Professor Judy Atkinson
Judy is a Jiman (central west Queensland) and Bundjalung (northern New South Wales) woman with Anglo-Celtic and German heritage.
She is an Emeritus Professor at Southern Cross University where she is the Head of the College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, and Director of the Healing CIRCLE (Collaborative Indigenous Research Centre for Learning and Educare. She is also the Head of College – Indigenous Australian Studies, University of New South Wales.
Judy’s primary academic and research focus has been in the area of violence, with its relational trauma, and healing or recovery for all people. She contends that earth trauma is linked to human trauma and visa versa and believes that humans and their environments are linked, both in damage that occurs and the work that must be done to repair that damage, to each other and the ecosystems.
Judy’s PhD from Queensland University of Technology was undertaken in the area of Cross Cultural psychology and was titled Lifting the Blankets: the transgenerational effects of trauma in Australia. Her work has been published as a book – Trauma Trails recreating songlines: the transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia.
Judy is also a graduate of the Harvard University course, Program for Refugee Trauma – Global Mental Health Trauma and Recovery.
In 2006, while Head of the College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University, she won the Carrick Neville Bonner Award for her academic contributions to the understanding of trauma related issues stemming from the violence of colonization and the healing/recovery of Indigenous peoples from such trauma. In 2011 she was awarded the Fritz Redlich Memorial award for Human Rights and Mental Health from the Harvard University Program for Refugee Trauma.
Judy is a member of the Harvard Global Mental Health Scientific Research Alliance. She presently serves on the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Scientific Advisory Committee on Closing the Gap research, the Board of Directors of the Aboriginal and Torres Stait Islander Healing Foundation and the Education and Training Advisory Committee, and the Research Advisory Committee. She is also the Patron of the We Al-li Trust. We Al-li is a specific educational and practice based program that utilises traditional Indigenous healing work combined with western trauma informed and trauma specific approach to individual, family and community recovery.
Dr Leoni Degenhardt AM
Leoni is currently the Emeritus Dean of the Leadership Centre at The Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW). This follows a period of six years as the inaugural Dean of the AIS Leadership Centre, the purpose of which is to develop confident, competent and visionary educational leaders who will improve the learning and personal growth of students, staff and school communities within the complexity of contemporary educational environments. A range of professional learnings are offered for current and future school leaders and contributions are made to the discourse around effective leadership, nationally and internationally.
Leoni’s career has spanned all levels of education – early learning and preschool, primary, secondary, tertiary and system leadership – all sectors – government, Catholic and independent – in rural, urban and suburban locations. Leoni has been principal of two secondary schools: a large co-educational school in south-west Sydney, and a long-established day and boarding school for girls on Sydney’s upper north shore.
In her fourteen years as Principal of Loreto Normanhurst, Leoni led a successful school reinvention process, documented in her book Dancing on a Shifting Carpet: reinventing traditional schooling for the 21st century. A component of the process was the introduction of an Outreach experience in Far North Queensland for every Year 9 student. Over the course of the two week program the students engaged with Indigenous communities to develop a shared understanding of past issues and those that are experienced today. More than a decade on, the Outreach experience remains a key component of the Loreto Normanhurst Student Growth Model (LNSGM).
Leoni has operated her own consultancy business, working in the education and corporate sectors, with a focus on leadership, strategy and organisational change. In an honorary capacity, Leoni is a member of educational and not-for-profit boards. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, and Australian Catholic University. She is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of NSW. Her PhD is in Educational Leadership.
In the 2020 Australia Day Honours list, Leoni’s significant service to education through the Independent schools sector was acknowledged with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
Shane Foster
Shane currently serves as the Head of School of the Barstow School of Kansas City, the Barstow School of Shanghai, China and the Barstow School of Ningbo, China. He has held the Head of School role since 2008.
Shane’s academic journey commenced at the University of Tasmania where he received a Bachelor of Education. This was followed by a Master of Education in 1992 from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Science from Concordia University in 1998. His teaching career in the US began in 1988 at the Wayland Academy in Wisconsin. This was followed by his appointment to the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy where he became Head of School in 2005.
