Cert IV Workplace Training and Assessment (current)
Matt Featherstone applied the techniques he now teaches in senior sales roles with
• IBM’s PC Co (10 years)
• Telstra (5.5 years)
• Australian-based technology start ups (5 years)
• Macquarie Telecom and NSC Enterprise Solutions
He’s delivered training to audiences at IBM, Honeywell, Qantas, John Holland, Veolia, Microsoft, Atlas Copco, etc. Matt is an insightful and professional Facilitator.
Accredited - SPIN selling
Accredited - SPI and Shipley Sales Training Programs
Accredited - IBM Australia Sales School
Accredited - DDI 360 degree Management Program
Jacqui Morrison-White - Dip. Bus. Communications (Hons), Cert IV. Training and Assessment
Jacqui Morrison is a Customer Satisfaction specialist consultant, Facilitator and conference speaker. She is accredited to deliver Customer Relations Management, Telephone Techniques, People Skills and Continuous Improvement (Kaizen).
For six years Jacqui was Group Manager for Tory Toyota and was instrumental in shifting its Customer Service ranking from 30th to first position.
Jacqui has won numerous customer service awards including Winner National Customer Relations Managers ‘Hall of Fame' Excellence Award.
Jacqui has delivered training for numerous companies including Toyota Australia. Participants comment she has the capacity to make them laugh while communicating an infectious enthusiasm for ‘remarkable' Customer Service.
Pamela Thorne - BA(Writing and Communication) MA, Grad. Cert. TESOL, Cert IV Training and Assessment, RN. 
Pamela Thorne recently returned after 8 years in the USA that included being an instructor in ESL at University of Maryland. As a self-employed consultant, she specialised in Business and Report Writing, Leadership and Team Building. Clients included US Dept of Justice, Us Dept of Energy and US Naval Academy.
During this time, she was a contributing writer on Leadership, Emotional Intelligence and Communication topics for the Washington Business Journal, Business Monthly and Executive Update.
With 20 years’ experience, Pamela is able to involve participants in the learning and discovery process, while adhering to the course objectives. Participants leave with increased self-esteem, and both the desire and skills to apply concepts explored during training.
Accredited - DiSC ®
Accredited - Thomas Kilmann
Accredited – DDI
Tom Martin - Th.A, Cert IV Training and Assessment, Cert. IV Coach, CCITT
Tom Martin is a Senior Management professional and Change Facilitator with over 17 years experience in leadership, business strategy, people development, coaching, marketing, project management, and ICT. As NSW State Manager for Telstra Retail he led the Sydney Bid Management team. In Asia and the Middle East he was a linguist and community developer.
Tom acts as a catalyst to drive positive change and leadership with a focus on continuous improvement. He is highly motivated to excel both personally and professionally.
His facilitation style is collaborative, questions-based and interactive. Tom is a highly-regarded business coach for Senior Executives.
Accredited - DiSC ®
Accredited - Coach CCITT
Michael Voon - MBA (Cranfield), B. Ec. ISMP (International Senior Management Program - Harvard Business School) Diplomas in Accountancy, Banking, Finance, Cert IV Training and Assessment.
Michael Voon was a Learning and Development Professional at PricewaterhouseCoopers with excellent and extensive experience in Leadership Development, Learning and Facilitation for business leaders within Australia and across Asia Pacific. He is an inspirational motivator with positive influencing skills.
Accredited - Myers Briggs Type Indicator®
Accredited - 360 Degree Feedback
Accredited - Stephen Covey's 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'
Member - PricewaterhouseCoopers Alumni
Member -
Craig Pike - Dip ComLang (UWS), MHRMC (USyd), Cert IV Workplace Training and Assessment
As an experienced facilitator, Craig Pike draws on his experience as a senior consultant and business executive. His commercial history includes American Express, NRMA, Sydney Institute, BHP Billiton, Qantas, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Air New Zealand, plus several smaller companies in the IT, insurance and travel sectors that each tell great success stories in terms of organisational outcomes.
Craig has a masters degree in coaching psychology. He draws upon his coaching skills and a curiosity for the behavioual sciences to produce positive outcomes in people development.
Member - International Positive Psychology Association
Member - University of Sydney Coaching and Mentoring Association
CANBERRA
Paul Cox – Dip. Counselling, Cert IV Training and Assessment, NLP Practitioner.
Paul Cox is a qualified life coach and trainer, specialising in using brain-based strategies to deliver Brainpower's workshops in Speed Reading, High Performance Memory and Study Skills, Stress Management and Business Communication.
Paul is a popular and personable Facilitator, adept at creating instant rapport with the groups he works with.
Member - Platform Incorporated (public speaking)
MELBOURNE
Toni McSweeney - M. Human Resource Mgt, Cert IV. Workplace Training and Assessment.
With over 17 years HR experience, Toni McSweeney is a solution focused facilitator, coach and consultant. Her objective is to ‘help build better organisations’.
Former HR Manager for Zurich Financial Services and having had various HR roles with Coles, Unilever, Trust Company Financial Services, Logica and NAB, Toni has extensive experience in cultural change, organisational transformation and capability building. Toni is a vibrant and enthusiastic facilitator who engages her audience.
