STAFF PROFILES
Get a little insight into the staff of Link-Up (Qld) Aboriginal Corporation.
Click on the images below to return to the About Us page. |
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Dr. Melisah Feeney - CEOMy name is Melisah Feeney and I started in early September as the new CEO of Link-Up Qld. I have been involved in a wide range of social and emotional well-being projects with Indigenous communities over the past 15 years in my work as a psychologist and community activist. I was the Director of the Footprints in Time project and a committee member of the ACT Journey of Healing and involved in organising Sorry Day events. I have Celtic roots with most of my family from Sydney and the NSW North Coast. We have recently found an Aboriginal uncle on my father’s side. I come from a large though dispersed family and have been through my own experience of reuniting with siblings that I was separated from when I was growing up, including an adopted Aboriginal sister. |
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Brian Marshall Jnr. - Case Work ManagerI am from the Bundjalung nation in NSW. I have completed a Bachelor of Archaeology (Hons) from the Flinders University of South Australia and am currently undertaking Post-grad studies. It is an honour to be able to work with the Qld Link-Up team as their Team Leader. It is very refreshing to have the opportunity to work with an organisation that has a positive impact on the Indigenous community. My previous employment has been within the University sector as a lecturer and researcher. My current vocational study is a collaborative approach between my father and I to tell his story as a Stolen Generations man. It has been a very difficult journey for both of us, but one that has allowed us to laugh and cry throughout our journey together. I believe that there are many other Stolen Generations members out there who need to have the opportunity to find where they are, and who their families are and also have the opportunity to laugh and cry throughout the journey. [ Top ] |
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Helen Belle Bnads - Counselling Services ManagerI joined Link-Up (Qld) Aboriginal Corporation as the Social, Emotional & Well Being Counsellor. I am a descendant of the Bindal people (Ayr, Qld) with direct family connections to Cherbourg. |
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Mick Angeles - Communications ManagerI'm from the Binbinga & Ngandi mob, Boorooloola on the McArthur River NT and Barunggam mob out Chinchilla Q. I also have South Sea Islander kanaka from Ober Island, New Hebrides, Phillipino and Scandinavian bloodlines, and now that I've shaken the family tree, some Japanese has fallen out as well. I originally thought my mob came from Hollywood. [ Top ] |
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Darcy Bolton - SEWB Counsellor (Rockhampton)I am a descendant of the Wailwan and Muruwarri people from the Brewarrina area NSW. I hold a Bachelor of Social Science Degree and a Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy. I joined Link-up on the 23rd June 2008. I look forward to helping our people as some of my cousins were apart of the Stolen Generation. In the past I have worked in Education, Health and the Prison System with a passion to help our people. I have written and published many articles on Aboriginal Mental Health and Spirituality and Aboriginal Psychology. I am married with 8 children, 10 grandchildren, another one on the way, and one great granddaughter. My hobbies are oil painting and cutting gem stones. |
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Mati Mistry - Counsellor BrisbaneIt is my honour to have the opportunity to work in an organisation that is working towards healing the spirit of the Indigenous community. I was born in England and my heritage is Indian. I grew up in a large extended family of fifteen in a close knit Indian community; this gave me strong understanding of family and cultural belonging. I joined Link-Up (Qld) in Feb 2010. I have had a very diverse professional career; I studied, trained and worked with The Richmond Fellowship UK in Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Well Being. I moved to Australia 25 years ago & changed directions and trained and worked as a tapestry weaver at The Tapestry Studios of Australia weaving rugs for the then New Parliament House and then ran my own studio where I developed my own style mixed media art. In the last five years I have been teaching and running workshops for children, and young people at schools, non government organisations and in my private practice with women’s groups in Creative and Art Therapy. I have recently completed a Post Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Experiential and Creative Art Therapy, with The Melbourne Institute for Experiential and Creative Art Therapy. I continue to pursue my creativity. |
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Ruthie Link -Caseworker/Counsellor BrisbaneHi everyone. I am a descendant of the Goreng Goreng people (Gladstone, Bundaberg). I spent my youth growing up in inner Brisbane. I have just completed two Diplomas at Southbank Institute in Community Services. I am a Mother, an aunt, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, but most of all an Indigenous Woman. [ Top ] |
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Jody Jackson - CaseworkerI'm a proud Koori of the Kamilaroi and Bundjalung Nations in NSW. I have been employed with Link-Up (Qld) since August 2005 as a caseworker. I have previously been employed in a number of roles within the Brisbane ATSI community organisations including Domestic Violence Support and Refugee worker, Housing Support worker for youth, Female Youth Support worker, Book-keeper, Admin Officer and Teacher's Aide. My main interests are my family (my husband and two daughters), Basketball, Touch Footy and Rugby League. |