In his role of Head of School he directs the The Hybrid Learning Consortium (HLC) which he developed. The HLC is a collective of international independent schools that undertake online programs in Australia, China, Germany and Japan from the Barstow base in Kansas. The courses provide comparable rigor as on campus classes while enhancing students’ 21st century learning and digital skills, globalising communications and broadening the breadth of course selections. The HLC also offers professional development through individual training, campus visits, online faculty meetings, webinars and an annual HLC Symposium each June.
Shane has served on a numerous Boards related to education in Australia and the US. Furthermore, his innovative approach to education has resulted in numerous international presentation engagements.
Shane’s summary of a Barstow education reflects a refreshing view of education in the 21st Century – “We take kids off the bleachers and put them in the game, we take them out of the audience and put them on the stage, we take them out of the classroom and put them in the world.”
Robyne Latham
Robyne is a Yamatji woman originally from Western Australia. She is an academic and fine artist and has lived and worked in Melbourne for the past 30 years. She holds a Master of Fine Art from Monash University, a Diploma of Education from Edith Cowan University and a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) from Curtin University.
Robyne’s academic career has included co-ordination of the Associate Degree in Contemporary Aboriginal Art at Curtin University; Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Aboriginal Art at Deakin University; Sessional Lecturer in Health Sciences at La Trobe University; and researcher at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University. She is currently the Senior Indigenous Strategic Development Officer within the Bouverie Centre of La Trobe University. Robyne is also the Principal of Blak Light Cultural Safety Training consultancy and is a member of the Woor-Dungin’s Committee of Management.
Robyne’s art works are represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Deakin University, La Trobe University, the Koorie Heritage Trust museum, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, John Curtin Gallery and the Berndt Museum at the University of Western Australia. Her works span the media of ceramics, sculpture, public-art, installation, performance, painting and theatre-set design.
Robyne’s most recent works are the installation Empty Coolamons: In Memorium to the Stolen Generations, Melbourne Museum’s Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre (2014–2015), and the performance work The Aborigine Is Present, the Koorie Heritage Trust Cultural Centre, Federation Square, Melbourne (2015).
Dr Michelle Maloney
Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and History) and Laws (Honours) from the Australian National University and a PhD in Law from Griffith University. She has 25 years’ experience designing and managing climate change, sustainability and environmental justice projects in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA. In addition, she spent ten years working with Indigenous peoples in Central Queensland on a range of community development, sustainability and cultural heritage projects.
Michelle is the Co-Founder and National Convenor of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA) whose mission is to increase the understanding and practical implementation of Earth centred law, governance and ethics. AELA’s vision is for human societies to live within their ecological limits, respect the rights of nature and enjoy productive, sustainable economies that nurture the health of the wider Earth community. Through her role she manages the strategic direction and governance of AELA, including the extensive partnerships and networks that AELA has with the legal, academic, indigenous and environmental advocacy communities. Michelle is also the Australian representative on the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, the Chairperson of the Queensland Environmental Defender’s Office, member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and a member of the United Nations Harmony with Nature Knowledge Network.
Michelle published her first book in 2014 – Wild Law in Practice, which was co-edited with Dr Peter Burdon and will release her second book – Law as if the Earth Really Mattered: the Wild Law Judgement Project, co-edited with Dr Nicole Rogers, in 2017.
Dr Helen Wright
Helen was born in Scotland and studied Modern and Medieval languages at Oxford University. She is a leading international educationalist, well-known both in the United Kingdom and globally for her knowledge of and passion for education.
Helen is a highly experienced former school Principal whose work now extends into the development of international schools, the coaching and recruitment of international school leaders, and the practical and active promotion of global citizenship. She has been strongly motivated by her passionate belief in the transformative power of education and the ability of human beings to change the world for the better.
Her two books Decoding Your 21st Century Daughter: An Anxious Parent’s Guide to Raising a Teenage Girl and Powerful Schools: Schools as Drivers of Social and Global Mobility reflect her passion for social and global mobility of young people.
