Our Team
Meet the team behind the scenes:
Elissa Keenan Chief Executive
Elissa has vast executive experience within the tourism, aviation, government and peak body sectors including with Queensland Airports Limited, Airservices Australia, Virgin Australia, the REIQ and Surf Life Saving. Passionate about the industry, she has been a member of the Australian Tourism Awards Judging Panel, Chair of the Queensland Tourism Awards Panel, and judge with the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards. She is also the non-executive Director with Reefcheck Australia, an innovative citizen-science environmental charity dedicated to empowering people to take positive action for conserving reef and marine environments. Elissa is a keen advocate for female representation in leadership and is a mentor and Corporate Executive Board Member with Women in Aviation International.
Elissa loves to travel across Australia and beyond, has just two continents still to see (Africa and Antarctica), but firmly believes our beaches, wildlife, rainforests, outback and nature-based experiences are among the best - if not the best - in the world.
Fay Dawson Accounts Manager
Fay is the Accounts Manager for Ecotourism Australia and has worked in accounts for the past 10 years. She very much enjoys being part of the team, and will be only too happy to assist you should you have any queries with regards to your invoice.
Nadine Schramm Certification Manager
Nadine first joined Ecotourism Australia in 2018 as Membership Coordinator and assisted hundreds of tourism businesses on their sustainability journey as EA's application coach. Since 2021, Nadine manages EA’s business certifications including ECO, Climate Action and Respecting Our Culture (ROC) as well as the audit and compliance program.
After completing her education in Germany, she travelled extensively around Australia, where she developed a passion for the country’s incredible nature and its rich cultural heritage. Nadine’s academic background in tourism management with a major in international sustainable tourism previously took her to London, where she worked for a leading tour operator, before returning to Australia permanently.
Nadine feels inspired by creating positive change together with ecotourism businesses and witnessing the impact they have on the environment and local communities. She truly believes that everyone can make a difference no matter how small the actions.
Lina Cronin Communications and Marketing Manager
[Note: Lina currently works 3 days/week - Tuesdays, Wednesdays/Thursdays (half days) and Fridays.]
Lina is a passionate advocate for tourism’s potential to be a catalyst for positive change. With experience working in both the public and private sector, as well as academia, she brings a broad understanding of the complexities of the tourism industry as well as a unique skillset particularly in the areas of communications, marketing and event management. Internationally awarded for her writing on sustainable tourism and with experience working across nine countries, Lina’s career highlights to date have been speechwriting for the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); collaborating on a book highlighting the transformative power of tourism to subsistence farmers in South East Asia; and bringing to life the stories of Australia’s best ecotourism operators through her Masters research on storytelling as a tool for changing visitor perceptions.
Contact Lina with any communications, marketing or media enquiries: lina@ecotourism.org.au
Alyssa Sanders Relationships Manager
In 2019 Alyssa came from South Australia to join the Ecotourism Australia team as the Program Manager for the ECO Destination Certification program. In that role, she has grown the program, assisted a number of our destinations through their ecotourism journey and built some fantastic relationships with the regional managers who are driving ecotourism in their part of the country. In 2021 Alyssa's role grew to be Relationships Manager where it expanded to include not only our valued family of destinations but to work with a variety of our partners in growing ecotourism and the travel for good ethos.
Alyssa’s passion for the tourism industry has stemmed from her travels throughout Australia and abroad. She believes that tourism has a responsibility in educating visitors on the value of the surrounding environment. Alyssa’s academic background includes topics of business marketing, tourism and event management. Alyssa has worked within local government visitor services and held a position as chair of Young ATEC in South Australia and South Queensland.
When not at work, Alyssa enjoys many outdoor activities, sport, meeting new people from all corners of the globe, and practising her basic conversational Spanish skills when she gets time.
Shea Wittig Membership Coordinator
Living in Australia, the UK and the Middle East has inspired Shea’s actions to reflect those of a global citizen. She is passionate about building relationships and supporting the tourism industry to move towards a more sustainable future. She believes ecotourism operators are well placed to have a lasting and positive impact on their local communities and is thrilled to be involved with such an exciting and influential industry.
Shea first joined Ecotourism as an intern in the beginning of 2020 after completing a Sustainable Environment & Planning qualification. She returned at the end of 2020 as a Certification Data Entry Officer assigned to the task of uploading operators onto our new online portal before moving into the Membership Coordinator role.
Contact Shea for any enquires regarding Ecotourism Australia’s certification programs, memberships or internships.
Shannon Scullion Certification Coordinator
Shannon first joined Ecotourism Australia as an intern in 2018 while completing two degrees at the University of Queensland: Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Geography. Since then she has recently joined the Ecotourism Australia team as a Certification Coordinator and completed a Master of Environmental Management. She has also stayed busy volunteering for BirdLife Australia and Queensland Conservation Council, as well as undergoing a work placement with the World Wildlife Fund for academic research.
Shannon's passion for the environment, conservation of the natural world and ecotourism stems from a lifetime of travel. Born in South Africa, and having travelled to over 30 countries, Shannon aims to make a difference in the way we travel and treat the planet and couldn't be happier with her position at Ecotourism Australia. In her free time, she can be found birdwatching and watching David Attenborough documentaries.
Katie Heilbronn Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Katie Heilbronn first joined the Communications and Marketing team as an intern in April 2021 while studying a Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management at the University of Queensland. Now, Katie has taken up a role as the Communications and Marketing Coordinator, aiding in curating social media content, compiling stories that celebrate members in the EcoBytes newsletter, and writing articles on member achievements.
During her time at Ecotourism Australia, she has grown an appreciation for the power of storytelling to inspire travellers to engage in conscious travel and to share the creative ways businesses mitigate their environmental impact. Contact Katie if you have an interesting ecotourism, sustainability, or conservation story.