Youth Charity Lead
Jess Smith
Jess is a brave young person raised by a single mother in the heart of Sydney, Australia who has previously, and still presently grasping an understanding of modern life.
Despite personal challenges, Jess has turned her long-held dream of wildlife conservation into reality, completing a double degree at the University of Sydney in partnership with Taronga Zoo. Through hands-on work in animal behaviour, welfare, and training, and through her animal support services (and with Enzo, her Cane Corso canine!), she has developed a deep, practical understanding of the relationships between humans and animals. Her work is grounded in a strong ethical perspective and a genuine love for animals, and reflects her belief in the importance of caring, responsible connections that recognise both social and environmental contexts.
Jess’ experience of trauma in combination with an increasingly prevalent eating disorder has been shadowed by her determination for her life’s passions. Building and connecting with young people is her key objective, as Jess believes in being more realistic and compassionate helps to exacerbate others’ potential.
Through her work with the GEM Method, Jess has also gained a deeper awareness of how her own experiences with overwhelming concerns once created a sense of distance between herself and the world around her. This insight now informs her practice, strengthening her commitment to emotional literacy, connection, and helping others navigate challenges with greater clarity and self-compassion.
Board Members
ANGÉ WEINRABE
Founder of Gem
Angé Weinrabe is a researcher, academic, and social innovator whose work explores the intersections of culture, emotion, and decision-making—particularly in the lives of young people. Over the past two decades, she has worked closely with young adults who are often misunderstood or marginalised by mainstream systems, developing community-first approaches that foster connection, emotional resilience, and ethical agency.
As the founder and director of GEM™ Ltd., this not-for-profit dedicated to youth mental health and social wellbeing, Angé developed the GEM™ Method—a research-informed, culturally grounded framework that empowers young people to reconnect with their communities and navigate life transitions with greater confidence and clarity. Her approach is published (2025) as process she shows is “Culture-as-Interaction”. In its practical expression or Culture-as-Practice, it equips youth with emotional scaffolding and decision-making tools designed to support everyday wellbeing and long-term growth. These tools make up the GEMAH Programme, designed by Angé, artist Shehzar Abro and Atteqa Malik, from the Karachi Biennale Trust.
Angé holds an Honours degree in Philosophy (2016) and a Master’s in Philosophy from the Brain and Mind Centre, Sydney Medical School (2020). She completed her PhD in Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney (2024), where her research re-evaluates dominant models of addiction, with the aim of integrating neuroscience, culture, and affect theory. Her work challenges the limitations of individualised or purely medical approaches, offering instead a holistic framework that positions addiction as a socially embedded and emotionally scaffolded experience. The aim is of GEM is to work with all models of care where the individual benefits most.
Her book, Culture and Addiction: Neuroscience and Affective Scaffolding (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026), co-authored with Dominic Murphy, proposes this interdisciplinary model for understanding and responding to addiction. Drawing on philosophy, cognitive science, and social theory, the book offers a powerful critique of the disease model and argues for treatment approaches that centre cultural participation, emotional regulation, and meaningful connection.
In addition to her research and field work, Angé teaches across science and commerce faculties as a sessional academic and industry partner at the University of Sydney, where she takes a multidisciplinary approach to questions of ethics, systems design, and social transformation. Her contributions have been recognised with several honours, including the Research Commercialisation Award (2023), the Research Excellence Award (2024), and the Postgraduate Research Prize for Outstanding PhD Thesis (2025).
Angé’s long-term mission is to scale emotional rehabilitation and decision-support tools globally—through free, tech-accessible, and culturally responsive systems that help young people lead meaningful, self-directed lives. Her work with GEM continues to bridge research and real-world impact, placing empathy, agency, and equity at the centre of social innovation. She is fully aware that none of this is possible without authentic collaboration with people who are driven to support global change where needed.
