ABOUT
wombat creative
Wombat Creative is a small, no-frills consultancy working with some of Australia’s largest and smallest not-for-profits and communities.
Our mission is to help communities achieve their sustainability goals. We do this by facilitating people and their plans, driving good strategic planning, supporting strong governance, documenting and implementing communication and fundraising strategies, managing events and programs, documenting and reporting on outcomes and building the capacity of the communities in which we work.
While based on the Gold Coast and Townsville, much of our work takes place in regional and remote Australia.
Meet the team
Samantha Morris
Mananging Director
Samantha Morris is a communication and engagement specialist who has worked in the community sector for 30 years. Most of her career has been spent working with conservation and land management groups on communication, fundraising and engagement strategies and she’s won several awards for that work.
Sam launched Wombat Creative in 2007 and has worked with some of Australia’s largest environmental charities since that time and has delivered hundreds of training workshops to grassroots volunteers and remote communities. Sam is an all-rounder and a trusted team member at every organisation she’s consulted to.
Sam is a sought-after strategic thinker, planner, communicator and facilitator.
In 2013 Sam took a break from conservation work and launched a print magazine focused on the Gold Coast’s music and cultural scene. Blank Street Press is now the City’s cultural voice and has grown its readership to more than 40,000 people a month in print and another 30,000 online, reaching more than 25% of the Gold Coast population. In 2015 she also launched the annual Gold Coast Music Awards which has engaged thousands of music lovers across the City as well as national music media. She is also a freelance writer for a range of other publications – both environmental and cultural and is currently writing a book on the Gold Coast’s live music scene in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Sam won a Queensland Young Australian of the Year award for her environmental work in 2001, was named one of Queensland’s Champions of Conservation in 2013 and won a Golden Gecko Award for environmental work in 2015. In 2021 the Glossy Black Conservancy awarded her the Golden Ort Award for her contribution to Glossy Black-Cockatoo conservation. Her magazine, Blank Street Press was Magazine of the Year in the two most recent Gold Coast Media Awards.
Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) from University of New England along with a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessing, a bronze medallion and certificate-level qualifications in telephone counselling and facilitation.
Elli Webb
Project Manager
Elli Webb has built a professional career over 20 years, focussed on volunteer support roles and leadership in the community sector. She is dedicated to empowering volunteer and grass-roots groups to achieve their goals and has received an award acknowledging her work in this space.
Elli spent five years working with Landcare Queensland to secure corporate funding for on-ground projects and built a strong network of hundreds of community contacts across the state as a result.
Elli also spent time in the private sector gaining project management experience engaging with landholders, government and contractors. But her passion is community and land management. Elli joined the Wombat Creative team in 2021 and supports clients with project management, event coordination and implementing communication strategies. She’s a highly organised and efficient project manager and brings decades of experience to the role.
Elli holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science from Griffith University and a Graduate Diploma in Landscape Design from the University of Canberra.
Chloe Popa
Creative Director
Chloe has worked in natural resource management for more than 15 years and grew up on a farming property in the Darling Downs. Chloe has held roles as Manager Landcare Queensland and Communication Manager for Desert Uplands and has worked directly with regional NRM bodies and other large NGOs.
Chloe is an experienced and creative graphic designer and event producer and is co-founder of Blank Street Press and the Gold Coast Music Awards. Chloe has a wealth of knowledge related to applying design principles to community projects to deliver outcomes. Chloe’s designed for billboards, scrim, websites, video and film, fundraising appeals and lift pieces, social media campaigns, branding and infographics that catalyse change.
Chloe holds a Bachelor of Environmental Management – Sustainable Development from the University of Queensland along with a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.
Facilitation, communication and planning services, with a focus on rural Australia and NGOs.