VPC: Meet the Guest Speakers for the TiPS Program 2.0!

[Michael Barnett OAM]

https://pridecentre.org.au/meet-the-guest-speakers-for-the-tips-program-2-0/

Meet the Guest Speakers for the TiPS Program 2.0!

Posted on October 3, 2025

The Telling it with Pride Speakers (TiPS) Program 2025  is almost here!

TiPS is dedicated to uplifting the diverse voices of the LGBTIQA+ community who are ready to share their lived experiences for social change. Now in its second year, the program will provide participants with tailored training and support to strengthen their storytelling and public speaking skills, helping them build confidence and create impact across the state.

Today, we are excited to introduce the incredible lineup of guest speakers for this year’s program. These inspirational leaders and creatives from our community will guide participants through a series of workshops focused on Storytelling for Social Change, Self-Care and Community Care, Public Speaking, Storytelling Skills, and Media and Digital Advocacy.

Following a successful first season and the launch of the LGBTIQA+ Speakers Bureau last year, the program aims to promote understanding, empathy, and inclusion across various sectors in Victoria by elevating the voices of the diverse LGBTIQA+ community. 

Tathra Street and Ivy Crago are teaming up once again to deliver the second edition of the TiPS program. Tathra shapes and facilitates the program experience, while Ivy, a member of the VPC staff as Program Coordinator, handles program planning and development. Both are eager to apply insights from last year’s pilot program and are ready to guide this empowering initiative for LGBTIQA+ community members!

Meet the Facilitator, Tathra Street (she/they) Tathra Street will be guiding participants throughout the program, ensuring a supportive learning environment for speakers to develop their skills on public speaking, storytelling, and digital advocacy. She brings to this second iteration of the TiPS Program a fresh appreciation for the role of storytelling in social change, and how vital sharing our lived experience is to promote understanding and dismantle outdated attitudes toward our community. Tathra is a leadership futurist, facilitator, and coach who creates spaces for people and communities to find their voice and lead with impact. A queer, neurodivergent woman raised between Australia and Canada, she has worked across cultures, hemispheres, decades, and paradigms. She was the Co-chair of the Victorian Pride Centre’s Community Reference Group for five years. Her leadership development work supports people to use their power and privilege in healthy ways so they can lead well and have their intended impact. Her work is future-focused and grounded in collective care, intersectionality, and equity. She lives in Naarm with her wife, four fur babies, and a jungle of houseplants on Edgars Creek.

Meet the VPC Program Coordinator, Ivy Crago (she/they) Ivy is a theatre-maker, writer, performer, and facilitator based in Naarm. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, (BFA Theatre) Ivy focuses on storytelling as a shared experience, drawing from immersive theatre traditions and the Le Coq pedagogy. They are excited share part of their Body and Voice practice with the TiPS Program this year.  Ivy has experience in arts marketing and programming, including leading social media and content coordination for the Midsumma Festival 2024 and serving as the Program Coordinator for the Victorian Pride Centre 2024–2025. In this role, they pioneered the development of the Victorian Pride Centre’s LGBTIQA+ Speakers Bureau, launched in January 2025. They are excited to return for the second iteration of the TiPS Program.

Meet the Guest Speakers of the TiPS Program 2025: 

About Dean Arcuri  Dean Arcuri is known for being Melbourne’s busiest homosexual. He is an entertainer, journalist, photographer and beloved community figure. As cabaret comedian Frock Hudson, he has performed at festivals nationwide for over a decade, and is a regular host of corporate and LGBTIQA+ community events. Dean has produced countless fundraisers and shows with local businesses and groups, from trivia and karaoke to pageants and bingo. A former Victorian Editor for SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer, he also produced and presented programs on JOY 94.9, including MAD Wednesdays and the news program The Informer. During Victoria’s 2020 lockdowns, Dean co-hosted livestreamed variety shows and created Pride Cup Trivia, connecting inclusive sporting clubs across the state. Each year, he performs at major events including the Better Together Conference, Gay Ski Week, and Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Whether on stage, behind the camera or on the airwaves, Dean is dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the diversity and joy of Australia’s LGBTIQA+ communities.

