Meet the Presenters at WOW Charleville 2021
Director, Femeconomy.com
Alanna Bastin-Byrne has over 19 years’ experience in Marketing, Communications and Community Development leadership in the UK and Australia. She is the Director of Femeconomy, a national membership organisation that educates how purchasing decisions can create gender equality. Femeconomy’s approved companies have at least 30% women on the Board of Directors or 50% female ownership, they believe companies with female leaders are more likely to have workplace flexibility and less likely to have a gender pay gap, which could help creating gender equality for their employees and communities.
Alanna’s experience spans a wide range of industries including Health, Arts, Events, Education, Social Housing and Tourism. In 2018 Alanna was announced as one of 80 Women2Watch in Business Disruption in US, Canada, Australia, and Europe. In 2020 Alanna was a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year finalist in Queensland and Griffith University Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
Alanna was born on the land of the Giabal people at Toowoomba, and now lives and works on Bundjalung Country.
Web: femeconomy.com
LinkedIn: Alanna Bastin-Byrne
Co-Owner, Tambo Teddies
Alison Shaw is the Co-Owner of Tambo Teddies. Her career journey has a fascinating amount of twists and turns. She is worked on a goat dairy, as a wool classer and Jillaroo, a small business entrepreneur and as an Arts and Cultural Officer with Regional Council.
Having dropped out of University as a young woman to travel around Australia, left her native New Zealand, she resumed tertiary studies as a mature age student and in 2016 completed a Bachelor of Business specialising in marketing. During this period, she purchased Tambo Teddies with a business partner. With fresh ideas and thirst for a challenge, the pair have managed to grow the iconic Tambo Teddies business and raise the profile of Tambo.
After receiving a steady stream of requests for grant writing, Alison figured it was time for another challenge. In 2019 she created a new business The Right Grant, drawing on her ability, life experience and knowledge of the funding space. She enjoys matching projects to the right fund and helping businesses and organisations grow.
Website: tamboteddies.com.au
Facebook: @tamboteddies
Instagram: @tamboteddies
YouTube: tamboteddies
Aulpunda’s (Jean) art tracks her journey through country as she weaves the old stories with colours of the land in a unique spirit of discovery. She finds beauty in the gnarled tree, and love in the sand against bare feet, a love for country that brings colour and life to her paintings.
For Aulpunda (Jean) as a Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi woman, the big questions inspire her works are, 'who am I, and where do I belong?' Those are the questions she explored in her artistic journey.
Through deep listening to the spirit of the land, a spirit that beats in her blood, Aulpunda comes to her art as learner and teacher, bearing the gifts of an ancient culture to share with family, children, and grandchildren, and those not yet born.
Fitness Instructor, Charleville Leading Group Fitness
Angela Stirton is currently working as a fitness instructor in Charleville leading group fitness. She has many sessions with children, teenagers, mothers, and adults. She also offers Pilates classes to the local community. Angela is registered as a middle school teacher and qualified psychologist. In her past careers she has had worked as an organisational psychologist and youth counsellor for Lifeline.
Having experienced mental health difficulties, personally and professionally, as well as within her family and friends, she is deeply passionate about normalising the language and conversations around mental health. She is a huge advocate for physical activity aiming to bring positivity and benefits it can bring to our mental health.
Facebook: @PilateswithAnge
Instagram: @AngelaStirton
Artist
Aulpunda (Jean)’s art tracks her journey through country as she weaves the old stories with colours of the land in a unique spirit of discovery. She finds beauty in the gnarled tree, and love in the sand against bare feet, a love for country that brings colour and life to her paintings.
For Aulpunda as a Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi woman, the big questions inspire her works are, 'who am I, and where do I belong?' Those are the questions she explored in her artistic journey.
Through deep listening to the spirit of the land, a spirit that beats in her blood, Aulpunda comes to her art as learner and teacher, bearing the gifts of an ancient culture to share with family, children, and grandchildren, and those not yet born.
