Tahina Booth

Tahina founded Grass Skirt Project on a conviction that gender equity in Papua New Guinea requires more than advocacy- it requires architecture. The kind built into communities, not handed down to them.

Under her leadership, GSP commissioned a forecast Social Return on Investment, with its methodology independently reviewed. It forecasts 7.9:1 at program level and 6.0:1 with all organisational costs included, for 2026 to 2030. That value comes from structural conditions that allow women, girls and young people to participate, lead and compound value across generations.

A former elite athlete across Rugby League, Olympic Weightlifting, and Powerlifting, Tahina understands what sustained performance demands. She brought that discipline to a different kind of infrastructure- one designed to redistribute power, build leadership pathways, and embed gender justice into the social and economic fabric of PNG communities.

Gymbox. The Hevea Cup and Wellness Expo. The 10 Million Strong Leadership Program. These are not initiatives. They are entry points into a structural gender infrastructure system: integrated, locally governed, and designed to generate compounding returns long after any single grant cycle ends.

Tahina also serves on the Department of Foreign Affairs Australia's Pacific Women Lead Governance Board, contributing to a $170M investment in gender equality across the Pacific.

She builds structures that last. Because in PNG and in the economics of gender justice- compounding returns only begin when the infrastructure is in place.