About Brain Friendly Training
Impact is CREATED. It doesn't ‘just happen’...
Brain based Learning is something that starts early in life and continues through adulthood. It is a natural state, and everyone engages in learning from the moment they are born. It is inbuilt and involuntary.
Workplace learning is not always designed to tap into this natural inquisitiveness.
More often, it can seem time-consuming, compliance-driven, and a ‘tick and flick’ process. This can mean boring and non-productive sessions. Real change can run a poor second to administrative concerns and simply ‘ticking the box’.
When a learning program is put together with the brain in mind, it is easy to stimulate this natural inquisitive state. That is true even with the most mundane of topics.
Meet the team...
Our team at Brain Friendly Training is dedicated to revolutionizing how learning and training are approached. With Laurie Kelly leading the way, we harness his over 30 years of experience and deep understanding of brain-based learning to create impactful training sessions. Laurie’s renowned ability to engage and inspire is complemented by a skilled group of business support professionals and consultants who share a passion for making training exciting, engaging, and effective. Together, we strive to empower learners and trainers alike.
Benita Kelly
Benita Kelly is the Director of Brain Friendly Training and a leading voice in adult education, with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering transformative learning experiences. Her qualifications in TAE, NLP, Hypnotherapy, and TimeLine Therapy reflect a commitment to holistic, brain-based approaches that empower trainers and educators to create lasting impact.
Benita specialises in Engagement Skills for Trainers and “learning to learn” strategies—core elements of her neuroscience-informed methodology. Her programs are practical, inclusive, and grounded in how the brain learns best, helping facilitators foster environments where learners thrive.
Throughout her career, Benita has contributed across every facet of Brain Friendly Training—from facilitation and program design to business management and operations. This breadth of experience gives her a unique perspective on what makes training truly effective, and she brings strategic clarity and learner-centred design to every initiative.
Known for her depth of knowledge and unwavering professionalism, Benita is a trusted leader in the field. Her work continues to shape the way adult educators engage, inspire, and support their learners.
Laurie Kelly
Prior to teaching he worked with street and unemployed youth in the Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane. That was where his passion for education began.
From 1980 to 1983 as an Education consultant he oversaw the setting up of dozens of ‘School to Work’ Transition Programs in High schools throughout Queensland for ‘at risk’ kids.
His work also involved the pioneering of Career Education Programs and School/ TAFE linked courses, which were the pre-runner to the current VET pathways in our schools. After four years in this consultant role he returned to the classroom and set up his own program for school-weary students, with tremendous success. This culmination of experiences set him on a journey to understand how people learn and how teaching must engage the learner.
After several years in schools, he moved into presenting in the corporate world where he has concentrated on sharing ideas and methods to make learning ‘stick’. He has been very prominent and in high demand in the VET sector and presents all over Australia and internationally, in private RTOs, TAFEs, government departments and all areas of training. These include working with educators at Energex, Emergency Services, The Defence Force, Allied Health professionals, nursing groups, consulting doctors at major hospitals, engineering and accounting firms, Salvation Army and many, many others.
All teachers can embed his simple and effective ideas, many based on his intimate understanding of NLP, to make learning more effective. His presentations are engaging, collaborative, hilarious and achievable. Educators do not have to change what they are doing, but simply embed or add his ideas to their daily repertoire.