Accredited – Growth Coaching International
Accredited – Balanced Scorecard, AGSM
Accredited – Prosci Change Management
Member - Australian Human Resources Institute
Member – Australian Institute of Management
Member – Charles Sturt AlumniMember – AGSM Alumni
Diana Claxton - Dip. Communications and Information Systems, Cert. IV Training Development, Cert. IV Assessment and Workplace Training, Cert. IV Business (Frontline Management), RAAF Leadership training, NLP Practitioner
Diana Claxton is a former RAAF Leadership Senior Facilitator. Diana uses facilitated experiential learning to assist participants to gain knowledge and skills in leadership, communication, OH&S, quality management, workplace training and coaching.
Diana is a dynamic presenter.
Accredited - 4-MAT
Member - Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
Shane Garrett - BA (Politics / English), Dip Ed, Dip Training and Assessment Systems, Advanced Dip of Personnel and Operations Management, NLP Practitioner
Shane designed and delivered presentation skills and leadership and management training for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), where he achieved the rank of Squadron Leader. He is skilled in Training Needs Analysis and has also developed time management and written communications courses. Shane is a personable and professional facilitator, able to inspire individuals to develop and succeed.
Shane completed the four month intensive training program 'Training to Train' with Stephanie Burns, focusing on brain-based facilitation.
Accredited - Myers Briggs Type Indicator®, Step I & Step II Expanded Report.
Accredited - 4-MAT
Accredited - DDI Management Training
Accredited - TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication)
Accredited - Brian Tracy International
Member - Australian Human Resources Institute
Member - Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
Member - Australian Institute of Training and Development
Anne Gleeson - BA (Journalism), B. Media and Communication (Hons), PhD (Journalism - current UNSW), Practitioner NLP. 
Anne Gleeson is an award-winning print journalist, copywriter and Facilitator.
After working for a variety of newspapers for more than 10 years including a major metropolitan daily, The West Australian, she has been a freelance writer and teacher of journalism for the past 6 years at Curtin, Murdoch, Edith Cowan and Deakin universities.
She is skilled at editing and proofreading website content, promotional material, press releases and reports, newsletters and submissions for businesses, government and agencies.
Her passion lies in Business Writing training where she teaches workplaces how to master the art of writing effective e-mails and client letters, to improve their professional image. She believes writing accurately, concisely and clearly is the most powerful way to communicate key messages to clients. Anne is dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of effective writing in a fun, engaging and interactive manner.
Member - Australian Journalists Association
Award - 1997 Country Press Awards “Best News Story”
Award - 2000 Rural Press Assoc. Best Feature / Best Consistent News Coverage
Award - 2001 Perth Royal Show Best Published Story
John Loebmann - Bachelor of Science in International Economics, MBA, Cert IV Training and Assessment.
John has broad management experience including operations, sales, finance and human resources and commercial and business acumen. As a management performance consultant with strong strategic and analytical abilities, he can assist teams to draw out a big picture viewpoint and successfully help them to execute strategic initiatives in line with company performance goals.
A former officer in the US Navy, (Lieutenant), John Loebmann was initiated a Leadership training program incorporating physical and mental tasks to identify not only strengths but also uncover unresourceful behaviours for individuals to work on.
John is a gifted Facilitator, Management Consultant and Executive Coach.
Michael Walsh - B. Sc (Ed), Grad. Cert.
Mike has expertise in Leadership and People Development training as well as strategy formation, planning, decision-making and future scoping. Mike is known for his ability to work with a room to maximise relevance and engagement and help participants find applications to their own work situations.
After 12 years as a teacher he made the transition to the corporate world as an Outplacement Consultant with Drake Beam Morin where he ran a full complement of workshops, including personal change management.
He has been a corporate Facilitator for 6 years and is currently AHRI’s Learning and Development Network Convenor. His clients include BHP Billiton, RMIT, Visy, Pitcher Partners, Dow Chemical, etc. Mike builds memorable experiences to help to cement the learning purpose and outcomes.
Member – Australian Human Resources Institute
Member – Skilled Facilitator Group
Member - International Association of Professional Facilitators
BRISBANE
Darryl Stubberfield - Assoc. Deg. FET, Cert. IV Assessment and Workplace Training, NLP Master Practitioner
After a strong personal history in Defence as a Leadership Facilitator for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Darryl has extensive experience with groups in public and private sectors.
Darryl is skilled in achieving outcomes in trust, communication, teamwork and creating a positive workplace culture.
A Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) and an accredited NLP trainer, Darryl uses interactive and experiential learning activities to ensure participants enjoy action-packed, hands-on programs that deliver results.
Member - Australian Institute of Training and Development
Member - Australian Institute of Management
Member - International Society of Neuro-semantics
Member - Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
Mark Jones - Dip. Assessment and Workplace Training, RAAF Leadership training, NLP Practitioner
Mark Jones was a RAAF Senior Facilitator in Airmen Leadership for many years. He uses facilitated experiential learning to assist participants to gain knowledge and skills in Leadership, Communication, OH&S, Quality Management, Workplace Training and Coaching and Legal Studies.
