The Red Dust team

Simon McKeon is a member of the Big Issue Advisory Board and an Australia Day Ambassador for the Victorian Government. He previously served as Chancellor of Monash University, Chairman of In2Science, AMP and CSIRO and the Group of Eight's Industry and Innovation Board. He was Founding President of the Federal Government's Australian Takeovers Panel, as well as its Point Nepean Community Trust.

Other previous roles include Founding Chairman of MS Research Australia and Business for Millennium Development. He was also Chairman of the Federal Government's Panel which in 2013 completed a Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research. Simon was also the 2011 Australian of the Year.

Gavin’s successful career spans more than 30 years across large corporations and the philanthropic sector.

He brings extensive leadership, finance, accounting, and governance experience to the Red Dust Board. He has a long history of volunteering and is committed to recognising the cultural value and contributions made by the First Nations Peoples of Australia.

Gavin is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment at Securities Institute of Australia (now FINSA).

Gavin is Chairperson of Red Dust and member of the Finance & Audit and Nominations Committees.

‍

An accomplished and motivated Indigenous professional with over 18 years’ experience in Indigenous affairs and community engagement.

Experienced in consultation, facilitation and community engagement, Tania has completed a Bachelor of Business from Queensland University of Technology and also holds an Advanced Diploma of Business Management.

John Wayne Parsons is a proud Yuggerabul Ugarem le (man),based on Narrm (Melbourne), on the homelands of the Kulin Nation. He is a singer songwriter who has always loved singing and growing up in a family with strong spiritual and cultural influences. Among his many credits as a singer, John’s past performances and musical projects have contributed to telling the complex and varied stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. John Wayneprides himself on his culture and his singing practice, which is deeply embedded within his cultural identity and ancestral ties to cultural warriors and knowledge holders from both sides of his Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. John Wayne incorporates these important cultural perspectivesinto his music practice. John Wayne currently works at the University of Melbourne as the Team Leader for Indigenous Student Success at Murrup Barak, at theUniversity of Melbourne.

‍

A longtime Red Dust Role Model, Will was warmly welcomed to the board at the end of 2014. A former player in the Western Bulldogs, Will was selected 20th overall in the AFL Draft and began his professional career when he debuted in 2004.

Most recently, Will completed his Sciences Degree from the University of Melbourne.

Roslyn is passionate and committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all Australians. She holds a Masters degree in Public Health and has an extensive professional career in the health sector.

Roslyn has developed national prevention programs for leading Australian organisations including the National Stroke Foundation and Australian Drug and Alcohol Foundation. She is currently responsible for managing strategic relationships as the Head of Clinical Engagement at Medibank Private.

Chris is a former AFL player forging a successful career spanning over 150 games with Richmond and Port Adelaide. Following his football career Chris has taken on numerous executive roles in the sporting and nonprofit sectors including 4 years as CEO The Reach Foundation.

Chris is passionate about innovation and brings a wealth of knowledge and insights to the Board and as Chair of Red Dust’s Innovation & Aspiration Working Group.

Mia brings extensive legal, governance and corporate strategy experience to the Red Dust Board, having worked in the professional services, major events and sporting industries. Throughout her career, Mia has been fortunate to work and volunteer with a number of Indigenous organisations and charities.

Mia currently holds a Victorian Legal Practising Certificate and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is currently studying for her Masters of Business Administration.  

Mia is Chair of Red Dust's Audit & Finance Committee.

Jen is a Registered Nurse and Midwife specialising in Maternal and Child Health and Lactation Consultancy. She is currently working in community based health and brings many years of experience working with families of 0-5 year olds.

Jen is the wife of our late founder John Van Groningen. Jen has had the privilege of walking the Red Dust journey with John. She has been there from the early days in the 80s when John was a light aircraft pilot flying around the Tanami desert to later years when as a sports Chaplain John first started taking sports role models out on Community. Through this, John and Jen both saw the power and influence positive role models have on kids and their families, the importance of two-way learning and the strength and beauty of Indigenous culture.

Jy is a Yorta Yorta man, Captain of the North Melbourne Football Club, and 2021/22 Syd Barker Medal Winner. Jy was first introduced to Red Dust in 2018 as part of a Healthy Living Program in Yuendumu and is an active Ambassador of Red Dust. Jy was one of three Indigenous NMFC Players who inspired the ‘Connecting through Identity’ design of the 2023 NMFC Indigenous Guernsey for the Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

‍

Ally Anderson is a proud Gangulu woman and AFLW midfielder for the Brisbane Lions. She was part of the Brisbane team that won the AFL Wonmen’s premiership in 2021 and won the AFL Women’s season seven best and fairest award. Ally was also a duel Brisbane best and fairest winner and was named in the 2019AFL Women’s All-Australian team.

Alongside being an ambassador for Red Dust, Ally is an ambassador for JobTrail. They help Indigenous job seekers along each step of their employment journey and assist employers with their Indigenous engagement initiatives. 

Ally is an active role model for young First Nations women and players and has coached the AFL Indigenous KickStart program made up of U17s Queensland and Torres Strait Islander girls. 

