Our Board, Our Employees
Samara Fernandez
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Director| Secretary, Public Officer
Hi, I’m Samara, Founder and CEO of 4YAPA. I am a proud Warlpiri woman, guided by a deep commitment to truth, dignity, justice and hope.
My advocacy grew from experiences of systemic injustice and the devastating loss of my cousin, Kumanjayi Walker, who was shot and killed by an NT police officer in 2019, when he was 19. After Kumanjayi’s death, I became committed to ensuring his life and our family’s experience were represented truthfully and with dignity.
Through 4YAPA, I work alongside my communities and families to centre their voices, protect the integrity of their stories and support them to shape the decisions and futures that affect them. My work is grounded in storytelling, integrity, respect and deep love, creating culturally safe, community-led spaces where people are heard, valued and supported to lead change.
I bring lived experience and leadership in community-led social justice campaigning, including the Justice for Walker campaign. I believe my people deserve to be seen, respected and resourced to lead change.
Natasha Fernandez
Content Producer & Administration Support Officer
Director| Chairperson
Hey, I’m Natasha. I’m the Content Producer & Administration Support Officer at 4YAPA.
As a Warlpiri woman and mother, I care about creating a safer and happier future for our beautiful children. It’s something I want to carry with me in the work I do.
I have seven years of experience working in government, including administration and executive support. After stepping away from the workforce to raise my children, I’m excited to be returning to work in a role that feels deeply meaningful to me and gives me the opportunity to give back to my community.
In 2019, my family experienced the devastating loss of my cousin, Kumanjayi Walker, as a result of police violence. That experience has stayed with me and reinforced how important it is for our communities to have a voice and be heard.
I’m so grateful to be part of the 4YAPA team. I want to play my part in working towards positive change for our families. Our children deserve better, and I want to help build something hopeful for the next generation.
Rachael Hocking
Program & Communications Coordinator
Director| Treasurer
Hello, I’m Rachael and I am the Program and Communications Coordinator at 4YAPA.
My Warlpiri family, my mother’s side, come from Lajamanu: the northernmost of our four Warlpiri communities. I was privileged to be raised by many people who loved and challenged me to be a good, kind and responsible person, to move with honesty and respect. I owe many of these lessons to my early upbringing in Lajamanu, to my late mother and to my step-father and his sprawling anglo-Italian family.
For the past decade I have worked as a journalist, editor, trainer and presenter in newsrooms, boardrooms and in community. I have witnessed and been part of storytelling which has influenced social change in big and small ways and worked alongside communities to create better, safer pathways for our mob into the media. I believe in the power of narrative sovereignty, and I am committed to our people’s inherent right to tell our stories on our terms, with dignity and freedom. I feel privileged to find new and old ways to continue this work at 4YAPA.
Advisory Committee
The people who support 4YAPA’s work and bring their knowledge, experience and community perspectives to the organisation.
Joyce Brown
Elizabeth Katakarinja
Ned Hargraves
Donovan Rice
Steven Marshall
In Legacy Of
4 Yapa would like to acknowledge the incredible support from Warlpiri elders who have since passed. They have contributed to the fire, the care and the knowledge of the Justice for Walker campaign and Warlpiri people broadly. They attended court, they passed on knowledge, they nurtured and they led our community. They fought 4 Yapa, and they have inspired the founding of 4 Yapa.
Kumanjayi Walker
4 Yapa exists for you
Kumanjayi V Marshall
Kumanjayi Z Eagan
Kumanjayi J Brown