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Committee Members

Rowena is mother of two and has lived in the East Kimberley most of her life. Rowena's Grandmother's ancestry from Gooniyandi country in the Fitzroy Valley and her Grandfathers Ngaringman country in the Northern Territory. Employed by Rio Tinto for the past 5 years, currently as Team Leader Communications at Argyle Diamonds, Rowena has worked in various industries including landcare, aged care, women's advocacy and media. A Fellow of the 2009 Leadership Western Australia cohort, Rowena is currently working on a project with the YMCA to engage youth moving through the correctional services system into 'real' jobs on their release.

Peter has a University Degree in Environmental Science and Biology. He worked for 15 years in the department of Agriculture before his passion in regional development changed his course and he began what was to become a 10 year career as Chief Executive Officer in local Government, including the Shire or Wyndham East Kimberley. Most recently his interest and expertise in regional development has enabled him to acquire the position of Director of the Ord East Kimberley Expansion Project. Peter would like to see KGT Apprentices and Trainees become role models that inspire other young people to do the same. His future goal as a committee member is to help double the number of Apprentices and Trainees coming through KGT.

Matt has spent almost a decade of his years as a school principal in the Kimberley. His first principal position was in 1979 - at Kalumburu, WA's most northern remote Aboriginal community. With 3 decades of experience in education under his belt, Matt is committed to the education of youth. Matt was brought up by parents who were dedicated to working with Aboriginal people in Central Australia and this has rubbed off on Matt - who is committed to getting Kununurra District High School Aboriginal youth into jobs, using KGT for their training needs. Matt presently fills the role of 'treasurer' for KGT. "One of the reasons I was attracted to joining the KGT committee was because of the natural synergy between KDHS and KGT with getting youth successfully into work and further training."

Ian was a founding member of Kimberley Group Training in 1997. He has spent the last thirty five years in Aboriginal Affairs in positions in the East Kimberley and elsewhere in the state. Previous to his current role as Executive Chair of Wunan, Ian was the Kimberley Zone Commissioner for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and previous to that, Chairperson of Wunan ATSIC Regional Council for the East Kimberley.

Ian is a firm believer that education, training and employment is the key to achieving this dream and believes organization such as KGT have an important role in assisting members of the wider community to improve their lifestyle and more specifically the Aboriginal people to achieve their dream.

Murray holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of New South Wales and a Post Graduate Diploma of Management from Macquarie University. He is the General Manager at Wunan, an Aboriginal development organisation in the East Kimberley, whose purpose is to drive long-term socio-economic change for Aboriginal people. Prior, Murray was the Deputy CEO of the Sunnyfield Association, which provides both commercial and not for profit activities that support 900 people with disabilities. He has also been the Chairman of the ACROD National Committee which focuses on influencing, improving and implementing change at a policy level for people with disabilities across Australia.

Zoe has a Batchelor of Forest Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. Zoe works in the agriculture and forestry industry, and provides strategic advice on a variety of projects in the Ord Valley and beyond. For the last 5 years she has been involved in the local Indian Sandalwood industry, as well as being a member of a variety of committees, including the annual Agricultural Show. Her industry expertise makes her a valued member of the KGT committee, with knowledge of the employment opportunities in the local irrigation area. "In the future I would like to see that the decisions we make as a committee will end up engaging more young people in training and employment."

Tessima grew up in Wyndham and worked in administration for 8 years before starting a family. She is now a mother of two and is studying a Batchelor of Arts in Aboriginal Studies. Tessima has a long history with KGT, having completed two traineeships through the organization 10 years ago in Business Administration. Tessima decided to become a KGT committee member because she hopes to encourage others in their training and employment opportunities. "I want to support and be involved in a well grounded and unique organization."