Client Testimonials 

 

 

Margaret Bornhorst delivered a cross-cultural workshop at the inaugural Central Queensland 'Service Improvement and Innovation Forum' for the Business Improvement in Government (BIIG) Network in November 2010. Margaret's workshop at the CQ Forum was very well received by the participants who returned a 100% positive feedback rating (excellent/very good). This feedback was the best overall feedback over the 2 day program...

Rebecca HannonAnna Pretorius
Manager, Business Improvement in Government Network
Queensland Government

 

Having a culturally competent workforce is critical to Carers Queensland achieving its core philosophies, strategic objectives and policies. To this end Carers Queensland commissioned Margaret to develop a bespoke training course on cultural competency to meet our specific organisational needs. Over 5 sessions, Margaret delivered the training to our entire workforce, challenging their pre-conceptions and beliefs and igniting a genuine interest in the staff to work in a more inclusive manner with all of our clients and colleagues. Feedback from our employees was overwhelmingly positive. Indeed many staff suggested that it was the "best training they had ever received". Carers Queensland would have no hesitation in inviting Margaret to conduct training for our organisation in the future.

Sarah Walbank, CALD Coordinator, Carers Queensland

 

I have engaged Margaret Bornhorst in conducting cross cultural training programs in a local government context spanning a ten year period in Queensland and Victoria. I am constantly amazed at the depth of Margaret's understanding of her subject and the passion and enthusiasm in which she delivers her challenging and engaging sessions.
 
Margaret has shown a great flexibility in tailoring courses which meet the diverse needs of staff and balances a solid theoretical underpinning with vibrant presentations and opportunities for experiential learning.
 
The feedback from participants is always exceptional.  They often testify to the deep insights gained through her sessions and the changes that they will make in their workplace as a result.  In addition, any suggestions made by participants to improve the delivery are swiftly incorporated into subsequent presentations.  Margaret believes in continuous improvement and enhances her expertise through frequent travel and wide reading.
 
I am happy to commend Margaret in the highest terms as an experienced and engaging trainer, a cross cultural expert and a practitioner who lives out her passion through her work.

Jeremy Liyanage
Multicultural Advisor

 

Working together with local Council, local community service providers, and local members of the CALD community in Mackay, Margaret pulled together a comprehensive, entertaining and thoughtful seminar, which I believe will continue to have impacts into that region far into the future.

I cannot stress enough how much the success of this project relied on the decades of experience that Margaret brought to the process ... Her planning, her knowledge of what technology to organise, how to structure the seminar process, her sensitivity in engaging some of the special guest speakers from different CALD communities, and of course her rapport and engagement of the audience on the day, are all reflections of her superior skill.

I would without a doubt recommend Margaret to any of my colleagues and would certainly engage her again, should the opportunity arise.

Anna Pretorius
Project Officer, Integrated Skills Development Strategy
a project of the Health and Community Services Workforce Council

Margaret, you provided interactive, interesting presentations that engaged participants and encouraged discussion. Each activity was individualised to the requirements I had discussed with you in the planning period, so thank you for assisting me to successfully achieve the specific objectives of each activity.

Feedback received through both formal and informal channels, indicated that participants found your sessions relevant and interesting and considered them to be time well spent. Official feedback indicates that 96% of the participants felt that you kept them interested while imparting knowledge in a manner that was easy to understand and appropriate.

You were willing to focus on our expected outcomes and you worked with me to ensure our objectives for the sessions were achieved, so thank you.

Di Enright
Staff Development Officer, Community & Primary Health Services
Metro South Health Service District, Queensland Health

Margaret’s delivery is highly respected within the community sector with great feedback received verbally to the SDN and also from written evaluations. Evaluations overall rated 4-5 (ie Above Average to Excellent); some comments in relation to learning/awareness included:

• “That culture is all around; that it takes time and effort and a want to learn; that accents aren’t always difficult – it is just that we fail to keep trying”
• “Interaction with immigrants will be taken more seriously from now on. Understanding the differences in their culture will be top priority”

Margaret was a joy to work with – she was highly organised in her preparation and involved local people in her planning, she went beyond our expectations – providing a great resource booklet and ongoing support to participants thereby maximising their potential to implement new learnings/awareness within their roles and organisations. 

I can highly recommend Margaret as a well polished, highly experienced cross-cultural trainer, and I continue to do so within the community sector and to my colleagues within the Workforce Council.

Mary Russell
Project Officer, Integrated Skills Development Strategy

Margaret Bornhorst designed and delivered two training programs for Toowoomba’s African Communities Action Group (ACAG). They were Cross-Cultural Skills in Education a one day program, identifying the key cultural and linguistic information and skills needed to provide effective education programs to culturally and linguistically diverse groups of adults and Working with Professional Interpreters which included the delivery of education sessions to groups of people through a professional interpreter.

Margaret provided openness and receptivity as well as making the participants feel relaxed and at ease. She is an excellent public speaker, is extremely knowledgeable and informative and did contribute substantially to underpinning the knowledge and skills required by government and non-government workers in working and understanding people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.

Margaret has outstanding communication skills, her delivery was insightful, passionate and humorous, the feedback was positive and many participants felt they left with a new perspective on their work as well as real solutions that could be implemented immediately.

David Barton
Community Action for a Multicultural Society
Program Mercy Family Services
Darling Downs & South West Queensland Region

Margaret Bornhorst delivered a number of training programs on behalf of Operational Training services within the Department of Communities. Margaret was selected ... to deliver these training programs because of her extensive background in Multicultural training and her experience in Multicultural Affairs Queensland.

Margaret received consistently positive and strong feedback from our staff across the State who attended her sessions, citing not just her strong content knowledge but how effectively she conveyed the concepts of the program using a variety of techniques to maintain their interest.

Margaret’s polished ability to speak in front of an audience (sometimes those not happy to be in attendance) proved to be a great asset whilst working with our staff. Her clear voice, articulate grammar and pronunciation and her general communication style was held in high respect.

On a personal note we always found Margaret pleasant to work with and appreciated her flexibility to work within our requirements. I would have no hesitation in recommending Margaret to other training providers requiring an engaging and professional presenter.

Carol Hughes
Manager, Operational Training Services, Regional Service Delivery Operations
Department of Communities

Margaret provided a training program entitled ‘Culturally Competent Community Workers’ to staff on 9 July 2009. Initial planning for the program was very comprehensive. Margaret liaised with me several times to ensure that the planned program would meet our service requirements.

On the day Margaret was well organised, providing all the resources necessary. Margaret is a very well informed, articulate speaker who responded appropriately throughout our learning experience. She managed technology well and also offered further educational opportunities/resources for future learning.

Margaret expressed a sincere enthusiasm for her subject material, and we look forward to our next learning experience with her.

Nancy Bell BSSc, B Soc Wk
Service Co-ordinator, Pine Rivers Respite Service

 

Margaret was contracted by the Council to provide the Culturally Competent Community Workers program for community organisations in the Moreton Bay Region.

The feedback from workshop participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Attendees found the content of the workshop excellent and noted that they could apply the skills learnt to their workplace.

Margaret's facilitation of the workshop was highly commended and workshop participants noted that her presentation style was entertaining, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, clear and concise. The comprehensive workbooks provided to the attendees were also well received.

Mark McCormack
Acting Manager - Community services, Planning & Development
Moreton Bay Regional Council