Senior Biosecurity Inspector, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Bec has always had a keen interest in Agriculture. After leaving school, Bec spent a year working as a jillaroo in an otherwise-all-male stock camp in the Channel Country. She then enrolled at UQ Gatton Campus, graduating with a degree in Applied Science, (Production Animals) with a specialisation in Beef Cattle obtained at Texas A&M University USA.
Bec worked for two years in an Abattoir with an all-male crew, trail-blazing a path for other women. For the last 13 years Bec has been working in a traditionally male role as the ‘Stocky’ Biosecurity Inspector in Charleville. In recent years, she is delighted to have seen an increase in the number of women join the ranks in Queensland.
Her husband Chris is a local tradie who is often working away from home. Consequently, while she has a nanny during her work hours, when Chris is not there, she juggles work and parenting three small children on her own. Bec’s downtime revolves around their garden which is both beautiful and productive and the ever-increasing menagerie of dogs, chooks, and assorted feathered friends.
Instagram: @Corymbia
Artist – Founder, POPSART
The core of creative entrepreneur, Bec Mac’s work is unifying communities through candid conversations and experiences as an artist, creative producer, presenter, and arts journalist.
Bec Mac’s legendry live art event LOVE TV has been presented Internationally in partnerships with multiple City Councils including the City Of New York.
As founder of "POPSART; Content Creator Conversation Curator" she revolutionised the way audiences engage with the arts through spontaneous, insightful interviews with artist at their exhibitions openings and launches. Working with Caroline Gardam POPSART collaborators have included QAGOMA, UQ Art Museum, Museum of Brisbane, Opera QLD, and Inner-West Council Sydney and Richard Bell for Embassy 2019 Venice Biennale.
Recently Bec Mac launched Chrysalis Projects with Carmel Haugh; an artist-led economic stimulus projects aimed to foster philanthropy within the community.
Her work is unique and sits at the intersection between the creative community, on-line media, the urban environment, cultural organisations, government, community engagement and the philosophy and outcomes of Placemaking.
Instagram: @becmactv
Facebook: Popsart@becmactv
The Country Witches Association is what happens when Aussie comedian Mandy Nolan and Irish singer songwriter Áine Tyrrell mix genres and politics to create a diabolically funny, inclusive, politically robust, deeply introspective and wildly outrageous call to arms. The girls bravely weave a new narrative around disruption, have far reaching conversations about feminism and family and identity and ask the audience to join them in an uprising. A movement!
Paying homage to the women of the CWA, the two acknowledge the work and energy of those tireless women, but note that they are girls more likely to cause trouble than bake cakes! The Country Witches call for audience inclusion, allowing them to set the agenda for the conversations. Nolan delivers riotous comedy, Tyrrell takes us deep into our hearts of darkness. No two shows are the same. No one is the same when they leave!
Facebook: /countrywitchesassociation
Instagram: @countrywitchesassociation
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith University
Dr Elise Stephenson a creator, characterised by her love of hands-on and atypical projects. She is recognised by Google and Deloitte as one of Australia's 50 most outstanding LGBTIQ+ leaders and has travelled by road over 75,000kms over the past few years chasing her passion for empowering women and driving social change. Now, she is a multi award-winning researcher and strategist in the Policy Innovation Hub and Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University. She is also on the board of queer feminist creative agency, Social Good Outpost, combining entrepreneurship and academia for social change.
Web elisestephenson.com
LinkedIn Dr. Elise Stephenson
Director, WOW Australia
Faiza El-Higzi OAM is an active community member who has been living in Australia for the past 20 years. She is of African, Mid-Eastern descent.
Faiza has worked in Australia and overseas, in the public, private and the NGO sectors and has more than ten years public sector experience in Australia providing strategic policy advice at both the State and Federal levels.
