Peter Jenkins
Peter is a founding director of the YES Quest and was a facilitator with the first Quest, which took place in Kalimantan, Indonesia in 2001. Peter has many years of experience as a trainer-facilitator, mostly working with young people. He is a qualified therapeutic counsellor and also has wide training in drama techniques including improvisational theatre, Theatre Sports and Playback Theatre.

Peter's past experience includes work in advertising, newspapers, radio and television. He has also performed a number of roles in the not-for-profit sector. He and his wife, Isti, live at Gunnebah in northern New South Wales.

Marlena Basser
Marlena has been on the YES Quest team since 2004 as a director and lead facilitator.

She brings to the team, 20 years experience – working with young people; designing and delivering creative and empowering self discovery programs; and providing one to one personal and professional coaching. Marlena has worked for a range of state and national organisations, including the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies, Create Foundation, and School Aid. The focus of her work has been supporting young people to realise their greatness. She currently coordinates a relationship education and life skills program in high schools in northern NSW, works as an organisational development consultant and works as a celebrant and a retreat facilitator.

Marcus Mackay
Marcus is a co-founder of the YES Quest and a facilitator on the first Kalimantan Quest in 2001, and on all the YES Quest programs to 2007. He is a program director for the YES Quest and a lead facilitator.

Marcus works as an executive coach, management change and development consultant and psychotherapist and has had his own practice for nearly 30 years. He has lots of experience designing personal development programs for both indoor and adventure settings. He has also started and run a number of enterprises in the fields of arts marketing, environmental engineering and management consulting.

Lilliana Gibbs
Lilliana’s first Quest was in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, in 2006.  She brings a diversity of experience to the YES Quest team. As is a qualified counsellor and business coach, she is passionate about helping people uncover and utilise more of their innate talents in their work and life. She also facilitates workshops to encourage intuitive leadership.

With a background in film production and business management, Lilliana has produced programmes on child development and on communication skills. She has used video as a medium for corporate communication and change, both as a tool, and as a process.

Lilliana lives near Brighton, England, and is a director of Enthum Coaching & Consulting.

Sofiah Mackay
Sofiah's involvement with the YES Quest started in 2001 as coordinator for the first YES Quest in Kalimantan. Her experience includes working for World Challenge Expeditions, the UK's largest provider of personal development travel for young people. This role included planning and organising month long expeditions to Brazil and Northern Peru for large school teams. Sofiah then worked for the International Youth Parliament, an initiative of Oxfam International, and is currently working for the Australian Government in the area of capacity building for international development projects.

She is trained in basic first aid, far-from-help medical certification, mountain leadership skills and is experienced at working with groups in the outdoors. She also has training as a group facilitator and speaks several languages, including French and Spanish.

Luzita Fereday
Luzita trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, following which she toured internationally with the Royal Shakespeare Company.  Luzita has a strong background in theatre but has also performed various roles in film and television. Luzita is committed to theatre as a tool to articulate, challenge and empower young people and has worked for the last 8 years with youth theatre in the UK and Australia. She enjoys using the power of theatre and performance to shape strong rich and rewarding communities that values individuals voices so they can be heard in this world.

Currently Luzita is running workshops with the WA Youth theatre Company and the WA Academy of Performing Arts.

Maria Chanmugam
Maria is a facilitator in organisational and personal development. Her particular interests include communication skills across diverse and multicultural environments and dealing with change and transformation. She has worked in the fields of education and training in both the humanitarian and corporate sectors in Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka where she also assisted in the set up and operation of the National Disaster Information Centre in response to the 2004 Tsunami. Maria finds her work most rewarding when witnessing individuals and groups empower themselves to create positive change to succeed and realise their potential.

Maria lives in Perth, Australia and is director of Axismundi Journey which promotes socially and environmentally responsible travel and training to Sri Lanka and Indonesia.