Home is …
We are currently living on Yugambeh Country in the Currumbin Valley in south-east Queensland. Until July last year, home with my young family has always been Pittwater in NSW. When we saw the state borders closing from COVID-19, we decided to pack up our little family in my husband’s beloved Land Rover Defender (a retired regional fire truck!) to undertake a camping trip around Queensland. We turned a corner at Birdsville and headed back towards the south-east coast and we’ve been in Currumbin Valley ever since.
How I start my day …
I’m very slow in the morning! I always start with a big, long cuddle with my kids in bed and then a cup of tea on our verandah. We’re very lucky here in our new home that we overlook Currumbin Creek and a 30-foot waterfall — I pinch myself every morning!
I feel most alive and wild when …
I’m in the Australian desert. There is something about the red earth that just gets me every time. Its pulse, the energy, the vast sky where the stars come down to meet the horizon in that infinite expanse.
And the alps! I feel so deeply connected to the mountains both here and abroad. To quote Mary Oliver, “For me, the door to the woods is the door to the temple.” I love snowboarding — those off-piste adventures are my adrenaline rush and burst open my heart and physical presence. Glaciers can bring me to tears with their raw majesty and every breath of the journey etched into the ice; a huge mass crawling through the ages and then tiny me — it’s an exercise in humility.
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On ambition …
I began my working life in the arts and it still informs an important reference point for me around communication and narratives. At Groundswell, we utilise the arts as an important messenger in so many of our conversations.
I had my “aha” moment around the climate crisis after watching the film Chasing Ice in 2015. I remember driving home afterwards with a fierce intention to commit myself to actively participating in the climate movement. It was not until the beginning of 2017, however, that the opportunity presented itself in a very meaningful way when I met Anna Rose.
In the beginning, after the film, I thought I needed to go back to university and study environmental science to make my contribution. But that’s not the case. Your existing skill set can translate across into the climate movement in a multitude of meaningful ways. My existing skill set in the arts was composed of storytelling, community building and relationship management — and that’s still really at the essence of what I am contributing to the climate movement through Groundswell.
On co-founding Groundswell …
Groundswell is a philanthropic platform funding strategic, high-impact climate advocacy. We launched in February, 2020, off the back of the bushfires. For many, it was the first time they had consciously made the connection to the climate crisis. There was such a community outpouring with so many donations being directed to the fire services, to injured wildlife, which was wonderful, but there was also a large number of people recognising that we had to address the issue at the root of the cause, and those people wanted to know: “How do we fund and accelerate climate action?”
Groundswell seeks to answer that by profiling the inspiring people and organisations doing high-impact work in climate action. We have already raised $800,000 since then and we hope to raise $1,000,000 this year.
Importantly, Groundswell also provides a community for our members to help take away some of the overwhelm surrounding the climate crisis by having a shared purpose. Together, we know that action is the antidote to despair.
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On collaboration …
I work with a big trust-based currency. It’s brought all of the best people into my life, including my Groundswell co-founders Arielle Gamble and Anna Rose. Mostly I am just following my nose, intuitively, until the opportunity comes into focus — and then I seize it. I recognise the opportunity as it presents itself and then set about connecting the dots, bringing the right people together and amplifying it.
Being collaborative is about being a good listener, recognising that other people’s strengths can complement your own and tapping into them with a mutual respect. It’s about lifting each other up together, sharing your platform, having diverse voices in every conversation and recognising your place within the broader ecosystem.
On success …
I’m lucky enough to count some pretty magical people as friends. I genuinely love the work that I do and the people I do it with. My young family underpins everything that matters to me and I am proud of the small humans my children are evolving into.
Professionally, success is when someone you’ve mentored or supported goes on to eclipse you in their own work! The ripple effect is success. It’s a privilege to have played a small role in someone else’s “aha” moment, to be that catalyst and then see them go on to have an incredible impact in the climate space. That truly is one of my greatest joys.
On adversity …
I think it can be tough being in the climate movement — knowing that it’s a timed test, that we literally have just 10 short years, a decade, to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change that will affect generations to come. It sometimes feels like a huge burden, but also a huge opportunity and privilege to be alive and contribute to this pivotal moment in the history of humankind. Sometimes, my heart simultaneously implodes and explodes. And the bushfires were tough. Really tough for a lot of colleagues, seeing it play out so visibly in real time after trying to raise the alarm for so long. It was hard seeing the impact it had on some of them. It was devastating to be honest.
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I am motivated by …
A mixture of love and rage, which is where the word courage comes from (the French word for the heart cœur plus rage). Anna Rose first shared this with me and it resonates so deeply. My love for my children, my love for the natural world, as simple as the butcher bird on my verandah, the gift of life and my rage that there are vested interests deliberately obstructing climate action.
What motivates me are my children’s best chances of living and thriving on a healthy, viable planet with all life on earth. To know the science shows that the sixth mass extinction is accelerating — it’s hard, I’m actually snuffling as I write this.
On leadership …
Those people that I admire most are “leading from behind”, graciously and with humility. They lead with an intention to enable others to step into their own empowered leadership. To chart the course by listening and navigate with perspective from the whole community. And for me, it’s important to always self-consciously check in unconscious bias, power dynamics and inherent privilege.
On switching off …
Oh my gosh, I’m hopeless! I need to get better at switching off. I have such a restless mind. I had a physical injury at the end of last year that has forced me to slow down, so at the moment I’m in a cycle of physio, remedial massage and acupuncture. I love my acupuncture for both physical and emotional realignment. It’s been the silver lining through it all.
I also think a dip in water can be transformational; that physical act of cleansing can do the same on a multitude of other levels and clear the emotional noise. The ocean or a waterfall is best — those negative ions can invigorate instantly. Total reset. Love it. Wish I did it daily.
Where to find me …
Say hello @groundswellgiving on Instagram or groundswellgiving.org
