Karee and Bridget

For the past seven years, Karee has worked for Kiribati’s national Maritime Institute. She has held leadership roles both as an adult educator at the Marine Training Centre and through her work in the local church community.

Karee believes that transformative leadership is essential for the positive development of Kiribati’s communities. She is committed to using her education and leadership skills to help address the prevalence of family violence, in particular its impact on women and children. Karee sees education as vital to breaking the cycle of violence. She hopes to empower young women and mothers to complete their education and in doing so, inspire their children and future generations of I-Kiribati to do the same.

Bridget is a business trainer, leadership coach and mentor, with extensive experience in the arts and cultural community sectors. Bridget has consulted widely to the government, private and community sectors on a range of issues relating to indigenous women and young people, including on reconciliation and cross-cultural competency. She has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia, with a focus on arts business, community enterprise and leadership.

In 2018 Bridget was Project Manager of the Empowering Youth to Thrive program, an initiative of non-government organisation Pathways to Resilience. This program is based on the neuro-sequential model of therapeutics, designed to regulate and inspire highly traumatised young people through creative practice, cultural exchange and physical movement. Bridget recently developed creative youth program Creative Tracks, and continues to work as the program’s Regional Manager.