Nyachan Nyak is the visionary founder and managing director of Nas Recovery Centre (NRC), delivering collaborative and culturally determined substance use and related mental health issues support to youth, adults and families from African backgrounds. 

Meena Singh is the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in Victoria. She is a Yorta Yorta and Indian woman, born and living on the land of the Kulin Nations. Meena started her legal career with Victoria Legal Aid, where she practised in human rights and criminal law, and was also their inaugural Associate Director, Aboriginal Services. She has led legal services and programs at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Human Rights Law Centre, as well as consulting in training and organisational development across many organisations. 

She has a passion for centering the voices of people with lived experience and service design that promotes inclusion, connection and ultimately achieve social justice and equitable outcomes. 

Dr Stephane Shepherd is Professor of Forensic Psychology and Criminology at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University. He has developed an internationally recognised body of research and writing on the cultural, social and mental health needs of young people who have contact with the justice system. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters, and he has received over 5 million in research funding. In 2020, he was named one of ABCs top 5 researchers under 40, and he received the 2020 Victorian Government Multi-Cultural Award for Excellence in Justice. Dr. Shepherd also received the American Psychology-Law Society’s Early Career Award in 2019, and he was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in 2015. Dr. Shepherd is a member of the Victorian Youth Parole Board, the Victorian Government African Communities Committee and the Victorian Government’s Expert Advisory Committee for Countering Violent Extremism.