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Marisa Pene
Auckland, NZ
Marisa is Tokelauan & NZ Māori. Professionally, she has worked for 25 years in Māori and Pacific development and is committed to the revival and survival of those communities, languages and cultural practices. She also has a passion for regenerative enterprise and sustainability.
Her life BC (before children) was lived at full-throttle as (in no particular order!) a dancing queen, group fitness instructor, actor, business-owner, even black-belt kickboxer.
Then motherhood hit like a Mac truck. These days are much more sedate (not always in a good way…self-care, what’s that?). Besides earning a crust, Marisa is still a wannabe Polynesian dancer and traditional healer, Mama-uber, and part-time farmer/gardener on an acre in the back-blocks of Auckland, NZ, with her husband Dion and three children.
She holds a B.Arts/Law in Sociology and Maori Studies and completed her MBA in 2020.
Leigh Russell
Sydney, NSW
Leigh has a diverse background in arts administration, marketing, and is a producer of community initiatives. She has worked for the Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG), Screenwise, and Short+Sweet Theatre Festival.
She is the industry and jury liaison for the Academy-accredited Flickerfest International Short Film Festival and programmer for the SAE FlickerUp youth strand. She is also the co-founder and editor of Film in Revolt, a platform for youth in Australia to explore film, and project officer for Community Engagement at National Theatre of Parramatta.
Leigh holds a Bachelor of Communication in Media from Griffith University and lives in Sydney with her Irish husband and three young adult children.
Rose Morrison
Gold Coast, QLD
Professionally, Rose is an artist, working in the fine arts as an oil painter, working in a realistic figurative style, and moonlights as an illustrator. She also teaches traditional painting and digital art making in tertiary institutions. She began her career in the fashion industry and worked as a make-up artist before deciding to pursue a career as a visual artist.
Rose is married with 2 kids and escaped Sydney for a Gold Coast sea change in 2019, seeking a more fulfilling life out of the big city. She is from a bi-racial background and is mad about animals, especially dogs.
Aysha Leo
Sydney, NSW
Aysha is an online journalist, multimedia producer, and digital editor with a diverse skill set developed in over 15 years of working with Australia’s premier media brands.
She has produced and been involved in award-winning cross-platform and multimedia content, across a wide range of subjects, issues and media genres for varied online audiences.
Having worked across breaking news, news features, major disasters, arts, sport and entertainment rounds, Aysha has extensive experience in delivering up-to-the-minute coverage through to in-depth destinations and sites exploring the deeper angles. She’s been on the ground covering bushfires, riots, the Olympics, art and fashion events, budget lock-ups, red carpet events and celebrity interviews.
Aysha holds a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and lives in Sydney with her husband Ben and two primary-school aged sons.
Leisa Gibson
Canberra, ACT
Leisa is currently employed as Senior Adviser, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion at ABT Associates, a data-driven engine for social impact, fueled by caring, curiosity, and cutting-edge research that moves people from vulnerability to security.
She is a dedicated and dynamic senior gender and social inclusion expert, thought leader, and development manager with more than 18 years of international experience in government, UN and civil society promoting women and girls’ empowerment.
Leisa has programmatic experience across gender and GBV in humanitarian action, social policy, child marriage, women’s economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, menstrual hygiene management, adolescent rights and empowerment, and girls’ education and skills.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Development Economics and International Development from UNSW, and lives in Canberra with her husband Jeremy and two teenagers.
Midlife Slices respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which it operates, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their elders past, present and future, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.