I am an experienced communicator, science enthusiast, project manager, facilitator and mum based in Naarm/Melbourne.
My family were subsistence farmers in Bosnia and migrated to Australia in the 70’s to seek new opportunities. I was born and raised on the beautiful lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and call the Country of the Boon Wurrung, Bunurong and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung home. I acknowledge that these lands were stolen from the First Peoples who never ceded their sovereignty. I have a deep respect for Elders, past and present, from across the Kulin Nations and do my best to acknowledge, honour and learn from their wisdom, their struggles and their survival in my life and work. One of the ways I do this is by Paying the Rent as a beginning step in the process of making reparations with First Nations people.
Like most humans, I have always loved stories. This passion has taken me on many adventures – I have worked with physicists in Melbourne, climate scientists in Paris, foresters in Indonesia, journalists in Southeast Asia, and agricultural entrepreneurs across Africa to help them tell their stories in a way that better impacts policy and public opinion.
I am also passionate about empowering people to contribute their gifts to the world. Sometimes this means helping people believe in themselves, other times it means helping people navigate inequitable systems and using my privilege to redistribute power. I’ve worked with young farmers around the world to help them access mentoring and investment for their ideas, and I’ve co-coordinated an Australia-wide movement to build friendships between locals and newly arrived people by sharing meals in people’s homes.
I currently work with the Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation, which provides leadership, advocacy and action to protect, conserve and enhance cultural and natural values of people and Country through Cultural Fire and land management practices.