Amanda Healy

DIRECTOR Waru Project Pty Ltd KIRRIKIN and KIRRIKIN SUMMER

Amanda is from the Wonnarua nation – traditional owners of the Hunter Valley in NSW. As with many Indigenous people, Amanda has broad connections across the country.

Amanda has more than 35 years’ experience in the mining industry, both in Australia, Africa and Canada – working for Blue Chip miners such as BHP, Rio Tinto and WMC. In 2004 she founded her own Engineering business in the Pilbara - Maxx Engineering which was sold to a large international company in 2015. In early 2017 she founded 2 Indigenous engineering companies – supporting Aboriginal people in business (and developing people in the mechanical space), one is located in the Pilbara the other in Cape York with the Wikwae/Currag people.

In 2014 she was awarded the prestigious ‘Indigenous in Business’ Award at the Ethnic Business Awards at the C20 in Brisbane (for Maxx Engineering), a finalist in Telstra Businesswoman of the year, and a number of small business awards in regional WA.

Amanda developed Kirrikin in late 2014, and is a social enterprise sharing profits with the artists – to address shortage of authentic Indigenous products. Kirrikin digitally prints gorgeous Aboriginal artwork onto luxurious Cashmeres and silks, turning them into scarves and ties. Rapidly developing an internation reputation for its beautiful products, Kirrikin is popular in the USA and Europe as well as at home in Australia.

Kirrikin has recently won an Ecommerce award through the Export Council of Australia, and is a finalist in the national awards in 2016.

Kirrikin is an Aboriginal word that roughly translates as "Sunday's best clothes". We are proud to introduce the word Kirrikin to you, it was a part of the original language recoded by missionaries visiting the Hunter Valley early in the 1820’s – it is also part of Wonnarua language revitalisation.