Cassandra has lived with epilepsy since being a teenager. Cassandra also has a son with autism who was non-verbal with a global developmental delay but after years of intervention (before the NDIS came about), he now presents as neurotypical and holds permanent customer-facing employment in the private sector. His therapeutic intervention included tailored sound and music programs to generate neuroplastic change in how he processed audio-based information. It radically transformed his speech into volume controlled modulated tones with coherent sentence structure.
In 2012 Cassandra was found floating dead in the ocean with no heart-beat after an epileptic seizure. After more than 15 minutes she was resuscitated on the beach despite being asystolic or flatlining. The chance of resuscitation after an asystolic event is less than one per cent. She suffered some brain injury but successfully rehabilitated herself drawing upon years of work she had done with her non-verbal son.
Cassandra has held senior executive roles in Commonwealth Government regulators and departments in telecommunications, transport and energy. In 2025 she retired from her role as Assistant Commissioner for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Cassandra has also held senior roles in the private sector including as Speechwriter to the CEO of Telstra and at a listed telco in Canada. She founded her own consulting business, Contextual Communications Pty Ltd in 2010 with ASX-listed and government clients. She is also a certified funeral celebrant.
Cassandra holds Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Adelaide and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Cassandra grew up in the Barossa Valley and lives in Sydney. She founded Barossa Mulberry Syrup, the first of its kind in Australia.
With lived experience in how neuroscience can dramatically improve lives combined with an extensive executive career in the public and commercial sectors, Cassandra is highly motivated to help the Chris Jagger Foundation fly.
