TAHINA
​BOOTH 

Founder & CEO

DR SOFIA
BARTLETT

 Co-Founder & Scientist, Development Coordinator & Surfer

AL
​STOLZ 

Operations, Strategy
​& Watersports 

DAVID
​WESTLEY

Head of Rugby League and Social Impact Development & Coaching Guru

KILA
​MALA

Head of Education and Operations & Rugby League Fanatic

Founder & Athlete 
​Tahina Booth 

Tahina Booth is the founder and driving force behind the Grass Skirt Project. Her mother is a Papua New Guinea (PNG) national (Iokea Village, Gulf Province)  who met Tahina’s father when she was a Flight Attendant on Air Niugini in the 1970’s. She lived in PNG until she was 9, when the family relocated to Australia. Tahina maintains the link to her family in PNG with regular visits and has an intrinsic understanding of PNG and the sexual and domestic abuse that is a significant part of the culture there.

Tahina was encouraged into sports by her father as a way to meet friends when she moved to Australia and found not only friends but a lifelong passion for sports including Athletics, Basketball, Tennis, Surf Boat Rowing, and Football (NRL and American Grid Iron). In May 2014 Tahina was introduced to Powerlifting and broke an Australian record for the deadlift in her first competition in July 2014. Tahina attracted interest from the PNG Olympic Committee through her social media posts and was invited to try for a place on the South Pacific Games Team. She broke PNG national records when she competed in Port Moresby in February 2015, however without Dual Citizenship she was unable to compete for PNG internationally.

Spurred on by her success, She was inspired to compete at the Olympics, but as powerlifting is not an Olympic sport, the only option was to move into weightlifting. Tahina currently holds the number two ranking for women’s weightlifting in the 75kg plus weight category class for Australia and is aiming to compete for Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Surfers Paradise in 2018.

 Sport is one of the few pathways for young people to change their future in PNG. Sports people are seen as very special in PNG and they are admired and act as role models to the community. Sport clubs often lack the funding to purchase the correct equipment and participants can’t afford the equipment and clothing that is required to compete safely in sport, so Tahina founded the Grass Skirt Project to help fill this gap. Sport gave Tahina a healthy physical and emotional outlet, personal discipline, self-belief and a voice. The Grass Skirt Project aims to do this for others too. ​

Scientist, Surfer & Development Coordinator
Dr Sofia Bartlett 

Sofia is a public health researcher with a background in data science, molecular virology and infectious disease epidemiology. She is a founding Director of Grass Skirt Project, providing leadership and helping to conceive and develop innovative community driven, sport-based projects for people in Papua New Guinea, focusing on improved health and social outcomes. 

Being a keen surfer, and having witnessed domestic violence during her childhood, using sport to help address social and development issues has strong appeal for Sofia.

​Her background in public health and epidemiology allows her to identify pressing health and social issues, and identify suitable solutions which can be tailored to each communities specific context.  Sofia ensures monitoring and evaluation is embedded in Grass Skirt Project's activities, and is passionate about increasing capacity of communities and grass roots organisations to be able to undertake their own data collection and analysis activities. She is currently based in Vancouver, Canada as she is a Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) & Michael Smith Foundation for Health & Medical Research  funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control & University of British Columbia. Sofia has an adjunct appointment at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales in Sydney, and splits her time between Canada, Australia and PNG. ​

Operations, Strategy & Watersports
​Al Stolz

Al jumped on board with the Grass Skirt Project in late 2016 after seeing a flyer for the surfboard donation drive in a newsletter for North Bondi SLSC. Immediately, he was interested in the work that was going on and wanted to get involved. 

Al is a huge watersports enthusiast and has competed at an elite level as a long-distance open ocean swimmer, waterpolo player and surf boat rower. He is also a passionate surfer. Having sport as such an integral part os his life makes it easy for Al to appreciate the the potential that it has to effect social change.

Al's background in corporate law and experience as a competitive athlete enables him to assist in the creation of frameworks and strategies for Grass Skirt Project programs.

Rugby League and Social Impact Development 
David Westley

​David Westley was born in Bai Village, Rabaul. At the age of 8 his family relocated to Cairns, Australia. He began playing football when he was 12, representing local, regional and state teams before being scouted by the Canberra Raiders to play in the NRL while playing in the Queensland U19’s. 

In the Australian National Rugby League, David played with the Canberra Raiders, Parramatta Eels and Manly Sea Eagles. For 6 years, David also represented his country internationally as a member of the PNG Kumuls. A highlight of David's time with the Kumuls was taking part in the World Cup where he was selected as a member of the World 13, a team chosen from players of all participating countries. 

Whilst having a fulfilling career, David was plagued with major knee injuries resulting in early retirement. Since then, David has worked as a Development Officer with Queensland Rugby League and the Australian Rugby League, as a trainer for the SP Hunters and PNG Kumuls and as Head Coach of the PNG Orchids. 

David is passionate about building the capacity of sportspeople in Papua New Guinea. Throughout his storied professional career in sport, both on and off the field David has accumulated a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience which he is eager to share.

PNG Education & Operations
Kila Mala

​Kila runs education operations for Grass Skirt Project in Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea.
 
For 8 years Kila represented Papua New Guinea internationally in Outrigger Canoeing. After retiring as a competitive athlete, Kila recognised the need for more programs, training and amenity for sports within communities and settlements, including his own village of Hanuabada, NCD.

Kila's love of sport has driven him to work in various capacities in, and around, elite sport including coaching, administrative and management roles for team PNG at the 2013 Pacific Mini Games and the 2015, 2019 Pacific Games.

Kila was the first Master OSEP educator in PNG and the first to be certified as a member coach of the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association. In 2019, Kila is also undertaking Level 2 ASCA training. He will be the only person in PNG to hold this qualification. This accomplishment will enable him to train and develop other coaches to international standard.

With Grass Skirt Project, Kila is developing a prototype for a community-based education and training facility in Hanuabada. This will enable him, and other educators to provide access to life-changing health and wellness messaging, training, coaching, and sporting equipment.