Women Building Community Conference
PRESENTERS AND FACILITATORS
Didi Ananda Kalika’ Member of the Order of Australia (AM) “Nurturing Mongolia’s Young Lives”
Australian born Didi Ananda Kalika has been a yoga nun for more than 25 years. She first went to Mongolia to teach meditation and yoga in the early 1990’s. In 1995, she founded the Lotus Children’s Centre to take care of the poor children on the streets of Ulaanbataar.
In 2009 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to the welfare of children in Mongolia as the founder and director of the Lotus Children’s Centre and through programs to improve child health and educational development.”
Didi Ananda Shamita
“Exploring your inner potential through Meditation”
Didi Ananda Shamita’ is originally from South Africa and has been a yoga nun for almost 30 years. During this time she has worked in North and Central America, Germany, South Africa, India, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea conducting meditation and yoga retreats, conferences and workshops; running preschools, service projects and women’s meditation centres. Didi is currently based at the Ananda Marga Women’s Meditation Centre in Brisbane.
Terri-Anne Goodreid
“Aboriginal Women Building Community”
Terri-Anne Goodreid belongs to Paakintji [Darling River] along with Anglo Celtic heritage. She currently lives on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and is presently undertaking a doctor of Indigenous Philosophies at Southern Cross University Lismore NSW
Kate Lukis BHSc Nat, Grad Dip Counseling, PG Hom (London)
“Maintaining the Balance in an Unbalanced World”
Many years ago, I worked as a family support worker, helping navigate families through the chaos they experienced daily. These families had histories of trauma, children with special needs and everything in between. This work guided me to explore better ways of understanding health and the importance of natural therapies rather than relying on western medicine that I felt made people more unwell. I also became aware of how important it is to acknowledge the mind body connection and the impact this has on our physical health. Studying counseling helped me bring different tools in working with natural health. My passion is empowering others to take charge of their own health so they can live the life they choose to.
Emma Tonkin & Melanie Robinson
Emma Tonkin is a Melbourne singer songwriter who has performed her original music over many years solo and collaboratively with two albums released over this time. She has been an artist in residence creating songs with pre school children and works as a singing teacher to primary school students.
Cellist Melanie Robinson has spent many years traveling to far flung regions of Australia,
both making music in remote communities,and collaborating and performing with some of Australia’s finest artists.
Cherie Minniecon
“Conversations with women”
Cherie Minniecon is a Yorta Yorta woman with a passion for working with young people. For the last 10 years she has worked with Indigenous and non- Indigenous youth nationally and throughout the world. She has worked for Victorian State government, community organisations, peace and conflict organisations in the Middle East and international NGO, Oxfam.
