Speakers, panellists and performers
INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES SYMPOSIUM
Speakers, panellists and performers
29 April 2025
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Leonora Adidi
Leonora Adidi is a cultural educator, linguist and a fluent speaker of Kalaw Kawaw Ya. Leonora is of the Suy-Baydham Clan of Bamaga and Saibai Island and lives in the community of Bamaga, QLD. A NAATI accredited interpreter in Yumplatok and Kalaw Kawaw Ya, she has skills in intercultural communication, training, and research.
Jacqui Allen
Jacqui Allen is a proud Wonnarua kulpari, who has lived and worked in Awabakal Barai her whole life. Jacqui has been working in the First Nations Language sector for the past 15 years, teaching children and youth from all over Awabakal.
Eric Brace
Eric Brace is the Director of First Languages and Digital Innovation at the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) and the Living First Languages Platform Company. Eric has extensive experience managing the creation of ALNF’s digital tools in collaboration with Indigenous communities across Australia.
Jungajji
Jungaji is a Western Gugu Yalanji & Birri Gubba songman with 30+ years in music. As chair for The Dhadjowi Foundation, he leads initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, focussing on language preservation and cultural mentoring.
Sophie Brennan
Sophie is a proud Kamilaroi woman, dedicated to fostering valued and respected relationships within her community and supporting the conservation of Aboriginal languages across Australia. She works on Awabakal initiatives and programs that promote language learning and cultural awareness, developing resources and activities that encourage the use and preservation of the Awabakal language.
Megan Cope
Megan Cope is a Quandamooka artist from Minjerribah. Her site-specific sculptural installations, video works, and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment and mapping practices.
Gaja Kerry Charlton
Gaja Kerry Charlton is a Yagarabul Elder and traditional owner in Quandamooka, Kabi Kabi, and Yuggera Ugarapul Peoples native title claims, with ties to the Gulf. Her work includes WularaNguru historical language mapping and handbook (2019); Judy Watson's Women of Brisbane, Meanjin Papers, 2023, book 2024, Language Fellow, podcaster, student.
Desmond Crump
Desmond Crump of the Gamilaroi Nation in South-West Queensland is dedicated to reviving languages through education. He supports school language programs and is currently an Industry Fellow at the University of Queensland. He also serves on the Office of Arts National Directions Group and the AIATSIS Languages Advisory Committee.
Tanya Denning-Orman
Tanya is a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman from Central and North Queensland who has been a fierce champion for strong Indigenous media and better representation of First Nations peoples. As Director of First Nations at SBS, she leads the network’s strategic approach to Indigenous content, elevates NITV, and amplifies First Nations voices across all platforms. With over 30 years of media experience, Tanya has worked as a journalist, producer, and became SBS’s first Director of Indigenous Content. She currently serves on the boards of Screen Careers, the World Indigenous Broadcasters Network, and the Starlight Foundation.
Ben Foley
Ben has collaborated with people documenting their languages for many decades. Recently, Ben developed speech-recognition systems and now works with the Language Data Commons of Australia and Indigenous language centres, to maintain long-term access to their collections.
Lala Gutchen
Lala Gutchen is of the Meuram tribe from Erub (Darnley) Island, Torres Strait. She is the First Language Programs Facilitator for the Erubmer Language Living First Language project, for Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF). Lala is a strong advocate for the revival of her Erubam Buaigiz (Erub People’s) first language in her community.
Jason Jia
Jason Jia is the Cultural Heritage Advisor for the Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council and Supervisor of the Mapoon IKC Coordinator. His work focuses on preserving cultural heritage through the management of the Cultural Keeping Place, recording oral histories, and providing educational resources on cultural heritage and conservation.
Raelee Lancaster
Raelee Lancaster is a Brisbane-based librarian and writer, descended from the Wiradjuri and Biripi peoples, and raised on Awabakal lands. Her library career spans library services and heritage collections. Raelee is passionate about enriching the metadata of Indigenous collections, advocating for Indigenous governance and sovereignty within libraries and archives and promoting information literacy.
