Winner

Tanya Tuttle

President of Babinda Museum

A respected and valued member of the Babinda community, Tanya has a great interest in local history and is a passionate rural community economic development activist, a social services advocate, a promoter of women in rugby and a dedicated wildlife rescuer.

Inspired by a visit to the Cairns Museum in 2017, Tanya started thinking about how a museum could support Babinda’s economic development and community wellbeing.

Following this visit, she set about recruiting a group of like-minded volunteers, consulted with Cairns Regional Council, and met with Dr Jo Wills, Senior Museum Development Officer FNQ. Before long the project was underway!

Tanya Tuttle has been the driving force, leading the Babinda Museum Steering Committee through the development of the Babinda Museum project since its inception in 2017.

An inspiration to other volunteers, Tanya’s leadership is characterised by her determination, vision, patience, generosity and sense of humour.

Drawing on her networks, technical expertise, business acumen and people skills, Tanya steered the volunteers through the project, and identified ways for them to access training and gain valuable hands-on museum skills. She applied for and administered multiple grants; engaged tradespeople and museum professionals to undertake the renovations and build local capacity; arranged cultural awareness training; liaised extensively with local Traditional Owners and other community stakeholders; and managed fundraising programs to ensure the successful delivery of the Babinda Museum.

Through hard work and with a strong sense of purpose, Tanya has also actively learnt new skills in museum best practice to ensure the Babinda Museum succeeds.