'Now More Than Ever': National Reconciliation Week Panel @ DesignInc Sydney

This National Reconciliation Week, DesignInc Sydney and Nguluway DesignInc will be hosting a panel discussion centred around this year’s theme: ‘Now More Than Ever’.

Be sure to save the date in your calendars and join us, an esteemed panel and industry professionals for an evening of engaging discussion.

Introducing the panel:

+ Adam Byrne, Bush to Bowl

Adam is a Garigal (Garu) descendent currently living on Kamay Country on the Northern Beaches of NSW. He is passionate about his culture, teaching about its importance of connecting mob to their traditional foodways as a form of healing. Adam is a qualified landscaper and designer who specialises in horticulture and is inspired by food sovreignty and traditional farming practices. Adam is a co-founder and co-owner of Bush to Bowl—a social enterprise aimed at creating a healing space and platform for First Nations Peoples by Connecting to Country and their traditional foodways.

+ Aunty Barb Simms, La Perouse Aboriginal Elder

Aunty Barbara (Barb) is a descendant of the Bidjigal people of La Perouse and an Aboriginal elder. As a member of the Stolen Generation, at the age of three, Aunty Barb and four of her siblings were forcibly removed from their mother’s home in La Perouse. She has been a community advocate and an Aboriginal Elder for many years lobbying governments and organisations to give Indigenous people equal rights and opportunities.

+ Michael Manikas, DLG Shape

Michael is a proud Biripi and Worimi man, descendent from the Cook and Syron families. He is passionate about Indigenous engagement, particularly in the built environment, social impact issues, sustainability, and family. He is also the General Manager at DLG Shape with the goal to make a serious impact on reconciliation and improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through employment and business opportunities.

+ Rhiannon Brownbill, Bangawarra

Rhiannon is a non-Indigenous graduate of Architecture and works as a Connecting with Country Spatial Design Consultant at Bangawarra – a design practice that challenges colonial spatial methods and applies Aboriginal knowledge and culture to create spaces for all people and all aspects of nature and the environment. Through her degree, and now in her work at Banagwarra, she has developed a core skillset that explores architecture, healthcare and disability through the prioritisation of Country.

+ Hosted by Craig Kerslake, Managing Director of Nguluway DesignInc

As an architect and proud Wiradjuri man, Craig draws upon his cultural heritage, community and knowledge of Country. He fosters this way of knowing and doing across the team, bringing deep understanding to inform spatial planning and architectural form. With over 18 years of design and delivery experience, Craig’s main focus as an architect has been on major works projects for government as well as housing, health and community buildings.

As a passionate advocate for the well-being of First Australians, Craig sees his role as an opportunity to make a difference to both First Australians and Australia as a nation. Through engagement and support for future graduates, Nguluway DesignInc bridges of the skills gap while offering a unique narrative to the profession. It is Craig’s personal ambition to transform the current numbers of First Nations people represented within the practice of architecture to become proportionally equal to that of non indigenous Australia.