Susan Rooney-Harding - Founder

The Story Catcher - Evaluation and Qualitative Data specialist

Susan is a documentary filmmaker and a creative qualitative data specialist. Her inquisitive and intuitive nature is central to her ability to capture meaningful stories for a greater purpose. 

She is a Multimedia Producer and is the founder of The Story Catchers, Stories for purpose.

Susan and Nerissa have co-created a methodology that uses film in for monitoring and evaluation, social impact measurement and human-centred design process. The methodology is used to create documentary-style reports of the findings.

Local, National and International organisations have used The Story Catchers services, organisations such as Indigenous Lands and Sea Corporation, Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Enel Green Power, Rural and Remote Mental Health, South Australian Murray Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board, Adelaide University and Flinders University to name a few.  

Prior to this role, she was the ABC Open Producer for the River Murray Areas in South Australia. Her primary role was to up-skill regional community members to create media content for various ABC online, television and radio platforms.

Content that Susan has created with communities has been seen on News 24, Landline, ABC Online, ABC Open, ABC Rural and the 730 Report.

Her work has been featured in the Sydney Museum, Adelaide Festival Centre, Northern Rivers National Portrait Prize exhibitions at the Lismore Regional Gallery and Murray Bridge Regional Art Gallery, South Australian Living Artists (SALA).

Nerissa Walton - Associate 

MONITORING & EVALUATION SPECIALIST

Nerissa has wide experience in the application of program logic and theory of change and evaluations of public health, environment and Indigenous programs. She has developed Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks and has delivered evaluations across Australia as well as overseas.Nerissa has worked with Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments and in the non-government and academic sectors. She has experience in quantitative data collection and analysis, but is particularly interested in understanding the more intangible outcomes of programs through the application of techniques such as the Most Significant Change (MSC) technique, of which she has extensive knowledge and experience.

Nerissa has professional qualifications, holding a Bachelor of Applied Science (Environmental Health), a Graduate Certificate in Public Health and a Masters of International Development. She has demonstrated skills in producing clear and concise evaluation reports that meet the needs of various evaluation stakeholders.

Nerissa was brought on at the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) to lead the organisation’s Monitoring and Evaluation body of work. Most recently, Nerissa has led the development of carbon offsetting strategy and policy advice at the ILC, as well as the design, implementation, monitoring and communication of demonstration projects on Indigenous-held land, including the Fish River Fire Project.

Nerissa maintains an interest in innovative, collaborative and empowerment approaches to evaluation and how these can inform organisational learning and change.

Arkellah Irving - Associate 

PURPOSE, IMPACT & EVALUATION SPECIALIST

Arkellah is a specialist in defining and evaluating purpose and impact. She has extensive experience supporting organisations and governments in identifying their clear and powerful purpose at any project stage and crafting communications around them. Arkellah’s skill set is uniquely refined through years of working locally and internationally, as well as science and community-led decision-making across diverse groups, focusing on bringing the voice of First Nations to the centre, the heart of it all.

Arkellah has worked across the public, not-for-profit and private sectors in the areas of innovation and leading change. Her work has opened hearts and minds to new ways of seeing and doing things. She has won many awards and accolades for her deep collaboration work on changing landscape use and values in the environmental sector. Arkellah has presented several times in China, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand and across Australia on her life-changing projects, working alongside First Nations groups and local communities, through to international philanthropy to protect special places for nature and people. This has included designing and delivering Australia’s first Collective Impact project for the environment sector, which empowered the voice of the Kaurna people in shaping policy for country and created an internationally listed protected place for migratory shorebirds that fly between Alaska and Adelaide.

As well as being a professional strategist and design thinker, Arkellah is a qualified marine biologist, which lends to skilled critical thinking and analysis. Arkellah has designed many project evaluations using Co-design tools, Results-Based Accountability, the Most Significant Change technique and a suite of contemporary and innovative communications and engagement tools to evaluate change. Her work often entwines First Nations perspectives on connection to Country and how healing through reconciliation action leads to more purposeful engagement and powerful outcomes.

Arkellah is a visionary thinker and way-shower for government and other sectors bound by entrenched thinking. Arkellah helps organisations find new ways to make an impact through strategic document creation and visual storytelling.

Arkellah’s work is reconciliation in action. The legacy of her heartfelt leadership sees her being talked about years later as someone who helped share a more positive future.

Arkellah is currently nurturing her SHIFT Consulting business and investing in global humanitarian projects that are significantly impacting worldwide problems.