Our Fabulous Sponsors
We wouldn’t be where we are now and doing what we’re doing with the support, assistance and belief in what we do without our wonderful sponsors.
“With research we have discovered that there are no avenues or opportunities for Indigenous long distance runners. I believe that we need to explore the possibilities and beg the question: How do we create champions without opportunity?
“At the moment, there’s no real culture of distance running among Indigenous Australians, but I believe there is potential given the history of endurance evidenced by a nomadic existence, traditional hunting and recorded history of an extraordinary ability to cover vast distances.
“The overwhelming response we’ve had demonstrates this latent interest in marathon running. I think we have the potential of identifying some real talent New York takes front stage when it comes to hosting and delivering a truly spectacular marathon. It is a 42.195 kilometer, river of mankind and everything good about our human spirit.
“What better event than this to take our Indigenous running team to, to highlight their potential on an international stage.”
World champion marathon runner
Robert de Castella is Australia’s greatest ever marathon runner.
He set the world record in 1981, became Australia’s first Track and Field World Champion in 1983, won two Commonwealth Games marathons in 1982 and 1986 and dominated the event worldwide for most of the 1980’s.
While he represented Australia at four Olympic Games, finishing 5th, 8th, 10th and 26th, Robert is probably best remembered for the Brisbane Commonwealth Games when he came from over a minute back to catch, and eventually run away from, duel Tanzanian champion JumaIkanga.
Robert’s dominance resulted in him being voted World Best Marathoner of the 1980’s decade.
In 1983, he was voted Australian of the Year and honoured with an MBE. In 1986 he was inducted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame and in 1990 he was named World Marathon Runner of the Decade by Track and Field News.
As Director of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for five years in the early 1990s, Robert re-positioned the AIS as a centre of excellence after the drugs in sport debacle of the late 80’s. He was also involved in establishing the elite sports system being used today by our Olympic athletes and teams.
In 1995 Robert established his own not for profit company, SmartStart for Kids. SmartStart works through schools to encourage children to be healthy and active. It especially targets escalating obesity, poor nutrition and inactivity and has resulted in large improvements in child fitness and health. The SmartStart longitudinal database of children’s health and fitness statistics has enabled valuable reports to be generated and a range of follow up services for students, parents, schools and government.
Greg is also an experienced non-executive director and recently retired as long-term Chair of Learning Links. Learning Links provides children who have learning difficulties with the skills, services and family support to enable them to realise their potential. Greg is currently a non-executive director of Metro Tasmania and Chair of the People and Culture sub-committee.
Besides corporate life, Greg undertakes a lot of community work including fundraising and is a long-time ultra-marathoner - and also race organiser and race director of Coast to Kosciuszko. Greg and his family have also participated in the IMF Warrior Father’s Day fun run. Greg is excited by the opportunity to add value to IMF as it brings together corporate and governance, leadership, operations and execution, sport and community and the ability to support outcomes for First Nations peoples and communities.
Before his Maningrida experience, Damian was employed by the Commonwealth Government in Canberra working across various policy, program and corporate roles largely in health and sport.
Damian’s sporting background is mainly in AFL football being a player, coach, administrator as well as recruiting work for the St Kilda Football Club – he sees these skills as being very transferrable to his role as Head Coach of IMP. Damian is very excited about joining the IMF team as he has seen first -hand the wonderful impact the Foundation makes on an individual and the community they are a part of.
Kylie has over a decade of experience working in community development and program management across North Queensland with both government and non-government organisations. She has vast experience working with vulnerable communities having managed youth support services, youth suicide prevention programs, early intervention and diversionary programs across Cairns, Cape York, and the Torres Strait Islands.
A strong advocate for promoting holistic health and wellbeing of individuals to make real impact on communities, Kylie has delivered Mental Health First Aid training to service providers and community member since 2016.
Being an active member of Cairns RAW since 2017, Kylie has contributed to the growth of the group through volunteering her time as run leader and assisting in the co-ordination and delivery of numerous fun runs and events. Throughout this time, she has grown on a personal level and has made many strong friendships and connections with IMP Graduates and fellow RAW members from across Australia.
In 2019, Taneshia graduated from the Indigenous Marathon Project after completing the New York City Marathon, sharing that the journey changed her life.
Taneshia is a freelance writer and has experience working at state and federal levels of government, and experience designing and facilitating workshops for First Nations youth through her former work with the Brisbane Broncos.
In 2021, Taneshia started with the foundation and is responsible for our social media, marketing campaigns, media presence, and helping us tell our story and the stories of the incredible people we work with across our various programs.
Taneshia is passionate about storytelling and celebrating First Nations peoples and their journeys, and believes the IMF plays an invaluable role in normalising running and walking in communities all over the country.
Tristan was a member of the 2021 Indigenous Marathon Project squad and went through a roller coaster of a year severely affected by Covid-19 restrictions. This journey changed his life and after completing the Alice Springs midnight marathon, proudly became IMP Graduate #119.
With a strong background in education, Tristan has worked in numerous roles within the education sector helping teach young minds and guide them throughout their schooling journeys understanding that the greatest weapon to change the world is education.
In 2023, Tristan started with the foundation and assists the Head Coach of IMP with all coaching duties for the IMP Squad. He is also responsible for coordinating the FrontRunners Program allowing both IMP Graduates and IMF Runners and Walkers Leaders to have access to personal development and running opportunities.
Tristan is passionate about ensuring that all First Nations people have access to education and strives to help all First Nations people be educated, stronger and striving within their lives. He believes that IMF can play a huge role in ensuring that First Nations people live a healthy lifestyle being physically, mentally and spiritually healthy.
Before delving into the world of sporting bodies, Jesamine completed her Certificate IV in Fitness and worked as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor, and she’s excited to be able to reapply her knowledge in that space, as well as bringing her experience in working with school communities to the I-CAN Officer role.
“IMF already feels like family, and I am so excited to get to work with and meet some amazing people.”
What Theresa brings to the Foundation is years of design knowledge, skill and industry experience having achieved Honours in her Bachelor of Design degree and applying her skills in the marketing, advertising and design world with Grey Advertising Australia, The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, The Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Foreign Affairs and as a freelancer working for clients like The Canberra Casino, Australian Customs and Border Security, Summer National, Fish Sunglasses, Canberra Medical Ecology Centre, SmartStart for Kids Ltd, The Australian National University, Pep Colour, National Institute of Bioenergetic Medicine, and many more.
Theresa often channels her inner nerd, having a passion for gadgets and all things IT. Theresa’s goal is to elevate the status of IT from a “support” role to one that is integral to the Foundation’s corporate strategy and one that serves as a key component in the delivery of its programs and communication to communities.
In 2015, Sue reached out to the IMF to offer her services as a volunteer after a deep personal loss, and she has now been a supporter and volunteer for the past nine years. While not a runner previously, Sue was inspired to start running through her journey of supporting IMP graduates and squad members, and is now even committed to running the six Abbott World Marathon Majors (with five completed) to finish what her sister started.
Sue is passionate about supporting and contributing to the IMF Team and greater IMF family, and she sees the work of the foundation as invaluable to providing opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities around the country.
We wouldn’t be where we are now and doing what we’re doing with the support, assistance and belief in what we do without our wonderful sponsors.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians on whose land we live, work, run and play and we respect their Elders, culture, lore and values. We value Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander culture as a national treasure, and embrace it as a vital and rich part of the
Australian identity.