Who We Are
Eliza Cannon
walawaani njindiwan. I was born on Cammeraygal Country, Eora but now call brindja-yuin and walbunja Country my home and place. I have a deep passion for social justice, equality and food which has led to a diverse career in fields of education, small-scale food production, food sovereignty, food security, food systems advocacy and community development. I am a qualified primary school teacher and was a market gardener for 10 years. It was market gardening that brought me to Moruya in 2020 and ignited a passion and connection to the lands, waters and people of Yuin Country. Over the years I have developed a fierce drive and passion for grassroots community action particularly as a dedicated ally, working alongside and with Aboriginal people for justice on stolen land. Through my work I have seen first hand how access to good food, community and unity connects and heals us and I hope to support and empower the Eurobodalla community in every facet of my work and life moving forward.
Jordan Nye
walawaani njindiwan, I’m Jordan and I am a walbunja man from Mogo on the Far South Coast of NSW. I am born and bred on yuin country and I was born into a big family of fisherman and country men and women. I take a lot of pride in my identity and heritage as an Aboriginal man and I have a lot of passion for sharing our culture and keeping it alive through cultural programs, traditional song and dance, language revitalization and knowledge sharing with my community. I have an extensive career background, starting my career in hospitality and then moving into Aboriginal health, federal Government, local Government, education, youth work, community development work, cultural/community advocacy and cultural consultancy.
Our Collaborative Work
We are lucky enough to be partners in life and in work and we’ve collaborated on many grassroots community-led projects together. We met and participated in a leadership program called Regenerate Eurobodalla facilitated by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and from that program established and founded a community-led group called Connecting Communities.
Connecting Communities successfully organized and ran community events in and around Moruya standing in solidarity with First Nations People in our community and overseas. We ran a healing days and events for Aboriginal, Palestinian and Maori people, a Survival Day event on January 26, an ANZAC Day dawn ceremony in support of Black ANZACs, and supported local Queerobodalla community events. The group also organised events such as, bridge walks to stand in solidarity with Palestinian people, raised funds to support children and families affected by the genocide and addressed local government urging councilors to pledge political support for people in Gaza.
We have also been members of the Agroecology & Food Sovereignty Alliance National Committee fighting for food sovereignty, fairer food systems and policy change for ethical and cultural food production.
Most recently, we worked collaboratively for NPY Women’s Council, Eliza as Project Officer for Improving Aboriginal Food Security and Jordan as Youth Development Officer in a Central Australian remote community called Imanpa. This experience was an extremely rewarding and special opportunity and we will strive to channel our learnings from our time working with Anangu to strengthen our approach within djinjamandjali and will cherish our year out there forever.