Our Team

Acting CEO

Deadly Ally

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Fresh from the skies of Victoria, Alex spent his time during Covid-19 achieving his Commercial Pilots License. Prior to flying the skies, he was the National Partnership Manager at The Institute of Managers and Leaders, and the Membership and Business Development Manager at the Cairns Chamber of Commerce.

Alex is looking forward to making a positive impact with our Corporate Partners and connecting some amazing opportunities with our Kinaway members.

Head of Corporate Partnerships

Noongar

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Kim is a proud Noongar woman on her father’s side who was born and raised in NAARM alongside her mother. Her journey of reconnecting with culture has deepened her commitment to community, cultural knowledge-sharing, and creating meaningful pathways for Indigenous economic empowerment and representation.

With a strong background in relationship management, stakeholder engagement, and strategic partnerships, Kim currently serves as Head of Corporate Partnerships at Kinaway. In this role, she works closely with corporate partners to strengthen engagement with the Victorian Indigenous business sector, helping organisations create genuine, long-term impact through collaboration, procurement, and inclusive business practices.

Kim is passionate about building trusted relationships and fostering culturally safe spaces that encourage learning, accountability, and meaningful action. She is driven by a desire to connect people, strengthen opportunities for Indigenous businesses and communities, and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable future across Victoria.

Engagement Manager – Membership and Kinaway Creative

Gunditjmara, Muthi Muthi, Wemba Wemba, Yorta Yorta

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Illana is a singer-songwriter who performs around Australia. A strong, proud yet humble Victorian woman from the Gunditjmara (Framlingham), Muthi Muthi (Deniliquin/Balranald), Wemba Wemba (SwanHill) and Yorta Yorta (Wolithica Tribe of Shepparton/Echuca/Moama areas) tribes respectfully recognising all four points of her cultural lineage.

Illana is passionate about her Aboriginal community and Aboriginal self-determination being realised for all our people, locally and nationally. Illana is a leader and asset to the Victorian Aboriginal community.

Corporate Partner and Membership Officer
Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wemba

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Jessie is a proud Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wemba man, born in Swan Hill and raised on the banks of the Murray River in the border town of Albury/Wodonga.

With a decade of experience across the business and finance sectors, Jessie has built his expertise through roles with nationally recognised organisations including Westpac, Supply Nation and First Nations Foundation. This journey has given him a deep understanding of the unique challenges Indigenous businesses face across Metro, Regional, and Remote communities throughout the country.

A respected leader in his community, Jessie is known for his passion, integrity, and unwavering commitment to growing the Indigenous business sector breaking down outdated barriers and championing the capability and potential of Mob in business.

Senior Program Manager

Wuthathi

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Samantha (Sam) French is a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman, experienced leader and passionate advocate for First Nations business growth. She brings strong experience in operations, project management and community engagement to her role at Kinaway. Sam has held leadership positions including General Manager at Karabena Consulting Trust and Operations Manager at the Murran First Nations Business & Retail Hub in Geelong. She has also worked with Aboriginal Housing Victoria as a Life Coach and the Team Leader of the Wellbeing Programs, supporting community-led research and engagement to strengthen housing outcomes for Aboriginal communities. Across her roles, Sam has delivered strategic projects, built partnerships and supported business development across health, justice, education and governance sectors. She is known for her practical leadership style, cultural integrity and commitment to achieving meaningful outcomes.

Sam is also the Founder of Blak Pearl Coaching & Consulting and an Accredited Life Coach. She empowers individuals to gain clarity, build confidence and step into their leadership with courage and purpose. Born on Thursday Island and raised in Darwin, her Aboriginal, Indonesian and Irish heritage strongly influences her values of connection, resilience and family. As a devoted wife and mother, she is driven by creating opportunities that build generational wealth and long-term success for First Nations people.

Sam is a Traditional Owner of the Wuthathi People of Far North Queensland. She carries this cultural responsibility with pride and respect, grounding her leadership in connection to Country, community and culture. Her identity and heritage guide her work, ensuring everything she does is centred on empowerment, integrity and creating strong futures for the next generation.

Corporate Partnership Co-Ordinator

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Rhys French is a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander man and Traditional Owner of the Wuthathi people of Shelburne Bay in Far North Queensland. He brings to Kinaway a practical background in customer service, sales, automotive operations, team leadership and small business ownership, together with a strong commitment to supporting the growth and success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.

Prior to joining Kinaway, Rhys built his experience across a range of roles within the automotive industry. His career has included working as a Sales Assistant with Autobarn, in vehicle sales and as an Acting 2IC with OzCar, as a Senior Parts Interpreter with Essendon Mitsubishi, and as a Manager with JSA Truck Wash. Through these roles, Rhys developed strong skills in customer relationship management, sales, communication, problem-solving, team coordination and working within fast-paced commercial environments.

Rhys is also the Founder and Owner of Prime Niche Detailing, an Aboriginal-owned automotive detailing business established in 2025. Building Prime Niche Detailing from the ground up has given 

Rhys first-hand experience of the opportunities and challenges faced by small business owners. He has managed all aspects of the business, including customer engagement, quoting, scheduling, service delivery, invoicing, marketing and business development. Prime Niche Detailing provides a range of services including vehicle detailing, paint correction, ceramic coatings and fleet and commercial vehicle services.

His experience as an Aboriginal business owner gives Rhys an important perspective in his role at Kinaway. He understands that growing a business requires more than providing a great product or service—it also requires relationships, networks, visibility, access to opportunities and the confidence to engage with larger organisations.

As Kinaway’s Corporate Relationship Coordinator, Rhys is focused on developing strong and genuine relationships between Kinaway, its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business members, corporate partners and industry. His goal is to help create meaningful connections that translate into real commercial opportunities, while supporting corporations to better understand the capability, diversity and value within Victoria’s Aboriginal business sector.

Rhys is particularly passionate about helping emerging and small Aboriginal businesses build their networks, increase their visibility and access opportunities that can support sustainable growth. Drawing on both his professional experience and his own journey as a business owner, he aims to be an approachable and practical point of connection between Aboriginal businesses and corporate Australia.

For Rhys, joining Kinaway is an opportunity to combine his commercial experience, entrepreneurial mindset and cultural identity to contribute to a stronger and more connected Aboriginal business sector.

Senior Graphic Designer

Wamba Wamba

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Keagan is a proud Wamba Wamba man from Swan Hill. He grew up in Bendigo and after completing high school in 2015, he decided to pursue his passion for art and studied at RMIT University in Melbourne.

After recieving his Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design, followed by a Diploma of Digital Media Technolgies, Keagan landed his job here at Kinaway.

While working at Kinaway, Keagan has now created his own business creating Aboriginal Art and other areas of Graphic Design called Neonic.

“I am grateful to have had the chance to learn more about Aboriginal businesses and my culture while working and gaining experience in a field I love and am passionate about..”

You can view Keagans Business (Neonic) here:
www.neonic.com.au