Brett Leavy
Brett Leavy is a proud First Nations descendant of the Kooma people of western Queensland. A visionary in digital storytelling and interactive media, Brett's career spans three decades in media, communication and ICT. Brett's mission is the preservation and promotion of First Nations' cultural heritage, knowledge and histories through immersive, interactive experiences that authentically represent Indigenous traditions, landscapes and stories.
Fred Leone
Fred Leone, a Butchulla Songman with Aboriginal, Tongan, and South-Sea Islander heritage, hails from the Garrwa and Butchulla tribes. As a Songman, he preserves the Butchulla tribe's songs and language, ensuring contemporary stories are woven into their oral history and ceremonies.
Jessie Lloyd
Jessie Lloyd is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait singer, social historian and practitioner of Indigenous cultural songs. Working with elders and advisors, she is founder of Ailan Songs Project and Mission Songs Project; both take audiences on a profoundly moving musical journey into the depth and diversity of Australia’s First Nations cultural identity.
Louise Manas
Louise Manas is a community leader and fluent in Kaurareg and Mabuyag dialects of Kala Lagaw Ya. Of Mualgal descent, her clan is Soegun. She specializes in teaching, interpreting, and cultural advice, with experience in consulting and facilitating language and cultural programs in both government and community sectors, working with children and elders.
Gemma Pol
Gemma is a Wiradyuri, Ngemba and Paakantji woman from a small coastal town on Worimi Country. She’s a freelance writer, support worker and the CEO of Common Ground – a First Nations not-for-profit and collective of First Nations people changing systems through storytelling.
Nicole Reilly
Nicole is a proud queer wiradyuri yinaa, whose work spans the roles of creative producer, director, performer, and teaching artist. She is the recipient of the Enoch Scholarship from Queensland University of Technology and is the inaugural Wandima Fellow in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse. She is now Senior Producer at BlakDance, the national industry organisation for First Nations contemporary dancers and choreographers.
Michael Running-Wolf
Michael Running Wolf (Northern Cheyenne and Lakota) was raised in a rural prairie village in Montana with intermittent water and electricity. Naturally he has a Master of Science in Computer Science, was an engineer at Amazon’s Alexa, and former faculty at Northeastern University. Michael is an AI ethicist who envisions an Indigenous future where Indigenous communities, alongside reclaiming their languages, attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. Michael is a 2024-25 The Tech for Global Good Laureate and, among other awards, his work researching an automatic speech recognition system for highly polysynthetic languages has been recognized with the Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize.
Tania Schafer (nee Bostock)
Tania is a Muunjali and Bundjalung woman who has worked at State Library since 1992. She specialises in family history, languages, and community connections, focusing on sharing and First Nations heritage.
Clarice Stanely
Clarice Stanley is the Discovery Lead of First Nations Strategy at Queensland State Archives. For a decade Clarice has been supporting Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples access to historical Government records.
Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson is a Gooniyandi and Gajerrong man from the Kimberley, with family ties from Broome to Kununurra. He is the Co-founder and Author of the INDIGIVERSE, which blends his cultural stories and language with the symbol of superheroes.
Caroline Running Wolf (née Old Coyote)
Caroline Running Wolf (née Old Coyote) is a citizen of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and a language activist, XR producer, and advocate for Indigenous languages and data sovereignty. Raised and educated in the USA, Germany, and Canada, she is a self-taught speaker of 11 languages and a passionate champion for Indigenous knowledge systems. Caroline has created Indigenous VR projects supported by Oculus and Sundance’s New Frontier Program. Since 2014, she and her husband, Michael Running Wolf, have worked at the intersection of Indigenous language and technology. She is co-founder of the Lakota AI Code Camp (LAICC), Treasurer and co-founder of IndigiGenius, and Lead Community Relations and Program Director at First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR), where she applies over 13 years of experience managing multinational teams to drive immersive AI solutions for language reclamation. A published poet and co-author of the Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper, Caroline serves on multiple advisory boards, offering insights on data sovereignty, immersive tech, and AI ethics.