Creative Fellowship

Byron Brown is a website developer and manager of Island Craft LTD, an online store that sells traditional carvings and crafts. In 2016, Byron set up live broadcasting for the Ministry of Cultural Development, allowing the people of Cook Islands and those overseas the ability to watch major cultural events in their community. He worked with the team to set up live broadcasts for the Parliament of the Cook Islands and Prime Minister. Currently, Byron is the secretary for the Cook Islands Voyaging Society, President for Rotaract Rarotonga group, an executive member for the Cook Islands National Youth Council, a junior coach for a local rugby league team, Avatiu Eels, and traditional dancer for Akirata Dance Troupe.

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Ofani Eremae is one of the leading journalists in the Solomon Islands, who has worked in print media for over 20 years. He started his career with the Solomon Star newspaper as a reporter and worked his way up to eventually become the paper's editor in 2013. He left the Star in 2020 and became a freelancer until early 2021 when he was offered the editor's position at the Island Sun - Honiara's second daily. Eremae's interest is in environmental reporting. He has reported quite extensively on the environment in the last couple of years.

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Bethanie Harriman is a journalist and producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Before joining the ABC, Bethanie started his career with Papua New Guinean national television station, EMTV, from 2013 to 2017. Based in Lae, Morobe Province, he contributed stories with varying topics from politics and sports, to health and business. Boasting a wide network of contacts, he has covered stories from the Highlands, Momase and New Guinea Island regions of Papua New Guinea. He was headhunted by then ABC correspondent, Eric Tlozek, in 2017; mainly due to his insightful reporting of the PNG 2017 elections and passion to tell stories. He joins the ranks of only a handful of local producers the ABC has engaged. He contributes weekly across the ABC’s plethora of platforms, including radio and television when required, but focuses most of his time assisting PNG Correspondent, Natalie Whiting. Bethanie's ancestry comes from the East Sepik Province, from the Kandai people in Turubu on the East Coast where his father is from and from the Sepik River from the Numangua people where his mother is from.

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Cook Islander Tiana Haxton is an aspiring documentary producer with three years of journalism experience through Cook Islands Television. She joined the national news team fresh out of high school and has been enjoying the unique dynamic that comes with storytelling in a small island nation. A smaller news team calls for employees to be adaptable, and Tiana has therefore been trained to shoot, script, edit, and present for Local News. She is also particularly interested in feature length productions and has recently completed her first documentary. Being of mixed heritage and having moved from Wellington, New Zealand to Mitiaro, Cook Islands when she was 9, Tiana had to adapt to a completely new environment. She was fully immersed in the Cook Islands culture and is now fluent in both Te Reo Maori, and English.

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Leanne Jorari is a Papua New Guinean media and communications specialist, television producer and freelance writer based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. She is the Communications Manager of Papua New Guinean non-governmental organization, Equal Playing Field, and Coordinator for the Pacific Freedom Forum, a regional media body, where she monitors threats to press freedom and journalism ethics across Oceania. Formerly a full-time journalist and producer at PNG’s national broadcaster, EMTV, she is now a freelance writer for The Guardian and Lowy, focusing mainly on business and politics, and a freelance TV producer.

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Shreya Kumar is a young journalist from Fiji, currently employed at a local print media agency. She is a Journalism graduate from the University of the South Pacific who is passionate about being the voice of the voiceless. With the aim to represent the people, Shreya’s journey began back in secondary school when she took part in school writing contests and poetry. She has also been actively taking part in volunteering activities such as with Fiji Red Cross Society and Happy Mangrove Planting Project. Currently based in the Sugar City of Fiji, Lautoka, Shreya is continuously inspired by the farming communities, especially at the onset of COVID-19. She hopes she can use her journalism skills to document the kinship people of Fiji share with the land and the sea.

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Dinah is an Australian based journalist and writer. She has experience as a researcher, assistant producer, and has contributed to ABC radio as a Community Correspondent for Logan City on Brisbane’s southside, home to a large Pacific diaspora. She has worked in the digital publishing, national magazine, newspaper, and radio spaces. Dinah had the honor of studying Pacific studies under the phenomenal Dr. Teresia Teaiwa at Victoria University in Wellington. Teresia’s classroom ignited a flame for education and awareness of Pacific peoples, history, writing, and the work towards equality and well-being of this generation, and those to come in the diaspora. She likes to think her love for storytelling comes from her great-grandfather, Malaga Leaupepe, a Tualafale, or Samoan Orator, who hailed from the villages of Sagone Savai'i, and Falevao Samoa.

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Berysin Salomon Jr. is Pingelapese, born and raised on the island of Pohnpei. His passions include writing and producing musical content, capturing and producing video content, and video game production and design. His work includes collaborations from the FSM National Government, Pohnpei State Government, NGOs, and, most importantly, capturing and documenting events involving the island’s unique customs and traditions. He wants to develop a broadcasting news outlet that focuses on culture and tradition and the impacts it endures trying to coexist with the "Western" ideology —

particularly how the government tends to dismiss tradition by only "recognizing" it. His aim is to bring in a fresh narrative that encompasses the values that are important to Micronesians, in general: tradition, church, family, and government.

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Neisau Tuidraki is a Fijian with over 17 years of experience in the media industry. She is a former radio personality and television producer who currently runs her own online communications consultancy, 'Kokonati Talk,' which specializes in developing content and building social brands. Additionally, Neisau is an advocate of creative arts and uses online spaces to champion Fijian arts, and is also co-founder of Wearing Fiji, a fashion project focusing on mentoring young Fijian aspiring designers.

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