About Moodjar

Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard

Director

• Doctor of Education Honors Causa - Edith Cowan University 
  Emeritus Professor, School of Indigenous Studies - University of Western Australia
• Adjunct Professor at Nulungu Research Institute - University of Notre Dame
• AIATSIS Council elected member

Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard is a highly respected Whadjuk Nyungar Elder and Traditional Owner of the Perth Metropolitan area and surrounding lands, rivers, swamps, ocean and culture. As Director of Moodjar, he has focused his life’s work on explaining how and why Aboriginal place names continue to provide collective insights into our shared land. After studying literature and communications, Len spent his career recording and reclaiming Aboriginal language and culture. Len conducted several Nyungar language preservation studies as Australian Research Council Chief Investigator at the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia, with his primary project, to uncover Nyungar placenames. He created a public database of 25,000 Nyungar words for South-West Australia and the first bilingual Aboriginal Wikipedia.

Len helps corporations, non-profits, federal, state and local governments with heritage and language preservation, Aboriginal interpretive plans, community engagement, statements of significance, Nyungar oral histories, policies, on-country tours, and cultural guidance through Moodjar - to support organisations with real aspirations for reconciliation.

In 2023, Len was acknowledged by Edith Cowan University with an honourary doctorate in Education for his lifetime contribution to education and Indigenous heritage. That same year, UWA appointed Len as Emeritus Professor – the first Aboriginal Emeritus Professor in the institutions’ history. Len was also acknowledged as a WA Nominee Local Hero in the Australia of the Year 2022 awards.

Lisa Collard

CEO

Lisa Collard is the Chief Executive Officer of Moodjar, bringing nearly two decades of experience in project management and operational coordination of Moodjar to her role. With a diverse background spanning executive support, hospitality, and education, Lisa drives the strategic vision and financial planning for the company. Her expertise in corporate hospitality and events management has been instrumental in Moodjar's success. Lisa's professional journey has included providing executive support to university professors and working with Indigenous education organisations, notably contributing to the management of the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre at Murdoch University. Her strong financial acumen and strategic planning skills have been crucial in steering Moodjar's growth and future direction, advancing Moodjar's mission of sharing Nyungar knowledge and culture with the world. 

Mia Zaknich

Business Operations Manager

Mia serves as Moodjar's Business Operations Manager, supporting the company's goals and growth through strategic and day-to-day business functions.

As the eldest daughter of Moodjar’s Director, Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard and Chief Executive Officer Mrs Lisa Collard, Mia is driven to support the ongoing success of Moodjar by bringing a background in Executive Support, Project Management and Education in Local and State Government Departments and in the not-for-profit sector.

Mia currently lives in and works from her office on Ngarluma Ngurra (country) in Karratha but travels regularly to Nyungar Boodjar (country) to connect with the Moodjar team and their clients.

Niki Davison

Project Manager

Niki works with Moodjar as the Project Manager, supporting the team through developing projects, co-facilitation, and delivering detailed cultural reports and outcomes.

With a background in Community Arts and Cultural Development work and project and events production, for over 15 years Niki has worked across a broad range of arts, culture and events organisations including Community Arts Network, Fringe World, City of Fremantle festivals, Tura, Fremantle Biennale, The Blue Room Theatre, Cryptic (Glasgow) and WA Music. 

All of this has led Niki to take on this amazing opportunity to work and learn alongside Professor Len Collard and the full Moodjar team, and be a part of innovative culture and language services delivered on Nyungar boodjar.

Dr Dave Palmer

Researcher & Advisor

Dr Dave Palmer has worked alongside Professor Len Collard and Moodjar for many years. Dr Palmer built and led the community development program at Murdoch University, where he taught for over 25 years. Dr Palmer’s academic research is grounded in grassroots community practice. This includes work on Aboriginal heritage, Aboriginal-led projects and governance, cultural development, working with resource proponents, local histories, the importance of arts and performance, language regeneration, and land management. His expertise is sought after in Aboriginal communities throughout Australia.  

Cultural Consultants

Moodjar draws from a pool of cultural consultants to support the facilitation of our services, under the guidance of Dr Len Collard.

Our consultants are leaders in the cultural services delivery sector.

Dylan Collard

Dylan is a Whadjuk-Balardong Nyungar and Nyungar language teacher. Dylan is the Principal Director of Kalyakoorl, offering Nyungar language lessons to organisations, workplaces or businesses. He is committed to sharing his language far and wide so it continues to be spoken for another 50,000 years. 

Rohan Collard

Rohan is a Whadjuk-Balardong marmun with strong community connections to the Nyungar nation. He is an executive level professional with significant experiences in the Community Sector, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and the Public Sector. Rohan is the Director of Dooga Waalitj Healing, a cultural consultancy business working on Nyungar boodjar.

Researchers

Moodjar’s work is supported by in-depth desktop literature reviews, to bring together the relevant literature, data and colonial records of each project site and surrounds. This work is undertaken by a pool of leading researchers.

Sandra Wooltorton

Sandra is a Professor and Senior Research Fellow with the Nulungu Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame’s Broome Campus. She is a trans-disciplinary researcher, with a background in cultural geography and education.

Mary Blight

Mary completed her Bachelors degree in Indigenous Knowledge, History and Heritage with a double major in French at the University of Western Australia. She is currently enrolled in a Masters by Research at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University.