She is currently the National Human Rights Advisor for the National Council for Women and was the Economic Advisor for the Queensland Chapter.
Faiza holds four post graduate degrees in science, education, project management, and international business. She is currently the Manager of the Romero Centre, a drop-in community centre in Brisbane for refugee and asylum seekers’ support.
LinkedIn: /Faiza-el-higzi
Irene Frances retired to Charleville in 2019, having worked there as a social worker for several years. Throughout her life she has had a traumatic journey to deal with the consequences of a problematic past, a journey that included more than a decade of therapy to address a major mental health disorder. Irene maintains that without her strong faith in God she would not have come through those challenging years. She is keen to share something of her understanding of God’s love, peace and freedom with others who find life difficult.
LinkedIn: Irene Frances
Facebook: @IreneFrances
Director of Femeconomy.com
Director of Femeconomy Jade Collins has 20 years’ global experience in corporate executive Human Resources and management consulting roles in the Mining, Energy and Aerospace industries, leading large scale, and complex multi-million-dollar change management programs. The combination of Jade’s HR, Psychology and MBA qualifications, and her leadership experience, is invaluable for creating networks and engaging others to increase gender equality in leadership across industries. Jade is a member of the Queensland Government's Strategic Advisory Group for the Toward Gender Parity: Women on Boards Initiative and the 2019 CQU Alumni of the Year for Social Impact for her work with Femeconomy.
Jade was born and raised on the land of the Darumbal people at Rockhampton, and now lives and works on Turrbal and Jagera Country.
Web: femeconomy.com
LinkedIn: JadeCollins-Femeconomy
Senior Mental Health Clinician from the RFDS (Qld Section)
Karen has been practicing psychology for the past 20 years after completing her Degree in Psychology at Charles Darwin University in the NT. She began her career as a counsellor in a non-profit organization then moved to part time roles in rehabilitation counselling and lecturing at CDU.
She then worked for an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselling and delivering workshops, later joining the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services Department providing support for staff, particularly after experiencing significant trauma, and assisting with the recruitment process. Managing her own private practice in Mt Gambier, SA for 6.5 years she then joined the RFDS (Qld) in December 2017 at Mt Isa for 7 months. Returning after funding was re-instated to the same role with the RFDS she has been based in Charleville for the past 2.5 years.
Having a love of the Australian bush and outback she has been privileged to have had many roles that have allowed her to spend significant time in very remote locations assisting those with mental health concerns.
Katrina Lehmann
Owner, Katrina Lehmann Photography
Katrina Lehmann, Owner of Katrina Lehmann Photography is an award-winning photographer based in rural Qld town of Charleville and hails from a creative family of artists and photographers. Her photography business began organically 20 years ago when she was gifted a digital camera at age 16.
As well as photographing weddings, newborns, families, commercial industries, and freelance journalistic work Australia wide, Katrina also runs beginner photography and Cyanotype workshops and is Co-Owner of her family’s plumbing business. Most recently she has been creating dried botanical art arrangements and botanically inspired fine art photographic prints that she sells online and locally via the KLP Creative Co Banner.
Katrina has a passion for capturing and show casing rural Australian and the amazing people in it.
Facebook: @KLPCreativeCo
Instagram: @katrinaLehmannphotos @klp_Creative_co
Station Manager, Mt Tabor Station
Keelen Mailman is a proud Bidjara woman from Western Queensland. She has managed and cared for Mt Tabor station, on her traditional lands, for 24 years, and was recognised in 2005 by the Queensland Museum as the first Aboriginal woman to hold such a role in Australia.
A gifted athlete in her youth, Keelen’s personal story is full of pain and challenge, and ultimately, overcoming. It is brilliantly told in her autobiography, published in 2014, The Power of Bones.
Keelen’s leadership in the Aboriginal and wider Australian community has been recognise by numerous awards. In 2007, she was a Queensland finalist in the Australian of the Year; in 2009 undertook a Rural Leadership course; 2016 State and National awardee of Bernados Mother of the Year, and 2021, she was awarded the Order of Australia for her commitment and contribution to her community and her culture.
