Our people
Abhilash Mudaliar (he/him)
Abhilash Mudaliar is an experienced 'for purpose' professional, with 20 years of experience across a variety of roles in social enterprise, impact investing, philanthropy and nonprofit management. Most recently, as Chief Impact Officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Abhilash oversaw teams focused on impact measurement and evaluation, impact investing, social enterprise and social innovation. Prior to PRF, he held a variety of analytic and leadership roles in India and the US, including at the Global Impact Investing Network, Elevar Equity, the World Bank and Bain & Company.
Abhilash is a non-executive Director on the boards of Myriad Australian, Shine For Kids and First Australians Capital.
Abhilash has Honours degrees in Commerce and Arts from the University of Melbourne and an MPA in International Development from Harvard University.
Abhilash has been serving on the Board of 100 Story Building since August 2023 and will act as interim CEO from 1 August 2024 while recruitment is undertaken.
Jessica Tran (she/her)
Jessica Tran is the co-founder and Story Hubs Manager of 100 Story Building. She is interested in the intersection of arts, education and social justice, and works in the areas of communication, advocacy, development and evaluation. She is currently completing a PhD in Education at RMIT.
Simon Conlon (he/him)
Simon Conlon is the Program Manager at 100 Story Building. Simon has over 10 years of experience delivering workshops for children and young adults. He has worked across programs in a number of areas including theatre, science, visual art and circus, and tries to bring a little bit of everything into all workshops. Simon enjoys helping participants from a range of backgrounds and communities to explore their own creativity, making lots of wonderful mistakes along the way. Simon talks with his hands, feet, elbows, hair, knees, nose, eyebrows and chin. Oh, and his mouth – but only if he has to.
Ella Bucovaz (she/her)
Ella Bucovaz is the Marketing Manager at 100 Story Building. Ella has over 15 years experience working in the arts sector, from festivals, events, arts organisations, galleries and performing arts centres as both a producer and marketeer.
Ella has a theatre background and a love of theatrical storytelling. Ella holds a bachelor of Creative Arts (Theatre) from Deakin University and a Masters of Arts & Cultural Management from the University of Melbourne.
Jenny Tran (she/her)
Jenny serves as the Operations Manager at 100 Story Building. Growing up in both Australia and Vietnam, Jenny is a multicultural marketer and storyteller with expertise in digital marketing, partnerships, branding, public relations, strategic communications, and campaigning across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors.
At 100 Story Building, Jenny spearheads marketing and communications strategy development, collaborating with the team to implement marketing initiatives. She holds a deep passion for the transformative power of education, viewing it as the key to unlocking opportunities and reducing inequity.
Before joining 100 Story Building, Jenny worked as a sustainability, communications, and stakeholder engagement consultant. She has worked with leading agriculture, F&B, and waste companies, as well as government agencies, to create meaningful changes for people and the planet.
Jenny loves travelling and is always on the lookout for her next great book.
Brenna Ternus (they/them)
Brenna is the Senior Producer, Creative Learning at 100 Story Building and an educator, theatremaker and writer who has lived and worked all over the world. After a nomadic upbringing, they studied theatre and cultural anthropology at Yale University, and then moved to Beijing where they spent three years building an experimental arts-integrated learning centre called Armada. They worked as an intern at 826 Valencia, a photography/creative writing teacher in New Orleans and a summer camp designer in Alaska, France and Japan...before winding up in Footscray, which they're starting to call home. When not at 100 Story Building, they create escape rooms with young people and oversee an after school program at Carlton Primary School.
Julia Coscolluela (she/her)
Julia (or Jules) is the Program Coordinator at 100 Story Building. However, her involvement with the organisation actually started way back in 2020 as an Early Harvest Intern. Being a young person herself, Julia is passionate about youth empowerment and youth participation, and believes that children and young people should have more opportunities to share their stories with the world. She is also passionate about mental health and is currently studying Psychology at university. When she isn't working, you'll probably find her volunteering somewhere, wandering around the West with her terrifying terrier Harley or growing weeds in her garden. Julia's favourite book is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and she loves, loves, LOVES sunflowers!
