As a Founding Director of Yalari, Waverley knows about the power of education and has worked tirelessly over the past 14 years to turn his dream of Yalari into a reality.  Waverley has worked extensively throughout Queensland as an Indigenous Support Officer for Education Queensland. More recently he has presented and facilitated leadership and education workshops and conferences for Indigenous people throughout Australia. Waverley is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program for 2005-2006 and also a recipient of the prestigious Churchill Fellowship in 2013. In 2019, Waverley was appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for his ‘signifcant service to the Indigenous community thorough support for education’.

Llew’s working life has taken her from her home town of Sydney, to Alice Springs and up to the Gold Coast Hinterland. A musician, writer, painter, business manager and owner with the heart of a humanitarian and social justice advocator, Llew’s experience and qualifications in business, financial management and organisation, mentoring and many years working in the social welfare and counselling areas, saw her well positioned to assist Waverley when he shared his idea of Yalari with her in 2004.

16 years later, and now the Managing Director of Yalari, Llew draws on a wealth of knowledge and vast life experiences to manage the operations of a medium sized not-for-profit company — a position she is honoured and proud to hold.

Bruce holds degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Queensland and was formerly a partner in a leading commercial law firm. He specialised in international business and conducted business development activities throughout Asia. Bruce has spent the last 20 years with Davidson Recruitment and in his current role as the Davidson Group CEO, he leads a talented team across Australia and New Zealand dedicated to enhancing workplace performance for clients. He has also been invited to consult to boards and senior executives, to act as a mentor, and speak on both formal and informal occasions.  Bruce has previously held the role of Regional Councillor for Finsia.

KAREN SPILLER OAM CF

MBA, MEdAdmin, BA, BEdSt, FACE, FAIM, FACEL, FAHRI, FAICD, FCEOI, CF

Karen has had teaching and leadership experience in schools for over 30 years. She is the Principal at John Paul College and the former Principal at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, as role she held for 18 years.

Karen is a Past National Chair of the Association of Heads in Independent Schools Australia and is currently President of Independent Schools Queensland and a member of the Independent Schools Council of Australia Board.

She is a previous national chair of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools, Australasia and board member of the Australian Boarding Schools Association.

Karen is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Human Resources Institute, the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and the Australian College of Educators. Karen is also a member of the Queensland Government’s International Education and Training Advisory Group.

In 2017, Karen was awarded a Medal of Order of Australia Queen’s Birthday Honour for her service to women, and to education. In 2019 she received the prestigious national Nganakarrawa award presented by ACEL for Excellence in Educational Administration.

John has a wealth of investment management experience, having spent more than 24 years in a variety of roles within the industry. Prior to founding Avoca Investment Management, John spent six years at UBS where he was Managing Director / Portfolio Manager of the UBS Australian Small Companies Fund, which was awarded the Australian Fund Managers’ Best Small Cap Fund Manager of the Year in 2009. John joined UBS in 2004 from Credit Suisse First Boston where he was a Director of Equity Research Sales. He has worked in a broad range of roles within the industry including equity analysis, trading and sales at various financial institutions including Maple-Brown Abbott, Bankers Trust Australia and JP Morgan Private. Prior to working in financial markets, John was employed as an auditor with Price Waterhouse.

Born and raised in Cairns, Eddie’s rich Indigenous Australian cultural heritage comes from Erub and Mabuiag Islands of the Torres Strait. Eddie is one of Australia’s leading facilitators and highly respected leadership educators. He is a leadership entrepreneur, coach, mentor, strategist, presenter, author and speaker, and a lifelong learner of leadership. Eddie’s passion is to build, strengthen and advance better leadership connections between everyday people. He has had the privilege of coming alongside youth to inspire them to achieve their leadership best. He has coached executives and senior executives in business leadership. He has mentored people who want to make a difference in their personal lives, and he has had the honour of facilitating events for people who want to transform nations. He continues to positively inspire, instruct and influence the lives of all generations in living their best leadership life.