She is a natural storyteller and is much in demand as a speaker.
LinkedIn: Keelen Mailman
Owner, Smithco Management Pty, Ltd
Kylee Tindale-Smith is a wool classer, wife, mother, and creative rural businesswoman. She is the owner of Smithco Management Pty, Ltd or known as Gidgees Smith which produce and create Australian made bags. Her determination to stay in the bush lead her to think outside the box and push her to create opportunities for herself and her family to survive financially and emotionally. These days, she judges her success on being able to feed and educate her children each and every day, for her, anything above is a bonus. Providing her children with the opportunities that she never had experienced when she was young and becoming women in business is important for her personally.
Facebook: @gidgeesmith
Instagram: @gidgeesmithbags
Twitter: @gidgeesmithbags
LinkedIn: Kylee Tindale-Smith
YouTube: @GidgeeSmith
Creative Director, Red Ridge the Label
Laura Churchill is a pre-eminent fashion stylist with many years’ experience in personal styling as well as event production and fashion business more broadly. Laura is passionate about working with women to feel confident and comfortable in their wardrobes and believes style is for everybody.
As creative director of Red Ridge the Label, Laura is also involved with this Blackall-based fashion project that gives back to the regional Queensland community through arts and employment opportunities.
Website: redridgethelabel.com.au
Instagram: @laurachurchill @redridge_thelabel
LinkedIn: Laura Churchill
Director, Of One Mind
Leigh Tabrett PSM has worked as a teacher, university administrator and senior public servant in education and the arts. She has led teams of people since she was in her twenties, and has had plenty of “hard conversations” in that time. She is a keen student of what it takes to make workplaces happy, safe, and high performing, and now works as a company director and executive coach. Her involvement in WOW over the last 7 years reflects a lifetime of advocacy for women and their access to education, and the fact that she is the mother of two adult daughters.
LinkedIn: @LeighTabrett
Manager, Red Ridge Interior Queensland
Louise Campbell is a manager at Red Ridge Interior Queensland, servicing Central West Queensland for over 10 years since the formation of the organization. Living as a Blackall resident for over 20 years, Louise has continuously brought the arts to the Outback in a way that directly responds the needs and demands of the communities. Working tirelessly to create opportunities, infrastructure, and networks across vast region, Louise has been behind all the workshops, events and projects held by Red Ridge Interior Queensland. Striving to connect and enrich the lives of people around her, Louise has always seen the incredible value that art can have in benefiting communities, from inspiring public art, life-changing workshops to extravagant exhibitions.
With Louise's belief in the value of arts supported by her expertise, and determination to make ideas reality, Blackall has become a hub for all things creative. Louise has ensured that Red Ridge has made a name for itself in Central Queensland as a professional, reliable arts organisation that often achieves the impossible to deliver momentous art opportunities for all in the region, no matter the distance. From Louise's passion, Red Ridge able to bring the magic of creativity over 15 government areas.
LinkedIn: @LouiseCampbell
Educator and Public Speaker, A Few Good Men Project
Michael Jeh is a former first-class cricketer and Oxford Blue who is now heavily involved in running education programs around gender violence prevention. One of the things that really drives him is a project called A Few Good Men. It is essentially a men’s revolution, a movement aimed at getting men to take total ownership of the way we treat women. He is also a White Ribbon Ambassador, which speaks up and act to prevent men’s violence against women. His clients include professional sporting teams, schools, universities, corporates, and prisons. He is passionate about empowering good men to take ownership of this important issue and is unafraid to challenge men to be the solution rather than the problem. He is the father of teenagers, lives in Brisbane and in his spare time, he is a wildlife ranger in Africa where he takes clients on exciting walking safaris.
