Our Team

Mel Darer

Vet Nurse and Wildlife Carer

Director

Melinda Darer is an experienced veterinary nurse and former wildlife coordinator with a career spanning more than 20 years in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. She has worked within some of Melbourne’s leading emergency and critical care veterinary hospitals, including South East Animal Emergency Centre, Pet Emergency & Specialist Centre, Advanced Vetcare, and Southpaws, where she played a key role in coordinating complex wildlife triage and treatment.

Melinda is the founder of Mel & the Menagerie and a committed leader in community-driven conservation initiatives.

Driving the development of the Yarram Koala Sanctuary from concept through feasibility, establishing a model that integrates clinical care, research capability, and conservation outcomes while building strategic partnerships to enable future species recovery programs.

Liedeke Bosma

B.SC. (Hons) Economic Geology Monash University, Grad.Dip.Info.Serv. RMIT, MAICD

Director, Company Secretary

Liedeke is an accomplished Senior Executive and Non-Executive Director (NED) with over 40 years’ experience delivering sustained impact across Commercial and Not-For-Profit (NFP) sectors in diverse global environments.

Through her NFP charitable appointments with the BHP Foundation (managing a US$300M budget) and the Elisabeth and Keith Murdoch Trust, Liedeke has contributed to pioneering solutions which address key global sustainable development challenges, advancing systemic change and equitable social and environmental progress at scale. These include indigenous-led forest conservation in Canada’s Boreal; supporting The Nature Conservancy build a reference model for private conservation; turning the tide against deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon alongside Conservation International; build the largest indigenous-led conservation network on earth across the 10 Deserts of Australia with Desert Support Services; and develop resilient reef management with UNESCO across The Great Barrier Reef.

As an active NED, Liedeke is recognised for elevating governance standards and transforming Boards into high-performing, forward-looking, strategically focused powerhouses, and risk resilient bodies.

Her contributions were recognised in 2011 with her inclusion in “Who’s Who of Australian Women”.

Shaun Braybrook ACM

First Nations Leader and General Manager

Director

Shaun is a proud Aboriginal man who follows his grandfather line to the Kuku-Yalanji people. Shaun has been working with the Victorian Koori community for around 28 years.
For the past 12 years, he has been the General Manager of the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place in Gippsland, which provides Aboriginal men with an opportunity to reconnect with their culture and divert themselves from the justice system.

Under Shaun’s management, in 2011 Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place won an International Prison and Correctional Award in the area for Community Correction for its innovative approach in work with men on correctional orders.

Shaun was the recipient of the prestigious Australian Corrections Medal (ACM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, which was announced on the June 2019.

Kevin Heggen

Binginwarri – Cattle Breeder, Farmer, Environmentalist and Business Executive

Director, President

Kevin Heggen brings over four decades of local experience in land management, agriculture, and community leadership.

In 1998, Kevin founded Hedley Range Services Pty Ltd, a company dedicated to delivering environmental restoration and land rehabilitation projects. Through this work, he has partnered with a diverse range of government agencies and private organisations, including the Defence Departments in Victoria and Tasmania, Catchment Management Authorities, local government shires across Gippsland, VicRoads, HVP Plantations, Landcare groups, and Greening Australia.

Kevin has served on the Board of Mirridong Services, an adult disability support organisation, for over 15 years, including 12 years as President. In this role, he has contributed significantly to strategic planning, governance, and organisational development.

Kevin Mackin

Retired Marketing General Manager

Director

Kevin is an experienced senior executive, board director and marketing leader with over 40 years of success in building and growing businesses across Australia, Asia Pacific and global markets. Kevin has a passion for professional marketing and communications and, as a company Director, a focus on probity and governance.

He has held leadership roles with organisations including IBM (worldwide), WebEx, Coremetrics, Compaq (in Silicon Valley) and Telstra, with a strong track record in establishing new markets, scaling SaaS and technology businesses, and delivering consistent revenue growth.

Living in Yarram, Kevin has a strong commitment to the local community. He serves on the Mirridong (disability services provider) Board, is Vice President of the Yarram & District Progress Association and President of the Rotary Club of Yarram.

Kevin is an active Justice of the Peace. He has served as a Director and Company Secretary of the Royal Victorian Association of Honorary Justices, a JP trainer and is recognised as a Fellow of the Association.

Martin Potts

Horticulturist

Director

Qualified horticulturist with Greening Australia, dedicated to restoring landscapes, protecting biodiversity, and strengthening the connection between people and nature.

Ron Hogan

Partner, Patison Accountants & Advisors, Chartered Accountant

Director, Treasurer

Strong business acumen in associated fields of Tax law, financial strategy and implications of legal structures across various complex financial landscapes.