HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Yalari was founded in 2005 by Indigenous educationalist Waverley Stanley, his wife Llew Mullins and a group of like-minded and generous people.

Waverley grew up in the town of Murgon, 300 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, and attended Murgon State School. It was at this school where his Grade 7 teacher, Mrs Rosemary Bishop, recognised Waverley’s potential and felt he deserved a chance for a brighter future. Mrs Bishop was instrumental in Waverley gaining a scholarship to attend Toowoomba Grammar School for his high school education. It was this opportunity that started him on the Yalari journey.

Waverley acknowledges his future opportunities and successes were shaped by the education he received. In recognition of this opportunity and the desire for Indigenous generational change, Yalari was born and the Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Education Scholarship program established.