Website: michaeljeh.com
LinkedIn: @MichaelJeh
Member of Education Officer, QSuper
Ronda Lewis has worked in Financial services for most of her life, in approximately over 40 years. She is a member of education officer at QSuper and has been working there for 10 years. Ronda Lewis loves working with QSuper members aiming to give a better outcome for them, both throughout their working life and in retirement. She enjoyed her work and loves the fact that even if someone is getting close to retiring, they are never too old to make a difference.
LinkedIn: Ronda Lewis
Sue Ray was coining the Americana genre 15 years ago when she first stepped on stage. Winner of the 2018 QMusic award for best Folk/World song with Junior was his Name, she continues to captivate audiences with her haunting and emotionally charged lyrics, considered compositions and really hits them in the sweet spot with her smoky, molasses-rich voice. Following a ‘gap’ year or two in Nashville where she worked alongside industry greats and connected into the scene, gigging and writing, she is back in Australia releasing her latest album Live at the Junk Bar.
She’s toured with and supported a wide range of musicians including Dan Sultan, The Wilson Pickers, Megan Washington, Mental as Anything and Halfway, proving her musical versatility.
Sue Ray has performed as a solo artist and with her hot band around Australia and North America at Americana Music Conference, International Film Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Tamworth Country Music Festival as well as tours and supports throughout both continents.
Web: sueraymusic.com
Facebook: /sueraymusic
Youtube: /sueraymusic
Instagram: @sueraymusic
Associate Professor, Griffith University Law School
Susan Harris Rimmer is an Associate Professor at Griffith University Law School, Brisbane Australia, and is a former Australian Research Council Future Fellow. Sue was born and raised on the land of the Kamilaroi people at Coonabarabran, and she said she was grateful to be able to live and work on Turrbal and Jagara Country. She is a co-editor of the Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law (Edward Elgar 2019), author of Gender and Transitional Justice (Routledge 2010) and have been working for over 40 refereed works on women's rights and international law.
Susan was Australia’s representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2014, and the W20 (gender equity advice to the G20) in Turkey 2014, China 2016, and Germany 2017. She is a National Board member of the International Women’s Development Agency.
Susan was named in the Apolitical list of Top 100 Global Experts in Gender Policy in May 2018.
Twitter: @FemInt
Artist
Tearnee Lewington (Arlinda) is a Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi woman, granddaughter of Joyce Crombie (Anpanuwa), great granddaughter of Arlinda Crombie Birdsville. She had the pleasure to sit and listen to her great Nan telling stories of the moon and the stars and teaching her the Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi meaning in language. Tearnee grew up in a small town of Bedourie beside the Georgina River before moving to Dysart with family for work.
Her passion is painting with Nana Joyce. Tearnee will be wearing Red Ridge the Label Georgina collection featuring artwork by Nana Joyce at the WOW Western Queensland performances in Charleville and Longreach.
Facebook: @TearneeLewington
Teri Sommerfield's involvement in Agriculture started with the family grazing business on a cattle station south west of Charleville. Her involvement in the Arts started about the same time - with her mother Lindy being a well respected music teacher in the district.
After school she followed the Fine Arts path with a Bachelor's degree majoring in Film/Television and Literature. But first she spent a gap year working on various properties from Charleville to Ayr, often as the girl on crew. Switching from driving a dozer and fixing fences, to performing at the Brisbane Writer's Festival was something that often happened without much thought to the differences between her two worlds.
In 2015 Teri returned to Charleville after spending 5 years in Brisbane. In 2016 she competed in the Miss Showgirl Awards run by Queensland Agricultural Show Society. Teri is back in 2021 as Rural Ambassador which runs in association with the Showgirl awards and aims to shine a light on the next generation of rural industry leaders.
In her down time, Teri is president of the local Performing Arts Committee with their Festival happening at the end of August (shameless plug) and is currently studying a Masters in Ethics and Legal Studies.
Instagram: @teri.rae29