Sam Paior founded and directs the Growing Space. She is solo parent to two with disability. Sam has a degree in Architecture with further studies in Journalism, Accessibility Auditing and Design, and Disability, She has worked around Australia and in the USA in senior Public Relations and Crisis Management roles, run as a candidate with the Dignity for Disability party in 2010 and has worked as a parliamentary adviser focused on disability related issues. She is currently a board member, founder and volunteer Co-Chair of the NFP, Self Manager Hub.

Sam is an appointed Member of the NDIA Independent Advisory Council, and the NDIS Intellectual Disability Reference Group, is a member of the NDIS Navigator Co-design Advisory group, and the NDIS Self Management Advisory Group, Sam also occasionally lectures at Flinders University and is a member of the Flinders University Up The Hill Advisory group (a program supporting access to University for students with intellectual disability), She is an active consumer health advocate and supports two NDIS ILC Projects – one which aims to better support self managing participants, the other which engages disabled people and family members to co-design and deliver useful workshops and e-learning. Sam holds many advisory roles in government and organisations across Australia, and has a particular interest in public speaking and plainly spoken training and communications about the NDIS and disability related topics, through her other work with the Make it easy App

Sam is a 2021 winner of the Impact 25 Probono Australia Awards and the 2020 winner of SA Woman Mum in Business Award, uses she/her pronouns and lives on Kaurna Land.