Our team

Stephanie Trethewey is the 2024 Australian of the Year for Tasmania. She’s a visionary leader who has transformed personal challenges into a nationwide movement to support rural mothers across Australia. Stephanie is a seasoned television journalist who has reported and produced for some of the country’s biggest news and current affairs programs. In 2019, soon after having her first child, she swapped the city for the country and moved to rural Tasmania. The transition was both a brutal and beautiful journey, and Steph’s struggles with postnatal depression and isolation inspired the creation of Motherland.

In 2022, Stephanie was named the national winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and in 2023, she celebrated the release of her debut book, Motherland. Stephanie also sits on the Australian Advisory Council of Thankful4Farmers.

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Julia Spicer (OAM) founded her business, Engage & Create Consulting in 2012, from Goondiwindi, Queensland. The focus of Engage & Create Consulting is to support the viability and vibrancy of businesses and community organisations across regional Australia. 

With 20 years’ experience in agricultural extension, Landcare and catchment management – she now works with regional communities and industry across the country on a range of projects, with the focus on identifying needs in business and implementing creative solutions to address them. 

Julia also founded The Goondiwindi Business Hub, which is home to eight businesses who have long-term tenancy. In 2021, Julia and her husband opened The House4390, Goondiwindi’s newest retail hub which is home to five female-led homewares and service businesses.

In 2022 Julie received an OAM for service to regional business and organisations. She has also completed the AICD Company Directors Course and is also a board member on the Queensland Government Innovation Advisory Council and Global Entrepreneur Network Australia.

Arabella Gibson is the CEO of Gidget Foundation Australia, a national not for profit mental health organisation supporting the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents and their families. Arabella joined Gidget after a lengthy career in the media industry, working in executive management for small business as well as publicly listed entities in both Australia and the UK.

Arabella was formerly General Manager for iSUBSCRiBE, an online magazine subscription business, based in London.  Prior to this, Arabella was the Director of Communications for Australian media entity PBL Media (Nine Entertainment Co) as well as its subsidiary businesses the Nine Network Australia and Bauer Media (formerly ACP Magazines). 

Arabella participated in the advisory group to devise the Australian Government’s Women’s Health Strategy for 2020 to 2030 in Canberra and contributed to the COVID-19 National Mental Health Strategy for Children, Young People and Parents.

In 2022, she was named The CEO Magazines’ Not For Profit Executive of the Year. 

Alison is a Behavioural Scientist who has lived and worked in Victoria’s rural farming community for almost two decades. She is currently the Director of the National Centre for Farmer Health. Her expertise in rural/farmer mental health and suicide prevention has drawn on a range of innovative techniques including digital interventions, digital storytelling, community education programs and peer support models. 

Alison has led numerous farmer mental health projects and continues to build the Centre’s capacity and reach by working collaboratively with researchers, farmers and industry stakeholders across Australia and internationally. Her expertise has been recognised through research awards, numerous advisory roles, peer review publication, international research consultation, invited presentations and expert witness testimony before the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. 

Alison is passionate about co-designing the Centre’s research, education and services in collaboration with community and industry—to ensure the Centre’s work continues to be effective, relevant and tailored to the needs of rural farming communities. 

Simon has extensive experience in land management related disciplines with over 22 years of practice across Agriculture, Forestry and Mining. He has worked for leading Australian and International companies across acquisitions, market development and complex land management investments.

Most recently he was appointed COO and Exec Director Commercial for Victoria’s largest land manager ‘Parks Victoria’ – within this role he was accountable for the appropriate commercialization of the 5 million hectare estate.

He was Head of Public Affairs and Asian Markets for the Coles Group. His strong experience in the food and rural sectors was invaluable in leading Coles’ stakeholder engagement and sustainability programs, as well as managing the $50 million Nurture Fund. Prior to Coles, Simon was CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation, where he was appointed to co-create a refreshed vision for Australian Agriculture and lead a complex Transformation Agenda. 

He has recently located back to his home state of Tasmania running a stud beef farm and vineyard with his wife and three daughters.

Nat Sommerville is a farmer, grazier, mother, mentor, and a proud Torres Strait Islander descendant from the clan Wagadagam of Mabuyag Island from her father’s side. Nat has been living and working on Ngadjuri Country in Mid North South Australia for over 15 years with her husband and two children, and believes when families are well supported and have access to good quality services, rural communities will thrive.

Natalie is currently the President of Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA). Driven by her passion for sustainable agriculture, the environment and social justice, her focus is on influencing positive change in rural Australia and seeing greater innovation, inclusion of gender and age, and respect for diverse backgrounds. 

When Nat is not farming she is mentoring Aboriginal students in local schools and assisting educators to deliver respectful First Nations histories, perspectives and cultural content in lesson plans.

Natalie also volunteers her time on many community and industry boards at local, state and national levels include AWiA, SA Ag Excellence Alliance, Landcare Association of SA, and the local NAIDOC committee.

Kate, in partnership with her husband, runs a sheep and cattle grazing enterprise on the Monaro, and is a mother of three girls. She joined Motherland in April 2022 while on maternity leave, passionate about connecting rural mums and working towards better mental health outcomes for women in the bush. She’s now our Motherland Village Program Manager. 

Kate is also a gender equality specialist for the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working on policy and programs aimed at empowering women and girls overseas. She is passionate about postnatal depression and anxiety, as a Gidget Foundation Angel and volunteers her time on the Foundation’s Clinical Governance Committee. She also provided her expertise in Government as part of Future Women’s Jobs Academy Mentoring Program for women seeking to re-enter the workforce. Kate commenced her career in the Australian Government’s Office for Women over a decade ago.