Our Story

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Sideffect was started by our founder, Rodney Bridge, after the death of his beautifully talented and generous son, Preston. Preston died at the age of 16, after taking a synthetic form of LSD in February 2013, during his school ball after party. Following his family tragedy, Rod found out that the LSD substance was made up of 25i-NBOMe as well as a shopping list of other synthetic drugs. Preston lost his life that night based on one choice and had he known what he was taking, he would have made an entirely different decision. Sideffect was born out of that understanding, that our youth need to be educated on substance use and be empowered to make informed decisions, with the help of parents, teachers, and their community.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to start a conversation on substance awareness between parents, teachers and Australia’s youth. What’s in them, what they can do to you, and how they can affect your family and community. Our aim is to enable youth to make informed decisions based on knowledge and awareness, not misinformation and ignorance.

Our goal is to spread this powerful message to every person in Australia.

MEET THE TEAM

While we are still a small bunch, we are a committed group of people who believe in the Sideffect mission. Coming from all walks of life, we now work together with our volunteers and funding partners to deliver the Sideffect education message.

Dr Ian Lillico

Chief Research Officer

Ian holds a Phd in Education and is a National Fellow of the Australian Council of educational leaders. He is a Churchill Fellow, Government advisor, ex school principal, world expert in Gender education and his research into bullying and behaviour management has been widely acclaimed.

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Dr Peter Waterman

Director

Peter holds a PhD in education who has been Principal of the year in both WA and NSW. In recent years Peter led the Global Educational Research Institute as CEO, delivering market research in digital learning in Australia and internationally. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of the Foundation for Educational Digital Development.

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Sandra Dichera

Psychologist

Sandra joined Sideffect in 2018 and has advanced skills in coaching Mindfulness and Emotional Clarity. Driven by her own sense of purpose, she has acquired a degree in Psychology and Counselling while working towards becoming a registered psychologist.

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Geoff Morris

Operations / Client management Manager

Geoff joined the Sideffect team in 2019 bringing knowledge and resources that has vitalized the group by enforcing the commitment required to present and communicate with their many clients and community members.

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Aimee Bridge

Social media / marketing co-ordinator

Aimee has extensive experience in the social media/marketing sector and controls our social media releases and monitors the day-to-day activity. Aimee has developed a quality social media marketing plan and is incorporated with all the relevant platforms. including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Alireza Parvaesh

Chief Technology Officer

Ali started with Sideffect in 2018 in the position of Chief Technology Officer. He manages all aspect for the design and the technical specifications for the operation of Sideffect. His knowledge has assisted in the development of the technology roadmap for the software and hardware systems that has expanded Sideffect digital platform.

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Rodney Bridge

FOUNDER

As Founder and Director of Sideffect Australia. Rod is a dynamic communicator and his presentations have reached over 155,000 students across Western Australia. Rod is multifaceted experience as a businessman and Director has allowed him to negotiate national level partnerships and build an in-depth understanding of the current need for drug intervention in our community.

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Justin Howard

DIRECTOR

Justin became a Director of Sideffect in 2018, bringing a wealth of team – oriented knowledge. Justin has a degree in Computer Science and oversees Sideffect’s IT division. He has a high level of competency in business management and communication techniques including a wealth of experience in managing corporate IT system and networks.

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