reMAKER associates
We’re proud to introduce you to some key members of our reMAKER family, leaders who embody the spirit and vision of an Australia reMADE in the work they do.
Dr Amanda Cahill
Amanda is the CEO and Founder of The Next Economy, a non-profit organisation that supports regional communities across Australia to build more resilient, climate safe and socially just economies. After spending two decades working on economic development projects across Asia and the Pacific, Amanda returned to support regional communities across Australia to manage changes in the energy sector in ways that stimulate local economic development. She has successfully supported all levels of government, industry, workers and community groups to manage different aspects of the energy transition across Queensland, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley and more recently, the Northern Territory.
Amanda has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a PhD in Human Geography from the Australian National University. She is a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne, an Adjunct Lecturer at The University of Queensland and a 2020 Churchill Fellow.
Dr Arnagretta Hunter
Arnagretta is physician and cardiologist who advocates for a future in which people and planet thrive. She works on impacts of climate change on health and wellbeing, and on building resilience into a future of increasing complexity and challenge.
Currently based in Canberra (and sometimes regional Victoria) she has practiced medicine across urban and regional centres. She is a member of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University; and the co-host of ANU's Crawford School Policy Forum Podcast. She is the Chair of the ACT Climate Change Council.
An experienced communicator of diverse ideas, Arnagretta is a champion for both imagination and science, as well as caring and community. She is fascinated by the role of stories and narrative in healthcare and beyond, and the importance of creativity and the arts in our lives. She is a proud champion of the work of Australia reMADE.
Amanda Kelly
Amanda (she/her) has a strong passion for diversity and gender equity, backed by an extensive career in policy, advocacy and health leadership. Throughout her work with Women’s Health Goulburn North East as Chief Executive Officer, Amanda has led initiatives to improve health outcomes for rural and regional women, championing prevention, gender equity and health promotion at the local level.
Her leadership across multiple boards and committees – including the Victorian Pride Centre, VicHealth, Chronic Illness Alliance Peer Support Network and the Women’s Health Services Network – reflects her commitment to collaborative governance and evidence-based action on equity. Amanda’s capacity to bring diverse voices together is further demonstrated by her role as Chair of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee at Goulburn Ovens TAFE, ensuring rigorous oversight and inclusive decision-making that benefits the diverse and rich communities across Victoria.
David Ritter
David is CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, where he leads a talented and determined team campaigning to fulfil Greenpeace's mission to secure an earth capable of nurturing life in all of its magnificent diversity. He is also one of the original co-founders of Australia reMADE.
Before joining Greenpeace, David was an Indigenous rights lawyer, primarily advocating for the Yamatji and Marlpa First Nations of the Pilbara, Murchison and Gascoyne regions in Western Australia. He's also a widely published writer, including three books, The Coal Truth, Contesting Native Title and the The Native Title Market, as well as numerous essays and other publications.
From Western Australia originally, David’s lifelong environmentalism and connection with nature began in the creeks and valleys of Perth’s Darling escarpment where he grew up, roaming around with an assortment of dogs, catching gilgies and cobbler, avoiding dugites, and developing a life-long affection for paper barks and dragon-flies. He now lives in Sydney in a slightly battered terrace house with his spouse, two daughters and one dog.
Frank Bongiorno AM
Frank is a Canberra-based historian, originally from Victoria. He is currently Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, and Director of the Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas, at the University of Canberra. He has previously worked at the Australian National University, King’s College London, the University of New England and Griffith University, and has held visiting fellowships at the University of Cambridge and the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University. Frank teaches and researches Australian history, with a fairly broad brief – but much of his work has been in the fields of political and labour history. He is strongly committed to historical practice that connects directly with the problems of the present, and as a result spends a fair amount of time engaging with media and giving public talks. He is an advocate for the humanities through his role as President of the Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, and for history as Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Humanities. AM is a Canberra-based historian, originally from Victoria. He is currently Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, and Director of the Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas, at the University of Canberra. He has previously worked at the Australian National University, King’s College London, the University of New England and Griffith University, and has held visiting fellowships at the University of Cambridge and the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University. Frank teaches and researches Australian history, with a fairly broad brief – but much of his work has been in the fields of political and labour history. He is strongly committed to historical practice that connects directly with the problems of the present, and as a result spends a fair amount of time engaging with media and giving public talks. He is an advocate for the humanities through his role as President of the Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, and for history as Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Humanities.
Harriet McCallum
Harriet McCallum has served as Mannifera's Executive Officer since 2020. With over two decades of experience, she has led multi-disciplinary teams, fostered cross-sector collaborations, and driven forward advocacy projects across the public health, local government, philanthropy and NGO sectors in Australia and South East Asia. Harriet transitioned into the philanthropic sector out of recognition for the pivotal role philanthropy plays in supporting civil society and convening diverse collaborators for systemic change. Prior to joining Mannifera, Harriet led community resilience initiatives at the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, pioneering long-term, multi-sector efforts addressing health disparities worsened by climate change. Earlier in her career, Harriet worked as a social worker and advocate with refugee and asylum seeker communities and victim/survivors of sexual assault and family violence, leading teams in Melbourne and Cambodia. She also managed local government youth, family and early years teams in Melbourne's West. Harriet holds degrees in Arts and Social Work from the University of Melbourne.
Hollie Cheung
Hollie currently works in research at the Climate Council. She’s passionate about social and climate justice, and creating a more equitable world for people and planet. Through work in civil society, corporate and social enterprise environments, Hollie recognises the potential and necessity of diverse stakeholders collaborating to create a better future.
