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Who We Are

Salutations and Hi-fives

It is with massive passion, drive, and energy that we are making grassroot movements to help build The Otesha Project (Australia) to help empower, be empowered, and create a world that is just, fair, ethical, and truly sustainable. It is with all the groovy vibes that we are creating that help us build this grassroot movement and truly "be the change we want to see [and are] being in the world."

Our inspiration comes from The Otesha Project, in Canada, which was developed in 2003, and has since expanded their projects to include many bicycle tours around Canada inspiring young Canadians with their hilarious sustainable message. It is with this friendship and sharing that we are building something that is unique and centred around the issues that we face here in Australia.

Organic Goodness Behind the Scenes

WOOT WOOT!

Shane Bill, Co-Director of The Otesha Project (Australia), is originally from Canada and rode many moons ago with The Otesha Project, in Canada, on their British Columbia tour. He brings his passion for youth empowerment, skills in project management, and wacky joking attitude to the job each day. He believes that with some beautiful effort we can pull off some amazing tours and build this project into something really special.

“Life is about passion and laughter – all the rest will come in time.”

Sustainabots Unite!

Angela Jones, Co-Director of The Otesha Project (Australia), is true Melbournite and rode with Cycle for Sustainability on their 2006 tour from Sydney to Hobart with giggles and warm hearted love along the way. She brings her amazing networking skills, drive, passion for youth involvement, strong beliefs in sustainability, and amazing talent at recruiting heaps of people into projects. Angela rocks up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to fun day (she doesn’t call it work). Angela brings heaps of smiles, laughter and love to the job too which everyone in the office appreciates.

“Everything should be fun! I want to enjoy what I’m doing or it’s not worth doing.”

And we wouldn't be anything without...
The loving, amazing, generous, spontaneous, and ever-giving help from our Management Committee (renamed unofficially by the crew here to Committee of Coolness).

Long Rides on The Beach

Tim Scott considers himself a recovering consumer and some-time bike addict. He has just found a keen interest in permaculture - organic food garden design - and has got all sorts of ideas for the front & back yards at his new place. At the moment Tim's singin' lessons are complementing his new found acting skills (if you haven't seen the Hour of Choices skit Tim reckons you should - we might just have to let you in on a dress rehearsal)! In his spare time Tim is studying Science (physiology/geography) & Law at Monash University! Oh and working at a restaurant ... and a pub ... and acting for our crew at random performances around Melbourne.

March of the Penguins

Since growing up on penguin infested Phillip Island Kate Patkin has had a keen interest in wildlife conservation. To learn more about environmental issues she left her close knit town of 500 people and headed up to the big smoke, studying at Monash University. Kate's environmental science degree taught her a bit more about this crazy but beautiful world we live in, and once finished she was ready to do some serious exploring. The following two years involved being a ranger in a Marine National Park, living and working in Japan, volunteering on a turtle research project in Malaysia, and adventures in Spain, New York, Borneo, Singapore and Cambodia. Now back in Oz, Kate is working for an environmental consultancy company and enjoying all Melbourne’s fun and festivities, as well as getting to know the funky Otesha crew.

Is this the face of the revolution?

Nick Towle's formal training is in medicine and through his endeavours he strives to contribute to a socially just and ecologically sustainable future. Nick's involvement with The Otesha Project (Australia) started with the evolution of the revolution in 2000 when he connected with first Australian Cycle for Sustainability (C4S) crew. The C4S [renamed to The Otesha Project (Australia)] batton was passed to Nick soon after this journey and since then he has had the privilege of helping to organise and participate in several epic pedal powered education adventures. Nick's interests are diverse and ever expanding: Permaculture design, sustainable transport, nutrition and health to name a few. Predictably many revolve around his passion for living sustainably and sharing this with others. His most recent adventure involved being trained by the Honourable Al Gore to deliver his "An Inconvenient Truth" slideshow, raising awareness and generating action on Climate Change.

You may remember her from such shows as...

Holly Creenaune hails from Smogney, where she is pretending to be a fifth year Journalism and Law student but spends her time organising with young people for a just and sustainable future.

Holly has been a National Convenor of the Australian Student Environment Network, a youth-run environmental justice network of thousands of young people across Australia. In 2007, she founded Friends of the Earth Sydney, co-authored an extensive report Opportunities to Waste: Australian Universities and the Nuclear Industry (the first report in the world in this area), and was awarded University of Technology Sydney Human Rights Award by Honourable Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, High Court of Australia (way to go Holly!), for her tireless commitment to a range of social justice and human rights organisations and activities including Indigenous rights, climate change and environmental justice. Holly has also been a bike bandit, a piano prodigy, and an ardent alliterator. She loves creative, participatory and brave community action that challenges root causes of climate change - creating futures that are people-powered, not coal-powered.

Freedom from The Corporation

Sophie McCarroll’s a tall red head with lots of energy to spare for bike adventures and fun. She works in an office during the day as an engineer, and takes out her frustrations at having to sit down for 8 hours a day racing trucks on princess highway on her road bike. Once home Soph adds a little gardening to the mix; Vegies, Vegies and more Vegies (and we have sampled these amazing beauties plenty of times). Soph cycled with Otesha Project (Australia) [formerly C4S] for 4 weeks in 2006 from Bega down through Victoria and loved it! Her new interests are in Permaculture and making a massive shift to change jobs (word on the street is that she finally feels liberated at putting her resignation in from a high paying job to follow her heart for something different up to Darwin)

Saving the planet one solar panel & light bulb at a time...

Maurice is interested in all aspects of sustainability in everyday life, from cycling and hitch hiking for transport, reuse of materials to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the home. Maurice's (and Holly's) home was displayed in Sustainable House Day 2006. Coordinator of the Nunnery Bicycle Workshop and co-founder of the Sydney Energy Cooperative, Maurice is dedicated to sustainability projects in the communities.

Goodness! It’s growing

Annie’s love for the environment was born in the vegie patch of her family’s suburban Melbourne back yard, way back in the days when it rained and gumboots were cool. Now an Adelaide agent, Annie has spent many years working in South Australia as a conservationist and threatened plant ecologist. She’s pretty excited about education too, and has recently been studying to qualify as a high school maths and science teacher. In 2007, Annie joined the Otesha Project in Canada for their tour of the Maritimes and won’t ever stop telling people what an amazing and wonderful experience it was. The only thing that brings Annie more joy than sharing home grown lettuce with friends is helping to grow and spread Otesha fun.