Dr. Jo-Ann Sparrow first reached out to Jigsaw Qld in 1991 to search for her mother following legislative changes allowing access to identifying information. Since then, she has benefited from Jigsaw's support groups and has met both of her parents and a sibling.

​

Jo hosts and produces the Adopt Perspective podcast, a global platform now reaching 60,000+ listeners across 45 countries. The podcast blends lived experience with expert voices—therapists, researchers, authors, and advocates—to foster understanding and shine a light on the lifelong impacts of adoption.

Her expertise draws on a Doctorate of Creative Arts exploring adoption and constructing identity using writing (USC), a Master of Public Relations (USQ), Bachelor of Journalism (Monash) and a Cert IV in Mental Health Peer Work (Queensland Alliance for Mental Health Scholarship). This academic foundation complements more than 25 years of professional experience spanning higher education, government and NFP leadership.

What defines her approach is not only strategy and communication, but also empathy. As a qualified peer support worker and lived-experience advocate, she creates spaces where people feel heard, validated, and empowered. Whether leading an advocacy campaign, producing a podcast, or sitting with someone in peer support, her focus is on connection, hope, and empowerment.

​

You can learn more about Jo's story on her Adopt Perspective podcast episode, When the Search Ends from 3 August 2022 or in two interviews with Nadia Levitt (Parts I & II) found here. Adopt Perspective can be listened to on all your favourite podcast apps or here.

Helen Angela Taylor is an adoptee who discovered Jigsaw Qld in 1991 after moving to Brisbane from Sydney. A few years later she reunited with her mother and father. Helen tried for many years to manage the impact of her forced adoption, and challenging adoptive family experience, but over time it took a significant toll on her mental health, wellbeing, and relationships. Then in July 2019, she attended her first support group at Jigsaw Qld, and realised the power of the adoption community to support her healing. 

Helen has considerable experience in frontline social justice service delivery in Queensland Government. First, as Liaison Officer and Manager, Victim Support Service, Department of Justice and Attorney-General, then as Manager, Concerned Persons Register, Department of Corrective Services. In both roles, Helen designed and delivered information, support, and referral services for victims of crime across Queensland. 

Helen then embarked on individual and systemic advocacy as a Community Visitor in the Office of Adult Guardian, providing rights protection and abuse prevention services in accordance with statutory requirements. After four years of investigating allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of adults with disability, Helen took on the role of Manager, transforming the service into a highly respected, effective model of investigation and advocacy for people with disability, prior to introduction of the NDIS in Queensland.

Helen is committed to continuing the proud Jigsaw Queensland legacy of support, connection, information, and advocacy. Learn more about Helen's story in her Adopt Perspective podcast episode from 4 December 2024. Adopt Perspective can be listened to on all your favourite podcast apps or here. 

Kathryn was the Director of the Immigrant Women’s Support Service, which supports women from refugee and immigrant backgrounds experiencing domestic and family violence and sexual assault. Kathryn has worked in this field since 1981, initially supporting families from Southeast Asia, and has held key roles at local, state, and national levels across domestic violence, early childhood, and refugee services. She was a founding academic at Griffith University, helped establish the Brisbane Ethnic Child Care Development Unit, and launched services for multicultural families in Logan and the Sunshine Coast.

​

Kathryn’s research on post-separation experiences of women and children is a seminal work in the field. She was a member of the Reference Group which helped produce the National Apology for Forced Adoption and the Implementation Advisory Group which followed and continues to engage in multiple advisory groups in the domestic violence and sexual assault sectors. A memorable part of her career was working with women on Mornington Island, an experience that deeply influenced her approach to support work. Kathryn is a mother of three, including one child with whom she was reunited after adoption. Learn more about Kathryn in her Adopt Perspective podcast episode on 5 April 2023. You can listen on all the usual podcast apps or here.

Lois was in her early 20's when she reunited with her biological mother during the significant adoption law changes in Queensland in 1991. It was 2012 before she reached out to Jigsaw Queensland and started appreciating the benefits of connecting with other adopted people and mothers and fathers of loss.

In her 14 years of involvement, she is amazed at how her understanding of adoption has grown exponentially. She most appreciates Jigsaw's mission to respect every person's journey and story, with emphasis on peer support. Lois is an experienced peer support worker and takes the lead when we exhibit at Brisbane Care Expo every year, where she draws on her extensive career experience in this space.

Learn more about Lois' story in her Adopt Perspective podcast episode from 9 June 2020. Adopt Perspective can be listened to on all your favourite podcast apps or here. 

Heather is a mother who lost a child to forced adoption and has worked with Jigsaw for 27 years (as at 2025) as peer support worker and in office administration. Heather facilitates the Mother's Group and often co-facilitates the Mixed Group.

She is a member of the Post Adoption Stakeholder Group and a contributor of the anniversary stakeholder groups as a representative of Jigsaw Qld. Her firsthand knowledge of the impacts of adoption and understanding of Jigsaw Qld's history, values and mission has been invaluable on the Management Committee.

Heather was the first guest on the Adopt Perspective podcast. You can learn more about her in her podcast episode on 24 April 2020. You can listen on all the usual podcast apps or here.

Phil Kenward brings a rich combination of professional expertise, lived experience, and passionate advocacy to the Jigsaw Queensland Management Committee. Semi-retired, Phil's career has spanned Mechanical Drafting and Fitter and Turner in the engineering and mining industries, personal training and now yoga teaching. He is also a Jigsaw Peer Support Worker, drawing deeply on his own lived experience of adoption.

​

A man of many interests, Phil is an avid motorcycle rider and keen follower of MotoGP. He has travelled extensively, played guitar in a four piece band, and has spend decades building, restoring and racing everything from go-karts and motorcycles to open-wheeler racing cars. Among his many achievements, Phil built and raced a 16-foot catamaran to a state title and rebuilt a 1948 Matchless motorcycle with his father and brother - now proudly displayed in the National Motorcycle Museum in Nabiac, NSW.

​

Phil is also the author of Our Separated Lives, a book that shares his perspective as a birth father in the forced adoption era and amplifies the voices of other fathers, whose stories are too often overlooked.

​

Phil is a father to four children. His first daughter was lost to Australia's forced adoption practices in 1970. He knows firsthand the devastation of losing control over decisions made by others 'in your best interests', and the lifelong impact this has on both parent and child. Phil and his daughter reunited in 1991 after Queensland's access-to-information reforms; more than three decades on, he continues to navigate the complex and ongoing journey that reunion brings - one he describes as challenging and unequivocally worth pursuing. 

​

Phil says that being part of Jigsaw Queensland has been a real blessing, deepening his understanding of the perspectives of adopted people, strengthening his capacity for patience, and connecting him with a community he describes as his 'tribe'. He is honoured to contribute his voice, experience and compassion to Jigsaw's mission. You can learn more about Phil's story on his Adopt Perspective podcast episode (6/11/2024).