Aunty Christine Konomie Barney, a Woppaburrra Elder from the Great Keppel Islands and a Brisbane Elder has lived and worked with First Nations families in Brisbane and throughout Queensland for four decades.

Aunty Christine areas of expertise include, teaching, guidance, counselling, community consultation and negotiation. As a mother of five who are accomplished in their skill areas of education, finance, horticulture, literature and construction trades, Aunty Christine is committed to community development in various ways.

Aunty Christine was the first President of Wandarrah Pre-School and Community Centre in Inala, the first autonomous Aboriginal kindergarten in Queensland and as the current president is enjoying assisting in preparations to celebrate the centre’s 50th anniversary in 2023. Aunty Christine has high-level expertise, knowledge and experience in governance, mental health, employment, human resources, and communication, enhanced with historical cultural knowledge and community connections.

Aunty Christine worked in government departments as a Review and Evaluation Officer, reviewing systems in the social justice arena; a Principal Policy Officer, Primary Teacher, Secondary Guidance Counsellor and Community Education Counsellor for Education Queensland. The latest employment role was as the Senior Counsellor in the Healing Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services and she continues to work as a consultant on Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander areas of need.

All of Aunty Christine’s employment roles throughout Queensland in local and remote areas as an educator, assessor, counsellor, and employment strategist have focussed on Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander community strategies for community development.

Aunty Christine is excited and proud to be a majority owner of Pickwick 1A. She is committed to take a lead in the provision of employment and economic opportunities for and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians, incorporating a depth of leadership and cultural knowledge to Pickwick 1A underpinned by respectful family and community values and beliefs.

Helina Solomon is passionate about community engagement and believes strongly in building those who surround you. She is the eldest daughter of Dr Solomon and Inbam Solomon who have mentored her in business.

Over the years her community involvement has included being a volunteer for both Commonwealth Games (Kuala Lumpur 1998) and the Olympics (Sydney 2000), as well as being selected by the Malaysian Government for a youth national exchange program (Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program).

She also took a one-year sabbatical from work to go on a church exchange, The St Chad’s Volunteer Program, and was based at Lichfield Cathedral. She continues to serve on the council in her local parish of St Paul’s and has been a volunteer Sunday School teacher since 2007.

Helina graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science from the University of Sydney in 2001 and completed her MBA at Hult International Business School, London in 2013. She is also a Director of Pickwick Group Pty Ltd and the Managing Director of World Discovery Travel.

Alton is a from the Northern Rivers district of NSW, born in Mullumbimby with strong family and cultural ties to our Indigenous family through my great grandmother Minnie Davis/Collie of the Bunjalung Nation/Yaegir in the Casino/ Grafton area. Alton has current strong family activities in the Lismore, Ballina, Brunswick and other districts across the region.

Alton also has strong family and cultural connections as an Australian South Sea Islander on my maternal side. Our family have been proud Australian South Sea Islanders, descendant from the Queensland Sugar Trade 0f the 1860s.

Alton conducted various Social Policy and Community Development activities over the past two decades and in that period has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait people from in areas of employment; job security and development of business ownership over a period as an ATSIC consultant and Business Development in the pursuit of independent business ownership ranging from cultural business; trade related enterprises in the specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as those from the Australian South Sea Islander community in Queensland.

Alton altered course in 2012 and became heavily involved with the multicultural space in Queensland and Australia. Firstly, being appointed as a Director to the Board of the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, a large multifaceted not for profit company, a company that is the primary advocate to governments representing a myriad of diverse cultural and divergent peoples from all multicultural enterprises and communities in the State.

Alton progressed over six years as Director to being elected Chairperson in 2018 of this important organization. Alton inherited an organization distress which required calm leadership to return the company to its preferred place in relation to community and Government. The Board endorsed me on two separate occasions to act in the dual role of Chairperson and CEO each for a four month period. This allowed me to steer the company in the right direction prior to engaging new CEOs.

A part of that leadership role was an automatic appointment to the federated body of the multicultural community known as FECCA, based in Canberra. The appoint allowed much more national activities including active roles in Human Rights and Human Rights Education in the refugee and migration space.

Alton has a primary career base in the Built environment over thirty years rising from cadet quantity surveyor to head Estimator; Project Manager and Project Administrator in the built and associated building activities with a strong Hands on approach to business in those fields.