reMAKER associates

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 the health impacts of climate change with interests extending from the biology of health and disease, the importance of social determinants on wellbeing and the impact of the environment on our lives. 

Currently based in Canberra (and sometimes regional Victoria) she has practised medicine across urban and regional centres. She is the Human Futures Fellow at the Australian National University, where she is a senior lecturer in the Medical School; a member of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions; and the co-host of the Crawford School Policy Forum Podcast. She is also chair of the Commission for the Human Future. 

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 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) is the CEO of Women’s Health Goulburn North East: a feminist organisation leading change towards women’s empowerment, women’s health, the prevention of violence against women and ultimately, gender equality in rural and regional Victoria.

Driven by impact, Amanda’s core expertise is looking at the context in which an organisation is operating and ensuring that the organisation's vision is achieved.

Amanda works in the community context, knowing that when everyone participates, the best outcomes are achieved. She looks for the connections between the ways we live, work and are in the world. Her current role allows her to focus on the long-term systemic changes we need to consider to create a life that is full of meaning for all of us.

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.

Dr Emma Lee

Emma is a trawlwulwuy woman of tebrakunna country, north-east Tasmania, Australia.  She is an Associate Professor (Indigenous Leadership) at Swinburne University of Technology.  

Emma’s work in Tasmania has assisted in constitutional reform, the first joint management plan of a protected area and establishing a market for cultural fisheries. 

In 2021, she became the first Indigenous Australian editor of a Best Practice Guideline for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and in 2020 was the inaugural recipient of the William Jonas Award, Institute of Australian Geographers.  In 2019, she accepted a Federal Government membership to the National Co-Design Group, Indigenous Voice. Emma was a finalist for 2022 Australian of the Year (Tasmania) for her body of work in Indigenous rights.

Harriet McCallum

Harriet is the Executive Officer of Mannifera, a growing Australian philanthropic collective who invests in and partners with civil society to build public trust, transparency and fairness in democracy, and create a more inclusive economy. 

Harriet is a social worker with 16 years’ experience leading multi-disciplinary teams, cross-sector collaborations and advocacy projects in public health, NGO sectors in Australia and South East Asia, local government and philanthropy. 

Harriet joined the philanthropic sector seeing its power to support a strong and effective civil society, and its role in convening diverse groups of collaborators to achieve systems change.

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 is an advocate for economic change with roles including writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh and a Strategic Advisor for the Centre for Policy Development. She co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and WEAll Scotland, and instigated the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership. 

She sits on advisory groups including for The Democracy Collaborative, the C40 think tank, and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity. Her most recent book (with Jeremy Williams in 2019) is The Economics of Arrival, and her major report, Being Bold: Budgeting for Children’s Wellbeing, was launched in March 2021.

Kelly O’Shanassy

Kelly is the CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation and a sustainability leader, experienced in executive roles in business, government and the community sector. 

A co-founder of Australia reMADE, Kelly has led the charge to boost clean energy, save water and protect Australia’s rivers, reefs, forests and wildlife. She believes strongly in utilising people power and unexpected  partnerships to advocate for a better future. 

Kelly believes if we work together, we can remake Australia into something better for people and nature.

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.

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.