Our Directors
Elly Chatfield
A Gamillaroi woman, artist, writer, painter and mother. As one of our company directors Elly has worked with Bazz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman and the cast and crew on Australia the movie. She has also worked for National Parks, setting up an Aboriginal Arts Initiative in one of the Western Sydney schools, presented and taught cultural workshops and talks on the Stolen Generation. Her cultural perspectives, mentoring and relationship building are highly valued at Red Cockatoo Australia.
Chris Tobin
As a Dharug man he is a traditional custodian in the Blue Mountains region and we welcome Chris as one of our directors at Red Cockatoo Australia. Chris coordinates Aboriginal presentations for private groups and also provides artworks for government bodies, small business and community organizations. While working with National Parks he also co-ordinates other Aboriginal rangers to deliver cultural presentations as well as teaching large groups of children about ochres, weapons, Dharug language, painting, dancing and Aboriginal games.
Rebeccca Harcourt
A writer, facilitator, creative artist, teacher and business woman Rebecca Harcourt has lived, travelled and worked closely with a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, groups and organisations in urban, regional and remote settings since returning to Australia in 2003.
In consultation, she has initiated and/or developed community projects- experiences that engaged with and valued Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as diverse and evolving cultures, with respect for all people and their histories.
Rebecca is the founder of Reignite The Fire, a motivational life-skills program that incorporates the creative arts to nurture and draw on the strengths of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within their own communities.
Rebecca is also the Indigenous Program Coordinator with the Australian School of Business at the University of NSW, a SSE Fellow and a guest columnist for the National Indigenous Times.
Nyrie Hopkins
BSc (Maths & Statistics), GradDip Applied Finance
Nyrie has been involved with Red Cockatoo in a variety of ways since its inception and it was a natural progression to join the Board of Directors when Red Cockatoo become a Not For Profit Organisation. Nyrie has over 20 years experience in the finance industry in Australia & London, primarily in investment related and client relationship roles. In London this included involvement with Social Responsible Investing which has many similarities with the values of Red Cockatoo. Nyrie currently has an active family life and devotes a large slice of her time to volunteering in the community and at her children’s schools.