Tia Richards

President

Tia is a Wiradjuri woman who is an acclaimed Aboriginal artist and business owner.

Tia has been a member on Sisters Inside’s Steering Committee for over 20 years.

Tia was elected as the President of Sisters Inside’s Management Committee. She is the first formerly incarcerated woman elected onto a Management Committee as President.  

Tia runs her own successful business with her partner. An artist, an inspirational leader.

Tia was an integral part of the development of Sisters Insides values and vision in 1999.

She has been an active part of Sisters Inside’s vision and direction of our organisation for over 20 years.

Kris Olsson

Vice President

Sisters Inside’s elected Vice President. Kris has been on our management committee for over 20 years and is a gate keeper of Sisters Inside’s values and vision. A world without prisons. A world where every woman and girl is free.

Kris studied journalism at the University of Queensland and went on to write for The Australian, The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, the Sydney Sunday Telegraph and Griffith Review.

Her first novel In One Skin was published by the University of Queensland Press in 2001.

Kris has written many more books since 2001. She won the 2013 Queensland Literary Award for Best Nonfiction and the Nita Kibble Literary Award.

Kris has also worked as a government advisor, and as a teacher of creative writing and journalism. She supervises and mentors post-graduate writing students and also works as a manuscript assessor and editor.

Kris is a passionate, dedicated, inspirational woman and we look forward to 20 more years of amazing work at Sisters Inside.

Zoe Houghton

Secretary

Zoe graduated from NIDA in 2002 and has since appeared regularly on Australian stage and screen.

Zoe is an acclaimed actor, writer and director of theatre productions.

Zoe is a regular tutor with NIDA short courses, and runs drama and circus workshops with remote Indigenous communities and groups at risk of homelessness and disadvantage in Queensland and Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

Zoe has been a dedicated supporter of Sisters Inside for over 20 years and she has been reelected on the Management Committee as Secretary. Zoe comes with great passion and vision to continue the work of Sisters Inside.

Rebecca Thomson

Treasurer

Bek is descendant of the Mandandanji & Ngāti Maniapoto peoples. Bek was elected this year as Treasurer of Sisters Inside.

Bek has an impressive and diverse employment herstory. Not only employed at Sisters Inside for many years, she has been employed as an ambulance officer and has now been a heavy industry operator for nearly a decade.

Bek also started & operates a very financially successful Aboriginal & Māori business with her partner. Their business makes cultural Jarjums for children around the country. They also donate Jarjums to Aboriginal schools & child care centres and to parents who can’t afford Jarjums for their children.

Bek’s experience in governance, finance and administration will ensure stability for Sisters Inside’s future.

Luana Sanders

Committe Member

Luana Sanders (nee Coolwell) is a direct descent of – the Munanjhalli, the Gooreng Gooreng and the Ghungalu people.

Luana has 30+ years with companies in Australia and the USA, government, non-government, community based and corporate. Proven history in the areas of community engagement specialising in Indigenous Engagement, communication, facilitation, Indigenous Procurement and Indigenous Employment.

She is excited to be part of the Sisters Inside family and help break down the enormous power imbalance that women in prison struggle with.

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