Samuel Werrett
Samuel Werrett holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and is a proven commercial business manager with experience across accounting, finance, hospitality, and entrepreneurship—along with a well-known appreciation for great coffee and good conversation. After graduating in 2014, Sam identified an opportunity to build a more holistic, hands-on understanding of business and founded an espresso bar in Chatswood. Starting from a single concept, The Steam Engine grew into a successful and well-regarded operation, including a mobile business arm, and was recognised as Australia’s 15th Top Café by beanhunter.com in 2017.
Alongside his work in hospitality, Sam has contributed to large-scale commercial projects through his role at The Galileo Group, where he worked within the property development team. There, he supported projects from inception through to completion, developing strong skills in research, feasibility analysis, financial assessment, and project management. This experience strengthened his ability to bridge creative ideas with practical execution and commercial sustainability.
A young creative himself, Sam brings an entrepreneurial and people-centred perspective to his leadership. He currently co-directs GEM Ltd. alongside Angé, where he plays a key role in shaping strategy, operations, and growth. Through this work, he is committed to building platforms that support young people, foster creativity, and encourage meaningful engagement with education, wellbeing, and community. By combining business acumen with a genuine interest in people and ideas, Sam helps ensure that GEM’s vision is both impactful and sustainable, supporting peers and young people locally and internationally to realise their potential.
Atteqa Malik
Atteqa is a freelance digital artist, cultural operator, and a founder member of the Karachi Biennale Trust, with a long-standing commitment to new media, public engagement, and cross-cultural collaboration. She holds an MA in Media Studies from The New School University, New York (2002), and has since worked at the intersection of art, technology, and civic space, contributing significantly to the development of contemporary digital and media art practices in Pakistan.
Since February 2008, Atteqa has organised and facilitated numerous workshops, public programs, and activities in Karachi focused on new media, digital culture, and experimental artistic practice. Her work has consistently aimed to expand access to contemporary art and to create platforms for learning, exchange, and critical engagement among artists, students, and the wider public. In recognition of her international standing in the field, she served on the International Review Committee for the International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA) in 2010, held in Ruhr, Germany.
Her artistic and curatorial practice has also been represented internationally. Her submission to the Imagining New Eurasia project was selected and exhibited alongside 88 artists at the Asian Cultural Center in Korea, as well as online, where it remained on view until July 2016. These projects reflect her ongoing interest in digital cultures, transnational dialogue, and the social dimensions of media art.
As Co-Founder and CEO of the Karachi Biennale Trust, Atteqa has played a central role in shaping one of South Asia’s most significant contemporary art platforms. She has coordinated a wide range of educational initiatives and international collaborations, working with Karachi-based institutions and partners such as Berlin-based artist Wolfgang Spahn, architect Stephen Kovats, Manchester Art Gallery, The Tetley, and Canadian media artist Faisal Anwar. Thus far the Biennale’s Global Outreach program collaborated with GEM, who delivered the GEMAH Arts & Health program to circa 120 young creatives in Karachi, reflecting Atteqa’s commitment to using art as a tool for education, wellbeing, and meaningful social connection.
Tom Cochrane
Tom is a philosopher specialising in the philosophy of mind and aesthetics. He is also a musician (piano) and has a master’s degree in music composition. He received his PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2007 for a thesis arguing that musical performances can generate collective emotions. Over the next 10 years he worked at universities in Geneva, Belfast, Sheffield, and York. He began his current post at Flinders University in Adelaide in 2018.
Tom is the lead editor of the multi-disciplinary volume The Emotional Power of Music (Oxford University Press, 2013) and the author of The Emotional Mind (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and The Aesthetic Value of the World (Oxford University Press, 2021). Click here to access more of his recent contributions to academic and other scholarship. Alongside his academic work, he contributes to GEM (Giving Education Meaning) as a guest speaker and presenter, and as an author of GEM’s research and educational content. Through this role, he helps translate philosophical and scientific insights about emotion, music, and aesthetics into accessible resources that support emotional literacy and meaningful learning across educational contexts.
