Our People

Led by senior Djaara Elder Rick Nelson, Nalderun is governed by a board of Directors. Our staff are Indigenous and non-Indigenous and we are supported by a wide network of deadly volunteers.

Uncle Rick Nelson

Djaara

Uncle Rick is the Senior Djaara Elder within the Upper Loddon Region and son of Uncle Brien Nelson. He is the Chair of Nalderun’s board and it’s under his guidance and oversight Nalderun’s programs run. He is a Cultural advisor for the broader community on various matters concerning the local Djaara and First Nations Community. He co-ordinates Nalderun’s Kuli Business (Men’s business) for high school aged youth – which is where he takes men and boys to to learn through connection to Culture and Country. He also leads Waaman Tours – taking the broader community out on Country to visit sites of significance.

OUR ELDERS

Uncle Ron Murray

Wamba Wamba

Uncle Ron Murray is a Wamba Wamba man (Swan Hill area) living at Yapeen, on Djaara country. He is a cultural educator, storyteller, musician, didgeridoo maker and wood sculptor. Ron has an international reputation as a didgeridoo soloist and also performs as part of the Celtic-Indigenous fusion duo, Kinja, with fiddler/vocalist Sarah James. He has an MA (Education) from RMIT University. His thesis looked at how Indigenous knowledges and positive stories can combat racist attitudes in the wider community. He has previously been employed by Victoria Police, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and has worked for over 30 years delivering cultural healing programs in the youth justice sector. Ron is a sought after cultural presenter/ performer at conferences, in educational settings and at festivals.

Aunty Paulette Nelson

Djaara

Aunty Paulette is a Dja Dja Wurrung woman and sister to Uncle Rick Nelson. The Nelson family have an unbroken and documented connection to this Country of the Mt Alexander Shire. Aunty Lette has vowed to carry on the Cultural work that was started by her father, Uncle Brien Nelson.

Aunty Julie McHale

Palawa

Auntie Julie is a proud Palawa woman, adopted as an Elder by the Dja Dja Wurrung community. She is a passionate teacher of culture, and has taught many local Aboriginal kids of Liyanganyuk Banyul (Mount Alexander) Shire who attended The Meeting Place.

Aunty Julie McHale has been working with native plants and botanicals for decades, growing more than 90 varieties of native bush tucker food from all over the country at her property. Many of her plants are now housed at Nalderun’s Bush Tucker Farm in ‘Aunty Julie’s Hot House‘.

Aunty Julie’s legacy as an educator is also being carried foward by Nalderun CEO Kath Coff and the Learning Way Team, who are sharing Aunty Julie’s curriculum resources and teachings.

Ben Reid

PALAWA

Ben Reid is a First Nations man living on Djaara Country. He is a Youth Mentor and Board Director at Nalderun, where he supports young people to build leadership, and connection to culture helping them to feel proud in their identity. He also works at the Me-Mandook Galk Bush Tucker Place, propagating and sharing native plants with the community. Ben is passionate about education, justice, and creating spaces for Mob to thrive.

Kath Coff

YORTA YORTA

Kath is a proud Yorta Yorta woman, community leader and educator. As well as her role as CEO, Kath is the main mentor who supports staff, assists with co-ordination of events, organises supports for Aboriginal students and their families and is a teacher at the Meeting Place. She lectures, consults and teaches at TAFE and higher education and runs Indigenous Relational Worldview Trainings to the broader community. She is a PhD candidate at Melbourne University.

Chase Norfolk

BUANDIG

Hi, my name is Chase Norfolk and I am a proud Buandig man and I am in love with my culture and I work at Nalderun. I am a manager at the bushtucker place and I also run a day a fortnightly with Uncle Rick Nelson for the young indigenous men from the Castlemaine secondary collage high school. I help with food runs for the Aboriginal community and I also help the sbat students through a cert II in horticulture and get them ready for the work force.

Camilo Demarco

URUGUAYAN

Camilo Demarco is a Uruguayan man living on Djaara country working in multiple roles within Nalderun. He works closely with Djaara Elder Uncle Rick Nelson on his cultural tour social enterprise Waaman Tours as well as various other programs specifically with men and young fellas. He is also a co-manager at the MeMandook Galk Bushtucker Place and is committed to creating inclusive spaces where people can gather, support one another building connection and resilience.

Emma King

MOB/HERITAGE

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MOB/HERITAGE

Sas Allardice

NON-INDIGENOUS

Sas Allardice is an Ally who is a part of the collaborative leadership team at the Me Mandook Galk Bush Tucker Place. She loves working alongside the deadly team of First Nations Youth to care for Country whilst also helping develop a Bush Tucker Nursery and a variety of value added products with the plants we grow.

