At the recent Murdoch NAIDOC Family Fun Day the University’s Alumni Relations team was delighted to reconnect with alumnus Heidi Mippy (Grad Cert Business 2017, Executive Master in Leadership, Strategy and Innovation 2020).

Heidi’s notable achievements have been featured in Echoes before. However, she recently added a significant milestone to her formidable list of accomplishments. Towards the end of 2021, Heid took up a Senior Project Officer position at Noongar Land Enterprise Group (NLE). A leading Aboriginal grower group, which develops commercially viable, land-based businesses for the benefit of Noongar people.

A unique project that she developed for the NLE was recently selected by The Luc Hoffman Institute as one of the finalists for their The Future of Conservation: NGOs Innovation Challenge. A global competition run in partnership with the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and Impact Hub.

The Luc Hoffman Institute aims to be the world’s leading catalyst for innovation and transformative change to maintain biodiversity. Their Innovation Challenge seeks to question dominant conservation narratives, redesigning conservation approaches and reimagining the conservation space to create a more just, equitable and regenerative future.

To be selected as a finalist for their Innovation Challenge is an incredible achievement. With over 170 applications coming in from 58 countries, ultimately, only nine were selected as finalists. Heidi’s was the sole project selected from the Asia Pacific region.

Heidi’s creation, Boola Boola Yoka Dandjoo (Many Women Together), is a regenerative agriculture project that centres the critical role played by indigenous peoples in delivering conservation outcomes. It aims to include the women and youth in the community while also enabling intergenerational knowledge and skill exchange.