Melissa Hoy is a Yawuru/Bardi woman, based in Broome WA. Melissa has worked in a variety of industries across Western Australia and has large family connections across the state including down south on a number of farming properties. A teacher by profession Melissa has extensive experience working with youth in the Kimberley and remote communities, understanding the wide range of issues that young people face on a daily basis.
More recently Melissa has worked in mental health and suicide prevention with Alive & Kicking Goals Suicide Prevention, a grassroots program auspiced by the Men’s Outreach Centre in Broome. Through her suicide prevention work she has worked with high risk youth across the Kimberley the majority of whom are Indigenous. Whilst working and travelling across the Kimberley, Melissa has been told a number of times by young indigenous people that not everyone is good at basketball or football, some are just made to ride a horse. It is with this in mind that Melissa joined Saltwater Country Inc. in the hope of becoming part of a grass roots movement that will give at risk youth an alternative way of being involved in life, learning life skills on country and become reengaged in the world around them.