Mark was awarded a commendation by the Commander of Training, Royal Australian Air Force, for excellence in Leadership training. He is a highly-skilled and dynamic presenter.
Suzanne Loubris – BA (Ind Psych-Hons), BA (Psych-Hons), MA (HR Mgt), MAPS 
Suzanne has a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management
and is a registered Psychologist and Member of the Australian
Psychological Society.
Nabisco engaged her as Training Manager to implement an
extensive change management process throughout the
organisation.
With 20 years experience in training and development in Australia and internationally, Suzanne is accomplished in conflict management and negotiation, leadership and change management, stress management and interpersonal skills, customer care and coaching.
She is a specialist in emotional intelligence and works from managing directors to front line staff.
Accredited – Workplace Assessment and Training
Member– Australian Psychological Society.
Member – Australian Institute of Management
Steve Weaver - Dip. Training and Assessment Systems, Dip. Fitness and Recreational Facility Mgt, Cert IV Frontline Management, RAAF Leadership training, NLP Master Practitioner, Certified Master Life Coach.
Steve Weaver is an experienced Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Senior Facilitator in Airmen Leadership. To an audience of several hundred senior executives, including the Premier of Queensland, he delivered a keynote on Inspirational Leadership.
He trained Changed Management to senior executives in charge of tens of thousands of staff. During his 20 years experience in training delivery and evaluation Stephen has been awarded many RAAF commendations for outstanding Leadership training. Stephen is high-energy and has developed strong public speaking, presentation and interpersonal skills.
Member – Australian Institute of Training & Development
Member – Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
Accredited – Team Management Profile (TMP Australia)
Accredited – Abseiling, Climbing, Caving
Lorna Harris – BA (Eng), M. Justice (Strategic Intelligence), Dip Govt (Management), Grad Cert Pub Admin (Pub Sector Mgt), Cert IV – Workplace Training and Assessment, Cert – Evaluation and Validation of Training.
Training Developer, Department of Defence (Intelligence) doing delivery, development, training needs analysis, validation and review.Personalising sessions to meet the needs of different learners and finding ways to create an action plan to integrate learning post-course are her forte.
Lorna has delivered training to clients across a variety of industries including Origin Energy, AIM, Telstra, Queensland Health, PA Hospital and various local government councils, etc.
Member – Australian Institute of Training and Development
Associate Fellow – Australian Institute of Management
Derrick Sillence – Dip Business (Frontline Mgt), RAAF Leadership training, Cert IV Assessment and Workplace Training, Cert IV Aeroskills, NLP Master Practitioner
As a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Senior Facilitator in Airmen Leadership at their School of Postgraduate Studies, Derrick Sillence has presented on Leadership and Management Skills, Communication and Interpersonal Skills, Team-Building, Presentation Skills and Train the Trainer.
He has coached and mentored staff at all levels.
Member – Australian Institute of Professional Facilitators
Julie Watson – Dip. Training Practice, Dip Management, Cert. IV Training and Assessment, NLP Practitioner. 
Julie has a breadth of experience and knowledge in coaching, training and personal development best practice. She is a skilled NLP Practitioner and uses the ‘brain-based’ delivery style to achieve effective and efficient training solutions.
Julie has a passion for learning and development, and working with people to bring out their best. Her Facilitation style is highly interactive. Julie balances the need for stakeholders to achieve desired outcomes while being responsive to learners’ needs.
PERTH /AUCKLAND
Catherine Gavigan - B Ed, Dip Tch, Assoc. Dip. Speech and Presentation, Graduate Studies in Curriculum Design, Counselling and Psychology, Cert. IV Training and Assessment.
Catherine Gavigan is a Director of the National Centre for Training and Development which develops and delivers innovative learning and performance programs for corporate, government and education sectors.
Edith Cowan University (Training and Development Faculty) and University of Western Australia (Staff Development Unit) both engage her as a sessional lecturer.
Catherine is an experienced speaker, educator and corporate trainer. For twenty years she has been designing and presenting leadership and management programs in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Associate Fellow - Australian Institute of Management
Accredited - Fish! Trainer
Our mission
Brainpower Training improves people's lives at work through short courses - such as Time Management, Speed Reading, Customer Service, Presentation Skills, Business Writing - so they can work smarter, enhance productivity and achieve their goals.
Our vision
Brainpower Training is a leading customer-focused enterprise with a reputation as the supplier of first choice through a dedicated approach to world-class customer service which leads to mutual business success.
Our values
- Make a difference
- Grow in wisdom
- Continuously improve
- Make a profit
- Contribute to a better world
Pay it forward
'To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required; not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.'
John F. Kennedy Inaugural address, 20 January 1961
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A percentage of Brainpower Training's profits contribute towards creating a better world for the poor and defenceless. Brainpower Training is a financial supporter of:
- United Nations High Commission for Refugees
- World Vision
- World Wildlife Fund
- Sea Shepherd
- Fred Hollows Foundation
Nina Sunday recommends the book
by Peter Singer:
'The Life You Can Save:
Acting now to end world poverty'
Random House, NY, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6710-7