NEeru Kera
Neeru is a multiple award-winning filmmaker, artist-researcher, and visual storytelling practitioner working at the intersection of culture, health, and community engagement. Through her initiative, The Creative Gypsy, she uses film and participatory storytelling as ethical, reflexive tools within research and public health spaces, collaborating with partners including NIHR (UK), the University of Warwick, AIIMS India, and global research networks. Her practice is rooted in the belief that storytelling is not merely a mode of dissemination, but a method that can centre lived experience, dignity, dialogue, and community voice.
Her background is deeply interdisciplinary. From early training as a theatre artist to formal studies in Economics and Philosophy and later moving into filmmaking through lived practice rather than institutional training, Neeru’s journey has shaped a distinctive approach to visual and digital storytelling. This path has informed her sustained engagement with anthropology, psychiatry, public health, and the medical humanities, with a strong emphasis on art and culture as mediums for healing, emotional expression, and culturally grounded conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Her recent research-aligned films include Transform, which explores the intersections of faith healing and biomedical care; Hold My Hand, focused on children’s emotional wellbeing; and Anahata, which engages with the spiritual and cultural dimensions of healing. These works are developed in close collaboration with clinicians, researchers, and communities, reflecting her commitment to ethical, participatory, and context-sensitive filmmaking.
Neeru’s work resonates strongly with initiatives that seek to make education more humane, emotionally attuned, and meaningful. In alignment with the ethos of GEM—Giving Education Meaning—she is interested in how storytelling and visual media can support emotional literacy, reflective learning, and compassionate dialogue, especially with children and young people. She approaches filmmaking as a collaborative and pedagogical practice, using stories not only to represent experience, but to help individuals and communities better understand their inner worlds, build empathy, and find language for complex emotions. Through this work, she aims to contribute to educational spaces that value emotional intelligence alongside knowledge, and that see creativity as central to wellbeing and learning.
Mariam khan
Mariam Khan is an interdisciplinary design leader and prolific writer known for her thoughtful explorations of design, self-worth, and social issues. An advocate for inclusive and psychologically safe environments, she is committed to creating conditions that foster creativity, reflection, and meaningful growth. Her writing weaves together personal narrative and social observation, inviting readers to question assumptions, engage more deeply with themselves and others, and imagine more compassionate ways of working and living.
Alongside her professional practice, Mariam is an avid reader and offers guidance as an “agony aunt-for-hire,” a role that reflects her belief in the value of listening, empathy, and honest conversation. This work complements her broader commitment to personal development and community engagement, and underscores her interest in the everyday emotional and social challenges people navigate.
Mariam’s work is grounded in a dedication to continuous learning and to the empowerment of others through thoughtful, accessible discourse. As Cultural Lead at GEM, she contributes her interdisciplinary perspective to shaping programmes, content, and conversations that support emotional literacy, creativity, and wellbeing, helping to ensure that GEM’s work remains inclusive, reflective, and socially responsive.
Faris Mughal is a Clinical Psychologist working across both community and clinical settings, supporting adolescents and adults with care, respect, and deep attentiveness to their lived experience. His work focuses on emotional regulation, trauma, anxiety, and strengthening emotional literacy, with a particular commitment to young people and those from underserved communities. He provides psychological assessment, counselling, and ongoing emotional support, creating spaces where people feel heard, understood, and supported to move forward at their own pace. He is deeply engaged in community mental health initiatives and regularly contributes his time to providing free psychological services in collaboration with local organisations.
In his volunteer time with GEM, Faris supports young people—especially young men in his own peer group—by being a strong and trusted voice for emotions, helping them develop the language, confidence, and skills to understand and express what they are feeling. Through both clinical practice and public programs, he is dedicated to reducing stigma, increasing mental health awareness, and expanding access to care for those who are too often overlooked—working toward a more inclusive, compassionate, and accessible mental health system for all.
GEM Ltd. wishes to give special thanks to all those young volunteers and paid contractors in Australia and abroad who have helped build the GEM brand since its start-up in 2017, and who have supported their peers in the process.