Her experience has fostered an open-mindedness, a love for learning and an appreciation of the complex systems we are all a part of. Most recently Hollie has worked and volunteered for a range of nonprofits including Next25, 350.org Australia and Go Circular. Hollie interned with Australia reMADE in 2018 when the organisation was launched and has since been captivated by their vision, work, and its possibility ever since.
Judy Horacek
Judy is a cartoonist, writer and children’s book maker. Ten collections of her cartoons have been published, the most recent of which is Now or Never. Her cartoons are often concerned with the environment, feminism and social justice. Recently she collaborated with Flying Fruit Flies Circus on Girls with Altitude, a wonderful show of circus meets cartoons. She creates children’s books on her own and also with Mem Fox, including the beloved Where is the Green Sheep? Judy is also a printmaker and regularly exhibits her work.
Julie Lyford
Julie is currently the Chair of WELA - Womens Environmental Leadership Australia. Her drive has been the issues of climate change and social justice since starting the Gloucester Environment Group in 1989. After a career in nursing, Julie became a local government councillor for 17 years, the Mayor and Chair of Hunter Councils for a brief period (Interesting story!). Activism in the face of CSG and coal mining took over the last 15 years, with board roles with the Sunrise Project, Connected Communities for Social Impacts, was chair of Groundswell Gloucester and occasional consultant with The Next Economy.
Julie has held various board and committee roles, was part of the Rocky Hill coal and climate win and the AGL CSG win in the Gloucester valley.
Julie and Garry have three children and three grandchildren. An OAM was awarded in 2016 for Julie's environmental and community advocacy.
Dr Katherine Trebeck
Katherine’s roles include Economic Change Programme Director at The Next Economy, Senior Strategic Advisor to the Centre for Policy Development, and writer-at-large and co-director of the Compassion in Financial Services hub at the University of Edinburgh.. She is a member of the Club of Rome and co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and WEAll Scotland. She is Distinguished Visitor at ANU’s Planetary Health Hothouse and was 2024 thinker-in-residence at the Australian Health Promotion Association.
Kelly O’Shanassy
Kelly is an Australian environmental leader, experienced in executive roles in environmental advocacy, business and government.
A co-founder of Australia reMADE, Kelly loves making positive change for Australia’s rivers, forests and wildlife, and for people. She believes strongly in building people power and unusual partnerships to advocate for a better future.
Kelly believes if we work together, we can remake Australia into something better for people and nature.
When not advocating for nature, you can find her kayaking along Australia’s rivers.
Kuweni Dimuthu Dias Mendis
Hollie Kuweni (b. 1979) is an artist who integrates movement, sound, film, installations, markings, and sculptural ritual objects to create immersive works that invite audiences into direct, embodied experiences reconnecting them to their heartbeat, rhythm, gait, posture, and sense of time and space within a decolonized body.
Her practice is deeply shaped by her hybrid cultural experiences between Sri Lanka and Australia. Kuweni blends regenerative practices, arts activism, and cultural facilitation, using ritual and ceremony as vessels for artistic expression. Through practice led research, she explores her role in preserving a vanishing heritage.
As a migrant woman of color on unceded lands, she advocates for and amplifies the voices of marginalized women through collaborative artworks, exhibitions, and participatory experiences. She strives to create spaces where these voices can be heard and valued.
Mark Zirnsak
Mark is the Senior Social Justice Advocate of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia, as well as core early supporter of Australia reMADE.
Mark also serves as the Secretariat for the Tax Justice Network in Australia, a member of the Commonwealth Government’s Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group and a member of the Commonwealth Attorney General’s National Roundtable on Slavery and Human Trafficking.
He is active in anti-corruption movements, including Transparency International Australia and the UN Convention Against Corruption Coalition.
Nicole Endacott
Nicole is a facilitator, connector and systems thinker who supports groups seeking to lead powerful change in their communities. By facilitating generative conversations among people with diverse viewpoints, she helps them collectively develop sustainable solutions to complex social challenges. Nicole is particularly committed to ensuring the inclusion of people who bring wisdom from lived experience.
Dr Russell Ayres
Dr Russell Ayres is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Environmental Governance at the University of Canberra. His focus is on improving government and public services, through a combination of teaching and research. He joined UC after a 30-year career in public policy and program delivery, mainly in the Federal education and social services portfolios. He has worked as an independent consultant, advising government agencies on their policy development processes and issues, and as an academic research manager. He has taught public policy at three different universities. He is currently researching the agency exercised by public servants in public policy and implementation. His PhD on ‘Policy Markets in Australia’ examined the concept and application of contestability in policy advice systems.
Saffron Zomer
Saffron is the Executive Director of the Australian Democracy Network (ADN) and is a lawyer, campaigner and political strategist with more than a decade of experience leading law reform campaigns. Prior to the ADN, Saffron was Government Relations Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation. She spent several years living and working in the US, where she held a range of campaign and government relations roles.
In 2017, Saffron co-founded and led the Hands Off Our Charities Alliance which secured critical changes to 2017 Electoral Act amendments to protect the rights of civil society organisations to engage in advocacy.
Thomas Walker
Thomas (Tom) is an economist, geographer, and CEO of Think Forward, an organisation founded and run by younger Australians. We aim to inspire intergenerational care and facilitate transformational change in our economic and tax systems by demonstrating that economic and tax policies—not a lack of individual effort—are what are hindering younger generations from building their lives on a healthy planet.
Education and community building are key tasks. We take a new media approach to meet people where they are, helping them understand how things work, what’s broken, and present opportunities to do things differently. We’re replacing misinformation and individualism with curiosity, connection and a shared belief that through economic and tax reform, we can build a better future.