Our workshop facilitators
All our workshop facilitators who deliver our creative programming to children and young people are trained in theatre and are artists in their own right.
Brendan Barnett (he/him)
Brendan is a workshop facilitator at 100 Story Building. He is also an animator, actor and voice over artist. Brendan is often running off with theatre in education companies such as Bell Shakespeare and Complete Works Theatre Company and attempting to bring texts to life for young audiences across Australia. He says the best part is chatting with some of the sharpest minds in the country – high school students. In all his work Brendan is a strong believer in the power of play to engage and educate teachers and students alike and the importance of shared storytelling in forging links within and between communities.
Megan Petrie (she/her)
Meg has worked in educational drama, film and storytelling programs across schools and farms in Italy, ACMI and many primary schools in Melbourne. Meg is passionate about community and celebrating peoples’ experiences and stories. When she isn’t teaching she sits in peculiar places on the hunt for wonderful stories. Like that cafe that never closes in Torino, Italy where an elderly lady arrived with a parrot on her shoulder, sat opposite Meg, clapped her hands and said,“Ba-boom!” and then performed the previous night’s storm for 36 minutes. Her parrot sat eating her earring, unperturbed by the lady’s thunder mouth and windy arms. Meg believes when we are still and listen carefully the magic will be shared with us. You may catch her with her ear to the ground listening to the 99 stories below.
Joana Vicente Pires (she/her)
Beginning in 2002, Joana brings over 20 years experience in arts facilitation. She completed Post Graduate studies in Arts and Social Engagement at the Victorian College of the Arts, Undergraduate studies in Drama and Theatre at La Trobe University and a Radio Broadcasting Certificate IV at Swinburne University. Under the coaching mentorship of Olympian coach Martin Hall, Joana completed a Certificate IV in Coaching from the International College of Kenshusei.
Joana has facilitated performance projects with numerous arts companies nationally, working with large and small groups of artists from diverse backgrounds. She has vast experience and education in inclusive art practice. In her work, she endeavors to create supportive spaces that foster agency, connection and play.
Joana is a published author (Pêssego Rosa) and worked under mentor, writer Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap, Head On), to write, direct and perform in the stage production of Waking in Angola (La Mama Theatre). She is the recipient of two Malthouse Theatre Development Awards, as a co-creator and actor in My Friends and I and Truth Machine (Malthouse Theatre). Joana began acting in 1997 and works across film, television and theatre. She has attained extensive training in professional actor programs with teachers such as Elizabeth Kemp, Ana Kokkinos and Howard Fine.
Julian Gasparri (he/him)
Julian is a writer, editor and facilitator with experience in digital publishing, community broadcasting and youth engagement. He adopts a strength-based approach when facilitating any creative process, valuing optimism and inclusivity to empower imaginations. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from La Trobe University, but has opted for more creative ways of telling stories including poetry, personal essays and short fiction. He is currently working on a longer manuscript inspired by the impactful events of his first volunteering experience as a teenager. Julian has maintained this passion for community service by starting out as a volunteer at 100 Story Building.
Ben McKenzie (he/him)
Ben is a performer, writer and game designer who thinks everyone should make stories and games. He has over a decade’s experience running playful and educational events for adults and children alike, including improvised comedy, museum tours and large-scale immersive games. As a writer Ben works in educational video, computer and tabletop games, and podcasting and radio. He teaches comedy writing and podcasting to undergraduates at Collarts, where he is also studying a Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Creative Arts). He also celebrates Terry Pratchett in the book club podcast Pratchat, now in its seventh year. His freelance work includes podcast editing and production, game design, narrative consulting and a variety of playful workshops. You might also see him in Story Box Library’s Story Tools series of creative writing tutorials, or hear him on BBC radio in the time travel comedy series Night Terrace. His favourite element is helium, and his favourite dinosaur is Stegosaurus.