About Skye Stewart In this lifetime, Skye is a weaver of many threads—midwife, mother, researcher, artist, writer, and a hot air balloon pilot. But first and foremost, they are a Caretaker and Custodian of the lands of the Wergaia and Wemba Wemba peoples. Their Country is the red sand, salt lakes, rivers, and endless Mallee sky.  Skye voice is both a gentle hum, whilst also standing in staunch and radical truth, born from 60,000 years of unbroken storylines. Skye shares stories in a way that a clarion call to action. They ask you to find your voice to do the same.  As a fierce advocate for Aboriginal families who have lost a baby, they have brought a profound strength to their work, earning national recognition and placing their work in all maternity hospitals across the country.  As a Queer, neurodivergent Blakfella standing on the shoulders of Ancestors, living in rural Victoria, Skye’s stories are a testament to the power of intersectional identity. They awaken truths that have long been sleeping. Listen with curiosity, stand in solidarity, and care with humanity, for in their stories lies a blueprint for change.

Meet Amy Tingay (she/her) Amy Tingay is a queer, disabled, poet, activist, advocate and educator. Whose work lives in the margins of society. She is a social justice warrior, lover of words and the systems and ideas that make the world tick.  She is a poet whose work was featured in Arts Access Australia Writing Place; as part of meeting place 2020 (I have attached the magazine; it’s not available online any more but you’re welcome to link it, my piece is page 24) and Mother Tongue Voices in the Streets Poetry Hunt 2024.  Currently Amy works at the Intersection, an education organisation that runs workshops primarily for high school students, around privilege, empathy, curiosity and connection. She’s proudly part of the Meet the Neighbour program. A “Q&A” panel session.  Her session will focus on the importance of self-care trauma informed practice and community care for storytellers. While beginning to build trust, safety and confidence in your work.

Meet Katia Ariel (she/her) Katia is an award-winning author, book editor, and educator from Melbourne/Naarm. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, her memoir The Swift Dark Tide was shortlisted for the Stella Prize in 2024 and won the Society of Women Writers NSW Non-fiction Prize the same year. Her writing has appeared in journals including Womankind, Antithesis, and Archer. Katia teaches creative writing and structural editing, and her second book, Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch, was published by Wild Dingo Press in June 2025. She lives with her family by the sea.

About Fleassy Malay (they/she) Fleassy is an award-winning poet, two-time TEDx speaker, and internationally renowned spoken word artist. A queer, neurodiverse parent and advocate for LGBTIQA+ rights and women’s empowerment, they blend vulnerability and power to inspire change. Founder of Mother Tongue Poetry, Fleassy mentors in public speaking and authenticity. Their poem Witches went viral in 2018, and they’ve published multiple books and albums. Fleassy has performed globally, was a 2017 Slam finalist, and won Reciter of the Year in 2022. Their show Fierce-Gentle won two Judges Picks at the 2023 Melbourne Fringe. Based in Melbourne, they studied at The BRIT School.

About Trianna Butler  Triana Butler is a broadcaster and digital creative from Narrm/Melbourne. A broadcaster in radio, podcasting, and the online space for more than a decade, Triana creates story arcs that cross over from the digital to the physical world, spanning public events and social feeds. Her work as a presenter in the gaming sphere has seen her host live events for Maybelline, Riot Games, Fortress, and Microsoft, and she’s led a series of community panels at PAX Australia and Melbourne International Games Week. Behind the scenes, Triana has worked on some of the biggest gaming and esports events in the country, including Melbourne Esports Open, DreamHack Melbourne, and IEM Melbourne 2025. One of the leading trans broadcasters in the country, Triana has hosted podcasts for organisations like LGBTIQ+ Health Australia and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Triana’s work as a music presenter has seen her acknowledged as a Finalist in both the Australian Commercial Radio Awards and the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia Awards.

We are so excited to have these guest speakers as part of the program. This year is shaping up to be an incredible journey of learning, connection, and empowerment. Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate and amplify LGBTIQA+ voices through storytelling!

[Image Descriptions in ALT Text]