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Karen Collins - Caseworker |
Pamela Frith - CaseworkerHi my name is Pam Frith and I am a newly appointed Caseworker for Link-Up (Qld). [ Top ] |
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Bernard Kelly-Edwards - CaseworkerI am a 30 yr old Gumbayngirr boy from the mid north coast of NSW (Nambucca Heads) who left school back in '96 and went to Sydney and work with various departments and agencies over a period of 10 years. I recently completed media studies at Batchelor Institute in NT and my strongest passion is photography. I have worked for Legal Services, Fair Trading Departments and Corrective Services in NSW then after a period of time decided to make a move north to Yuggera (Brisbane) country and start a new life after testing times in my life. I have turned my life around and worked for a Job Network company in Logan in '08 and resigned from there to continue my passion in photography. When I was experiencing my testing times I became involved in a program called Red Dust Healing and I am currently an advocate for this program becoming an example of someone that has changed their life for the better. |
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Henrietta Hunter - CaseworkerI have a loving and supportive husband and three beautiful children, two boys and a girl. My family ties are Kaitidj and Walpiri people Central Australia and Irish thrown in from my mother side, Tiwi and Iwaidja people through my father side. Both my parents are from the Stolen Generation. I come from a large family of twelve which I am the sixth child with eight sisters and three brothers. I commenced worked with Link-Up (Qld) on 15th December 2009 as a Caseworker. [ Top ] |
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Nicholas Thompson - Caseworker CairnsMy name is Nick & I am one of the case workers for Link-Up based in Cairns. |
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Marilyn Smith - Caseworker TownsvilleI am based at the Townsville Aboriginal & Islanders Health Services in Garbutt where I was previously employed as a Stolen Generation Counsellor for the past 4 years. I consider myself a Nuargi woman as my late grandmother was taken from around the Cardwell area in North Queensland. My rationale for being short in stature is that my heritage can be traced back to the rain forest people of Nth Queensland. My late grandfather came from Murray Island. I consider myself very lucky as I have both an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island background. I graduated from Townsville's James Cook University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Community Welfare Degree at the age of 50+. I am a Board Member of the North Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Women’s Legal Service (ATSIWLS Nth Qld) and am involved in the Townsville Human Rights Movement. I am a proud mother of three and the doting grandmother of five. |
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Ruth Loli - Research OfficerI joined Link-Up (Qld) as a Research Officer in June 2009. I have completed a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Anthropology and have been working in the field of native title for the past five years. My experience has increased my understanding of the scale and complexity of the issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. I come from a multi-cultural background and am married with a two year old son. I currently work part-time and am in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. [ Top ] |
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Valerie Clarke - Office ManagerValerie was originally contracted to assist the Caseworkers with their Foxtrot data entry. Originally from the Midlands in England, Valerie settled in Australia seven years ago with her Australian husband, Gavan.
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Katelyn Iselin - Administrative OfficerI am from the Mununjali mob out of Beaudesert and the Nunuckle mob from Stradbroke Island. I joined the team here at Link-Up (Qld) Aboriginal Corporation on the 4th April 2009 in the Administration department. I have completed a Certificate III in Hospitality and am now currently studying for my Certificate IV in Frontline Management. [ Top ] |
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Kerriann Toms - Administrative OfficerLink-Up has been a great place for me to learn about the Stolen Generations and I enjoy supporting other people who may be looking for family members. I am a product of the Stolen Generations, as both my parents were taken away from their families as very young children. My Father spent most his childhood at Kinsela Boys Home, and my Mother was brought up in Cootamundra Girls Home. I was adopted into a white family as a baby and grew up with no idea of my culture, or who my birth parents were. |
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Marietta Pita - Temp Administration Officer I join Link-Up in awe of the work that is done here. I was born in Fiji, but migrated with my family in 1970 to Australia, settling in Sydney. My people are from Rotuma, a little island 460 south east of Fiji and I am one of nine children, being number 6 and one of three girls. My husband and I have three boys, 22, 10 and 8 years of age. |
Last updated Thursday, 01-Jul-2010






















