Leadership &
Eco-Mentors
Tribes is shaped by people who live the values they teach — leaders and mentors who combine lived experience, professional expertise, and a shared passion for growth.
Founder & DirectorAbe Bland
Tribes Adventure Group was founded by Abe, shaped by lived experience from the very beginning.
Abe grew up alongside an identical twin and older brother, all three neurodiverse, in a family environment where creativity, intensity, and unpredictability were part of everyday life. His upbringing was influenced by a free-spirited, alternative lifestyle where cultural storytelling, music, philosophy, and respect for diverse traditions were openly embraced. Conversations often explored global perspectives and reinforced the importance of community and contribution.
His parents were famously married inside a lion’s cage at a circus (yes, it’s true), and Abe himself entered the world early, born three months premature and weighing just 850 grams. From the outset, resilience, adaptability, and trust in others were part of survival rather than abstract ideas.
Supporting a father living with chronic mental health challenges, alongside periods of family instability, shaped Abe’s understanding of vulnerability, emotional safety, and the importance of environments that genuinely support people rather than simply manage behaviour.
Nature became a consistent source of grounding and clarity throughout his childhood. Time spent in bushland and open space formed Abe’s belief that the environment is not just a backdrop to wellbeing, but an active influence on it, a philosophy that now sits at the heart of Tribes.
This perspective was later balanced through service in the Australian Army Reserve infantry, including operational deployments. Military life introduced structure, discipline, accountability, and collective responsibility. The contrast between creative freedom and operational clarity shaped Abe’s leadership approach, blending empathy with accountability and vision with practical execution.
Abe is rarely seen without headphones, often listening to podcasts exploring philosophy, human behaviour, health, and cultural storytelling. He is supported by a long-standing leadership team, many of whom have worked alongside him for close to a decade, helping translate vision into practical, sustainable outcomes.
Value Connection – All Values
Abe’s leadership reflects the balance of Tribes’ core values. He sees Harmony in strong teams and connected communities; Opportunity in creating meaningful growth pathways; Wonder in curiosity and lifelong learning; Integrity in consistent, transparent leadership; and Challenge in supporting people to step beyond comfort zones and realise their potential.
Together, these values form the cultural foundation and long-term vision of Tribes.
Finance OfficerJamie Sherry
Jamie joined Tribes in 2021, bringing financial expertise developed through public practice accounting and bookkeeping across multiple industries. She plays an essential role in ensuring Tribes remains sustainable while continuing to grow and deliver quality participant supports.
Jamie’s calm, structured, and solutions-focused approach helps translate Tribes’ vision into practical financial systems supporting service delivery and long-term organisational stability.
Outside of work, Jamie embraces the active Gold Coast lifestyle with her family, often spending weekends swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, and attending football events.
Jamie is also passionate about personal growth through martial arts, training in Muay Thai and competing in amateur fights experiences that reflect her resilience, discipline, and willingness to embrace challenge.
Value Connection – Challenge
Jamie resonates strongly with Challenge, believing stepping beyond comfort zones builds confidence, motivation, and resilience.
Groups & Projects ManagerBJ Miller
BJ brings over 15 years of experience in outdoor education and sports recreation, combining adventure leadership with a genuine passion for supporting young people to grow through meaningful, hands-on experiences.
Born in Singapore and raised across several countries, BJ developed a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and global perspective. His time living in South Africa was particularly influential, shaping his respect for community, culture, and connection to the natural environment.
BJ relocated to Australia in 2011, living in Wollongong and Melbourne before settling on the Gold Coast in 2021, where he joined Tribes and quickly became a key contributor to group programs and adventure experiences.
An avid outdoorsman, BJ loves being outside and trying new things. He enjoys hiking, surfing, spearfishing, freediving, and pushing his own limits through endurance and adventure. BJ has completed both a marathon and a Half Ironman, and is now focusing on multi-day hikes, with the Overland Track being one of his personal highlights.
At the heart of BJ’s work is a true passion for challenging participants to grow, step outside their comfort zones, and see their full potential — believing that the best learning happens through experience, support, and adventure.
Value Connection – Challenege
BJ believes Challenge has the power to transform lives, supporting young people to overcome obstacles and experience achievement.
Systems and Operations ManagerMitch Weinert
Mitchell has a background in Philosophy with a research interest in Disability as a Social Ontology. He started working as a mentor in 2020 and found a passion for challenging systems of thought and governance that suppose disability as a distinction rather than a spectrum that we all participate in. Alongside this, Mitchell has a strong curiosity about culture, social structures, and human behaviour, and is particularly interested in how different communities understand identity, belonging, and wellbeing.
His goal at Tribes is to create operational systems that produce measurable and reliable outcomes for participants, while also championing the egalitarian mentor-participant relationship that Tribes is known for. In five years, he hopes to see Tribes grow into a nationally recognised provider that continues to advocate for ecotherapy as an emerging and evidence-informed support model.
Mitchell is the father of a young daughter and values family as a grounding influence in both his personal and professional life. He enjoys rock climbing and writing poetry inspired by the natural world, and values physical training, attending the gym regularly as part of maintaining balance, discipline, and wellbeing.
Value Connection – Wonder
"We need the tonic of wilderness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable."
— Henry David Thoreau
Our Eco-Mentors
Guides in growth, grounded in experience.
At Tribes, meaningful outcomes begin with exceptional people.
Our support staff are known as Eco-Mentors — professionals trained to use nature, shared experience, and real-world environments as tools for mentoring, wellbeing, and personal growth.
A Specialised Tribes Training Pathway
All Eco-Mentors complete a specialised internal NDIS aligned training program focused on how to intentionally use natural and community environments to support:
Emotional regulation and confidence
Independence and functional life skills
Social development and communication
Identity, resilience, and belonging
Safe participation in real-world experiences
This approach reflects a core Tribes belief — that people often grow strongest through trusted relationships and meaningful lived experience.
Diverse Experience. Shared Purpose.
Our Eco-Mentor team brings together experience across:
Military and leadership training
Education and youth development
Outdoor recreation and environmental education
Disability and community services
Health, wellbeing, and allied support fields
Diverse cultural and life backgrounds
This diversity allows Tribes to create mentoring environments that are adaptable, creative, and responsive to individual participant needs.
