Board

The Yirra Yaakin board is all Indigenous representation that brings together a strong mix of skills from Community advocacy to Indigenous Media. Visionary in its commitment to Indigenous control and strong artistic outcomes.

Clem Rodney

Chairperson

Irma Woods

Treasurer

Irma Woods is an actor and emerging filmmaker.

Irma’s work highlights include being apart of the Perth premiere of Kate Mulvanny’s play The Danger Age this year, the ground breaking Pinjarra Massacre I-Pod Project and producing the short films Main Actors, You’re Not Playing That! and doco-drama Wrong Way which received a Directing award and Best Documentary Production award at the 2008 WA Screen Awards.

Irma is also the Treasurer for the P & C Committee of her son’s school.

Narelle Thorne

Secretary

Narelle Thorne is a Yamatji woman with Noongar family ties. She has had an extensive career working in television, radio, public relations, policy and research. Commencing her career at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) she worked across television and radio as a reporter and presenter.

Narelle then moved on to a public affairs role at the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA), where she helped to organise Aboriginal heritage tours and developed the WA schools reconciliation program PALS – Partnership, Acceptance, Learning and Sharing.

Narelle has also worked as a Policy and Research Officer at DIA where she assisted with the development of an Aboriginal Languages Policy for Western Australia, about the preservation, maintenance and revitalisation of WA Indigenous languages.

Terry Grose

After a number of years spent in merchant banking Terry joined Wesfarmers in 1985 as its first business development manager. He spent a decade with Wesfarmers, in a range of senior management positions, before moving to Hong Kong where he was CFO of an innovative computer software company for three years before establishing Grose International, a commercial and financial consultancy operating in Hong Kong and through Asia.

Terry returned to Perth in 2008. He is currently chairman of the Samson family group of companies which includes Sadleirs Transport, Lionel Samson & Sons and Plantagenet Wines, and in October 2009 he joined the board of Yirra Yaakin. Terry also undertakes consulting assignments with companies that can benefit from his broad commercial background.

Jake Milroy

Jake Milroy is a Palyku man from the Pilbara of Western Australia who worked in a variety of occupations before returning to study and graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations and History.

While studying at the University of Western Australia, Jake was the Vice-President and then President of the Western Australian Students Aboriginal Corporation assisting in the organisation of cultural exchange activities and improving life on campus for Aboriginal students.

Jake Milroy is currently an Australian literature researcher based at the University of Western Australia where he works on the Black Words project. Black Words is a subset of AustLit; the Australian literature resource focussing on works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait writers and storytellers.

Joining Yirra Yaakin in 2009 was another way of continuing his vibrant interest in the promotion of Aboriginal culture to the Australian public and international community through sharing stories.

Michelle White

Michelle White is the Chief Executive Officer of 100.9fm Noongar Radio Perth. She is a multi-award winning journalist with more than 20 years experience in television and radio. She is a former Series Producer for the ABC TV Indigenous series Message Stick . Michelle has worked on a variety of ABC programs including TV News, The 7.30 Report, Australian Story and Blackout. Her radio credits include Awaye! on Radio National and four year stint as the WA representative for The Morning Show on Triple J.

Michelle is a passionate supporter of the arts and spent three years as the Marketing Manager for Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Corporation. Michelle is an Indigenous representative on the ScreenWest board. In her spare time, she is the Vice President of her local community association.

Advisory Commitee

Peter Kift - Financial Advisory Committee

As an accountant with a Bachelor of Business degree and more than 25 years experience in the private, government, non-profit and community sectors, Peter brings with him a wealth of business experience, but with a primary focus on finance and management matters. He is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a member of the National Institute of Accountants. His roles have encompassed public practice accounting and taxation, state government, aircraft R and D, the film and television industry, and more recently in the community health sector where he is currently the Business Manager for the Western Australian AIDS Council. He has a keen interest in the arts, having been a musician, singer and actor in his younger days.

Peter has been the honorary treasurer for ATOM in Victoria and has been involved as a production accountant in many independent film productions. He is currently the President of Kulcha - Multicultural Arts of WA Inc.

Peter is also a member of the Financial Advisory Group for Australia’s leading Indigenous theatre company, Yirra Yaakin, and is keen for arts organisations to become financially secure and achieve world best practice in every part of their endeavours.

Reuben Kooperman

Reuben’s connection with Yirra Yaakin dates back to the beginnings of the company and its first premises in East Perth in the mid 1990’s.

He is currently the principal of a specialist project management consultancy involved in the design, management and delivery of a variety of public and private sector infrastructure projects and buildings, including libraries, university buildings, offices, mining control centres, and sports and cultural facilities.

His professional career has spanned architecture, property, construction project management, arts and cultural consultancy and events management over a period of 35 years.

Alongside this career background, Reuben has been an active professional musician for a similar period (still performing regularly and touring occasionally) and has maintained a strong interest in arts and performance. He has been directly involved in the organisation of the Fairbridge Festival for 18 years (since its inception) and has held the position of Chair since 2008. Reuben was also the project director of the QFest outback festival from 2002 – 2006 and has been involved in other regional festivals and events.