Torres Strait Islander Youth and City Living

Samantha Faulkner is a Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal woman, (Badu and Moa Islands, Torres Strait and Yadhaigana and Wuthathi peoples, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland). Her poetry and short stories have been published nationally and internationally. She is the proud author of Life Blong Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait, (2007) and editor of Pamle: Torres Strait Islanders in Canberra (2018). She also is a member of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Network, MARION (ACT Writers) and treasurer, First Nations Australia Writers Network and Us Mob Writing Group. In 2023, she was the inaugural Torres Strait Islander curator for the Brisbane Writers Festival. 

Mayella Koroi is a proud Wuthathi Nation, Boigu and Mer woman who has found a deep love and passion for creative arts. Not only a highly skilled producer for ILBIJERRI Theatre Company producing the Saibai Island children's play Biw A Githalay, First Nations producer with the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) delivering First Nations sector development programs, market support opportunities and international networking forums for First Nation and Indigenous artists and arts makers internationally. She is also Creative Producer - Engagement with Brisbane Festival and is also a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist at heart, who performed on tour with Black Ties (ILBIJERRI) and supported many First Nations artists around Australia.

The industry has allowed her to draw on her 15+ years of experience to work alongside numerous community initiatives delivering development workshops and mentoring programs such as the Human initiative - Creative Tracks. Creative inspirations for program and sector development are heavily influenced by her Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Malay, Dutch-Indonesian and German cultural roots.

She is a firm believer in using her past and present experiences to propel her towards future endeavours.

Destiny is a proud Aboriginal, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander woman with a successful career spanning several decades. She began her journey working in tourism before transitioning into early childhood education and then onto community services and more specifically community finance. A passionate advocate for empowering the next generation of Indigenous people, she believes in the importance of early education as a way of developing career pathways. Her experience in financial and community development has allowed her to assist the First Nations Foundation with their goal of providing instrumental financial education. As First Nations Foundation’s Community Engagement Officer, Destiny travels around Australia delivering FNF’s financial literacy training. Working with CEO Phil Usher, she is a key figure in the FNF team - executing strategies within the community to bolster the vision of long-term financial prosperity for all Indigenous Australians, and intergenerational wealth transformations across Indigenous families and communities. She builds connections and develops beneficial relationships for the foundation. Destiny is inspired to help young Indigenous women create a better life for themselves and takes her position as a role model for the women she meets seriously. An advocate for female empowerment through education, Destiny has been able to build on FNF’s legacy of work while being a champion for change. Outside of work, Destiny’s greatest love and achievement is her family - she proudly embraces her cultural identity and has devoted her life to carrying on the traditional cultural expressions with those closest to her. Destiny is available for commentary and interview opportunities - to speak about financial literacy, financial education and wellness for Indigenous Australians, cultivating empowered communities to achieve financial wellness and economic independence, and intergenerational wealth transformation.

A Cairns Erubian now living in Brisbane, I am a process and project driven professional that maintains a strategic focus on outcomes whilst achieving milestones along the way. I am methodical in my approach to challenges and believe in the TEAM ethos. To me, actions speak louder than words, so will often actively participate in discussions and activities. I am currently an Adviser for the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) assisting with productive Foreign Direct I into Australia pertaining to the Hydrogen sector. I have a Bachelor in Applied Management from Federation University and qualifications in Project and Contract Management. I was a member of the National Youth Roundtable (1999), National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group (2001) and a board member of Keriba Mabaigal Torres Strait Islander Corporation (2013-2016).