Aarti Desai works at the intersection of music, culture and opportunity, helping the next generation break into the industry. With experience across festivals, government and youth organisations, she’s all about turning big ideas into real pathways for emerging artists and industry professionals — connecting people, building programs and championing the future of Australian music.

Professor Anna Hickey-Moody is passionate about the arts and a big believer that arts practice is a really accessible way that young people can learn really useful skills. She leads the Vital Arts project with enthusiasm, commitment and care.  

Anna studied performing arts at The University of Adelaide, at a time when they had specialist performance degrees (ah, the 1990’s!). She then went on to work with Restless Dance Theatre from 1996-2003 and received funding from the Department of Premier and Cabinet to train as a director with the company. After co-directing two major  Restless productions, in 2005 Anna moved to Melbourne where she worked in the performing arts and media program at NCAT Education (previously Northland Secondary College). Anna also ran regular dance programs for NADRASCA disability support and the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program, amongst other organisations.  

She continues her creative practice across a range of media today. Recently, she has exhibited in Adelaide as part of Illuminate Adelaide and shown work at The Whitworth in Manchester, P21 Gallery, London, Goldsmiths University and Project Space in Melbourne. Anna is always keen to chat about the arts and learning and creative industries. You can reach out to her at anna.hickey-moody@rmit.edu.au

Evrim is first generation Turkish-Australian creative and community builder, with a focus on advocacy. They have nine years of experience as an organisational leader and facilitator in the community sector, with a unique passion for broadcasting and podcast production. Currently they are completing their PhD in Arts Management at RMIT, uncovering 21st Century Employability Skills in Youth Arts programs with podcasting as a method for action research.

Ingrid Voorendt is a performance maker living in Naarm/Melbourne. She works as a director, devisor, writer, dramaturg and choreographer, and is Associate Director at Back to Back Theatre. Ingrid has a dance background and has worked in community/socially-engaged arts practice for more than 20 years. 

Mita Chowdhury is an interdisciplinary practice-led artist and PhD candidate at RMIT University. Born in the river delta region of Bangladesh, her early life was shaped by catastrophic river erosion and seasonal floods that precipitated her family’s climate migration/ Now based in Melbourne, she explores the complexities of first-generation Bangladeshi-Australian identity through decolonial and feminist methodologies. Her practice spans expanded painting, installation, and ephemeral sculpture, focusing on material storytelling and socially engaged art with diverse communities—especially migrants, women, and those on the margins. She employs non-western knowledge-making processes, positioning art-making as a space for belonging. Chowdhury has delivered multiple socially engaged projects in collaboration with local government, community groups, and institutions including RMIT. She was the recipient of the RMIT Cultural Vision Scholarship (2022) and the Young and Emerging Artist Award (2023) from ADFAS Yarra. Her works have been exhibited widely, including at the 2022 Asian Art Biennial in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in numerous solo exhibitions since 2021.

MzRizk – Lebanese-Australian DJ, broadcaster, event producer, and cultural curator—is a powerhouse shaping Melbourne's dynamic music and arts scene. With a self-taught foundation and an innate talent for genre-fluid storytelling, her sound traverses house, disco, hip-hop, jazz, soul, and Arabic music. Renowned for her community-first ethos, she's built a career amplifying marginalised voices, earning respect as one of Melbourne's most versatile selectors and cultural visionaries.

Her long-running radio show, Boogie Beat Suite on PBS 106.7FM, has been a staple of Melbourne's community radio for seven years, delivering genre-blending sets with global influences. MzRizk's distinct sound has graced stages at iconic festivals like Glastonbury, We Out Here, SOLE DXB, and at landmark venues across Lebanon, the US, the UAE, and Croatia.
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As Australia’s first ARIA award winning independent Hip Hop artist, N’fa Jones has been a consistently prominent figure in the cultural landscape of the Australian music sector through writing, recording, performing, touring, collaborating locally & internationally. His position has afforded him opportunities to share his knowledge, working as a workshop facilitator, mentor, program manager, panelist, University Lecturer and syllabus designer utilising specialised pedagogy in his delivery. N’fa is driven by his work as a conduit for cultural visibility, diversity, equity and accessibility pushing to make spaces collaborative and progressive.

Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert is a Chinese-Australian artist, curator and Lecturer of Arts Management. As a researcher her focus is on collaborative and creative action based research projects working with culturally diverse communities. As a researcher she will be providing support in the development of socially engaged strategies in working with cultural and linguistically diverse youth, contributing towards the development of programs to support youth in navigating and gaining a deeper understanding of super-diversity in the Australian context in the development of creative skills.

L2R Dance is Australia only youth hip hop and street dance not for profit and social enterprise proudly based in Melbourne's west, Footscray! L2R uses dance as a powerful vehicle for social change, community belonging, physical and mental wellbeing and leadership development.