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Grace Coff

YORTA YORTA

Grace Coff is a deadly Yorta Yorta woman who has had the honour of working in Community for the past 4 years. She helped start up the program for the young First Nations youth in the local high school. She also did a short course in xero and worked as the book keeper for 2 years. Now she works as Co Manager at Me Mandook Galk Bush Tucker Place and has started experimenting with product making with the plants we grow.

Jean McMohan

YORTA YORTA

Jean (she/her), a proud Yorta Yorta woman living on Djaara Country in so-called Victoria. She works at Weenthunga in the Women’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing Space. Jean brings 25 years of experience as a First Nations educator across community, education, and health sectors. She stands alongside Kath as an educator at the Meeting Place backing and educating First Nations students from local primacy schools out on Country. She is completing her Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community Work and is passionate about collective narrative practice, decolonising justice, and healing through connection to Country. A queer woman and parent, Jean loves spending time with her partner, kids, and animals on Country.

Tanisha Murray

FIRST NATIONS

Tanisha Murray is an Aboriginal woman living on Djaara Country. She is a First Nations Youth Mentor and Yulawil Program Co-ordinator at Nalderun. Alongside this work, she is a practising artist. She values the way her culture shapes her creative practice, bringing meaning and connection to her work. Tanisha is also a member of Mount Alexander Shire Council’s Youth Advisory Group and Amplify Committee.

Mahesh Kandasamy

SOUTH INDIAN HERITAGE

Mahesh is a woman of South Indian heritage living in Djaara Country. In her work life that spans over 25 years, Mahesh has meandered through the banking, social enterprise, microfinance, and community housing sectors. Mahesh's academic qualifications include a Master in Organisation Dynamics and a Master in Sustainability and Social Change. Mahesh is passionate about using her culinary skills to entice groups and communities to come together to engage in deep conversations guided by mutual tenderness and curiosity, which may lead to meaningful shifts in their lives.

Andrea Distefano

ITALIAN HERITAGE

Born on Wurundjeri Country to Italian-settler parents and based on Djaara Country, Andrea Distefano is the Yulawil Program Co-Coordinator at Nalderun. She works alongside First Nations Youth Mentors, Tanisha Murray and Chase Norfolk. Her favourite part of the role is getting the opportunity to learn from young people and take their lead on how programs are delivered.

Meera Fernandes

KONKAN PEOPLE (INDIA)

Meera Fernandes joined the Nalderun team in 2025 doing volunteer curriculum support, with a background in learning design, co-design practice and community organising. They love cooking, music and being an Aunty to two beautiful niblings.

Meera is South Asian to migrant parents, neurodivergent, and non-binary living with chronic illness, and their lived experience has shaped a career grounded in community care, human rights, and accessibility. They are passionate about creating learning environments where people feel respected, motivated and empowered, and where lived and living experience is recognised as essential expertise.

Zoe Scoglio

NON-INDIGENOUS

Zoe is a settler with Southern Italian and Anglo ancestry who is living, loving and learning on Djaara Country. Much of their role at Nalderun is to support Kath and the relationships with the broader non-Indigenous community. This includes supporting partnerships, grant writing, comms and trainings. She’s also part of the local Castlemaine Self Reflection Conversation Collective who hold conversations about allyship and colonisation in partnership with Nalderun.

Kirsty Moegerlein

GERMAN & IRISH HERITAGE

Kirsty is an ally at Nalderun who works in the Our Learning Way team. She helps with developing Nalderun’s educational resources and offerings. Kirsty grew up on Wurundjeri Country and now lives in Yapeen on Djaara Country. She’s an artist and an aunty and loves to spend time revegetating land where she lives.

Tylajae Charvat

PALAWA

Hi im Tylajae also known as TJ. I’m a proud aboriginal Palawa man from Bendigo.
I’m an indigenous artist and play the didgeridoo.
I work for Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation doing food share.

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Kate Daglas

GUNDITJMARA

Kate is a Gunditjmara person with ties to Katomeri, Greece, currently living, working, and loving in Narrm on Wurundjeri Country. She holds a deep passion for learning and listening, encoding a strong relational praxis into both her personal and professional life.

Through her literary work, Kate transforms lived experiences into reflective pieces that explore themes of love, grief, pain, and yearning, both of and from people and place. Her work has appeared in Rabbit Poetry Journal (2017), with further contributions featured in the Medical Journal of Australia (2020) and Youth Journal (2023).

Kate is committed to working alongside and amplifying the voices of young, marginalised peoples, especially those with intersectional identities such as young queer mob. Her ultimate goal is to work with First Nations communities and engage in restorative storytelling practices through authorship.

Dallas Wilson

MIRINING & WIRINGU

Juri Graco-Ilves

YORTA YORTA

I am a registered teacher with experience in primary, specialist and tertiary education. I am passionate about creating inclusive, engaging learning experiences that celebrate each young person's strengths, interests and individuality. My approach focuses on building positive relationships, supporting voice and agency, and helping every young person feel safe, valued and empowered to learn.