‍

Dane Simpson burst onto the scene in 2015 as a national finalist on Deadly Funny and from there it has been a fast-rising trajectory for this comedian in hot demand. A whirlwind of corporate gigs, tours and festival runs were to follow, both as a solo artist and as part of Aborigi-LOL. Dane has toured his hit show Didgerydoozy at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and debuted his new show Always Was Always Will Be Funny at the MICF. Dane has also appeared with his dad Bow competing on Network Ten’s The Amazing Race – Celebrity Edition.  He produces the monthly Riverina Comedy Club and is a programmer/producer of the Wagga Comedy Festival, as well as being a regular guest on ABC radio with Anna Moulder and Richard Glover’s TGIF show.  

Dane’s stratospheric rise continued with guest appearances on Just for Laughs, Would I Lie to You?, The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Wil Anderson's Question Everything, Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow (2022 & 2023), Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala (2021), Get Krackin’, The Hundred with Andy Lee, SBS's Letters & Numbers, and even showing off his cooking skills (or lack thereof) on The Cook-Up with Adam Liaw. He will soon be seen on Guy Montgomery’s Spelling Bee.

Dane is also an accomplished actor with roles in The Emu War (2023), Residence (2024 release), The Merger (2018), and Get Krackin’ (2019). He’s also a sought-after MC and comedian on the corporate circuit.

‍

Melanie (MJ) is known as a pioneer for women's cricket in Australia and around the world. She brings a wealth of sporting experience and achievement to her role, having represented Australia in winning multiple  World Cups and Ashes teams.

A qualified teacher, she went on to work in cricket development and sports management before pursing a media career and is currently commentating cricket on domestic and international cricket events including the Australian and England summers, ICC World Cups and the Indian Premier League.

MJ recently finished as a Director on the Board of Cricket Australia which included being Co-Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Cricket Committee.

Jess is a current AFLW football player for Richmond Football Club. She was originally drafted in 2016 by the Carlton Football Club, however, moved across to Richmond in 2021, now playing alongside her twin-sister, Sarah.
Apart from Jess’ football commitments, she has also started up a charity called ‘2 Boots’, which aims to repurpose and distribute football boots and runners to remote communities within Australia.

‍

Sarah is the vice-captain of the Richmond Tigers Football Club and an experienced midfielder. Her passion and dedication for the sport is shown through her continuous success. One of these accomplishments is holding the most tackles in an AFLW game, with 16 tackles against GWS in 2018.

Using her influence for good, Sarah has been working with several initiatives and charities. ‘2 Boots’ is one of these charities and has been established by her twin sister, Jess.

‍

Santo is a filmmaker and TV personality with the Working Dog team. His work includes such classics as The Late Show, D Generation, Frontline, The Castle, The Dish, Thank God You're Here, The Panel, and worked with Glenn Robbins in All Aussie Adventures.

Santo generously gives his time and expertise to encourage remote students.

Martin was introduced to Red Dust Role Models through his various basketball connections.

He has spent his career in the sport business sector and brings a wealth of experience to the Red Dust leadership team and expertise based around business strategy and market research.

Shura Taft is a quirky and charismatic rising radio and television personality. Shura has worked on Channel 9, Melbourne's Nova 100 and has been involved in numerous charity events and MC events.

He is well known for his energy and enthusiasm that he brings to all his performances and is a professional on all levels.

A career spanning 16 years, Allan played 156 Cricket Tests for Australia, scoring 11, 174 runs including 27 centuries and finishing with an average of 50.56. He captained Australia in 93 Tests from 1984 to 1994 (a world record), winning 32 and losing 22. He was one of the 55 inaugural inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

Scott is an experienced public health executive who joined Red Dust in 2017 following five years as a senior manager at the Stroke Foundation.

Born and raised in North East Arnhem Land Scott is a passionate advocate for working in partnership with remote communities to improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

Ray is a descendant of the Kabi Kabi nation and the Gurang Gurang nation of South East Queensland, the South Sea Islander people, with connections to the people of Ambrym Island.

Ray earned a BA in Theology and helped establish the Aboriginal Education Unit in Murdoch University. He has also worked for World Vision Australia's Indigenous programs.

Jonathan is a multicultural and fluent Pintupi-Luritja speaking man from Walungurru. He is a professional musician with Aboriginal band Apakatjah and former host of JamPakt, a national Aboriginal radio show. Jonathan has extensive experience mentoring youth in community, juvenile justice system and targeted musical programs like the Australian Children’s Music Foundation.

Roberto grew up on Turrbal lands in South East Queensland and is a proud Italian-Australian. He found his passion working in health as a founding member of a dental startup.

Roberto joined Red Dust in 2019 bringing 20 years experience building relationships and partnerships with a range of stakeholders for organisations like Westpac, GE, Maven Dental, Heart Foundation and Stroke Foundation.

Alan is an Arrernte & Kaytij man with German ancestry. A qualified health worker Alan is a generous sharer of cultural knowledge and draws from extensive personal Central Australian family and community stories to inform, educate and mentor young people.

‍

Nathan is Red Dust's Cultural Education and Partnerships Manager. Having grown up on Kuku-Yalanji country he brings a diverse lens to the conversation with Red Dust drawing on his Torres Strait and Polynesian heritage and experience that extends across professional sport, banking and State/Federal government.