Helen is an educator with deeply rooted school experience and worldwide networks who is actively contributing to the international arena of education development. Her recent activity has included a collaborative Australian-Chinese-UK university project in Melbourne, and international schools work in Asia and the UK. She also chairs the Research Group into Exchanges and Training at the World Leading Schools’ Association.
Helen is the Deputy Chairperson of the Oxford University Society Board and is a Trustee-Director on a number of Boards, including the Dalton Foundation in Hong Kong, the English-Speaking Union in Scotland and two education-related technology start-up companies. She is also the previous Vice-Chair of the UK Independent Schools’ Council and a former Council Member of the Association of School and College Leaders.
Peter McMillan
Darwin based Peter McMillan’s strong business acumen has been developed over the past four decades through his involvement and leadership across numerous enterprises, companies, and international localities.
Peter is a qualified Chartered Accountant whose first role after leaving the profession was the establishment of an international courier company that expanded to thirteen offices in seven countries within three years.
His business ventures then extended into the property industry in Canberra where his responsibilities included business acquisition and development, including the Directorship of Canberra Raiders Rugby League Club.
From these humble beginnings, Peter ventured into the realm of shopping centre development and management in Singapore, the development of a hotel in Laos, a shopping centre in Myanmar, a golf course in Indonesia, serviced apartments in Cambodia, a shopping centre in Vietnam, acquisition of Australia’s largest strata management group and development of Australian residential property and provision of property consulting services.
More recently Peter has led the development of 1,700 student accommodation units in Sydney, 300 student accommodation units in Darwin and a Learning Retreat in Ubud Bali.
Peter has been a strong advocate for connecting students from different cultures and backgrounds well before the formation of the ‘2 Way Learning’ company.
Heather Brown
Heather is a Northern Territory business women whose experience has spanned over 4 decades working within Australian and international corporations. She was born in country NSW, schooled in Sydney and attained a Bachelor and Masters of Commerce (Marketing) from the University of NSW. Heather worked in Sydney and Singapore before moving to Darwin in 1998. She has a wealth of experience and has worked in senior roles in consumer goods manufacturing, financial services, retail property development and the manufacturing and retailing of luxury goods.
Heather has been the the Managing Director of Australian Crocodile Products Pty Ltd since founding this company in 1998 in Darwin. The company innovatively designs, manufactures and retails saltwater crocodile skins through a range of accessories including handbags, belts, wallets and jewellery. These are exported internationally to destinations including the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Through her work and board membership, Heather has a wealth of connections through the business sector, education, tourism and the arts within the Northern Territory. Her expertise has made her a valuable asset to the board of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. Since 2019 she has been a Director of the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) Foundation. The NAISDA Dance College is based in Kariong, NSW and has a focus on Indigenous contemporary dance.
Heather has been a valuable supporter of 2 Way Learning since its inception. She has championed the purpose of the company through her discussions with business leaders and government agencies. She is passionate about cross cultural learning and growth, also exemplified by her commitment over 30 years to various projects in Bali, Indonesia.
Heather is an active Northern Territory based Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Tom E. Lewis (Deceased 25/8/1958 – 11/5/2018)
Tom was a Murrungun man who was born and grew up in Ngukurr in the Northern Territory.
He had a variety of jobs before being identified at Melbourne Airport for the lead role in the movie – “The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith”. He subsequently spent many years working in the Melbourne theatre scene and appeared in dozens of Australian films and series. His more recent work included playing Othello in the Darwin Theatre Company’s production of the Shakespeare classic and King Lear in the same company’s production – The Shadow King.
Tom was also an accomplished songwriter and musician, playing the digeridu, flute, clarinet and guitar. He toured internationally and released two solo albums.
Since 2001 Tom had been living in Beswick, South Arnhem Land, and initiated a cultural foundation – the Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation.
Over a very brief period, Tom became a significant supporter of 2 Way Learning. He believed that students from Indigenous and non-Indigenous backgrounds could learn with and from each other through art, music and dance.
Tom died tragically of a heart attack in Katherine in 2018. His optimism and support is missed.