Creating a world free of judgement and shame about our bodies.
Our mission
The Embrace Collective brings together global leaders, advocates and experts to guide the evolution of the body image movement into the next decade by:
Inspiring and educating every person around the globe to reframe how they think about their bodies, while celebrating the uniqueness of each other and ourselves.
Putting the necessary supports in place to make this individual change possible through the settings and environments where we live, work, learn and play.
The Embrace Collective is grounded in more than 20 years of pioneering body image research and fuelled by an unwavering ambition to empower people of all ages to grow and thrive in a world free of judgement and shame about their bodies.
In enhancing body appreciation, we have an opportunity to improve protective factors for better mental and physical health outcomes and promote wellbeing for all.
Impact pillars
The Embrace Collective delivers impact through four key pillars. Our focus is on improving body appreciation and reducing stigma, judgement and discrimination on the basis of appearance, in turn minimising sociocultural risk factors for body dissatisfaction and promoting protective factors.
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Public health campaigns around the benefits of being kinder to your body, and safe and inclusive language and practice in relation to bodies, weight and appearance can help to raise awareness and reinforce key messages for a variety of audiences.
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Programs in early years settings, schools, community events, sports organisations and online help people of all ages learn the importance of moving, fuelling, appreciating and being kind to their bodies.
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By working collaboratively with teachers and school staff, sports coaches, fitness professionals, GPs and health professionals, our aim is to create body image safe environments where everyone feels heard and understood.
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By lobbying for change at a policy and legislative level through anti-discrimination law, social media reform, and media and advertising guidelines, we can ensure that current and future generations are protected in all settings.
Our leaders
Taryn Brumfitt
Taryn Brumfitt is an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author and internationally sought-after keynote speaker. Recently named Australian of the Year 2023, she is a fiercely passionate advocate for social change and her message has reached more than 200 million people around the world.
Taryn is the founder of the Body Image Movement, director of the inspiring documentaries EMBRACE and EMBRACE KIDS, and author of four books. Her global crusade to help people embrace their bodies has seen her recognised by UN Women, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls and the Geena Davis Institute. Taryn has delivered more than 100 keynote addresses, and her talk at Google HQ in Silicon Valley was live-streamed to every Google office in the world.
In 2018, she was recognised in the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence awards and received the SA Award for Excellence in Women's Leadership from Women and Leadership Australia. She was also crowned EY Entrepreneur of the Year, South Australia, and has been named among GE’s highest-rated speakers.
With a powerful, universal message and unwavering commitment to her cause, Taryn Brumfitt is a true force to be reckoned with.
Dr Zali Yager
Dr Zali Yager is an internationally-recognised expert in the body image space, known for figuring out ‘what works’ to help people feel better about their bodies.
Zali is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, with a background in health and physical education. She has been involved in the development of almost every evidence-based body image school program around the world, and was a consultant on two EU-funded Erasmus+ projects - Body Confident Mums and Body Confident Sport. Her research teams have attracted more than $3 million in funding from the US, EU and Australia.
In 2021, Zali was awarded one of 10 Westpac Social Change Fellowships. She received a Creswick Fellowship to spend time at Harvard and Northeastern University in 2018, and a Leverhulme Fellowship in 2011 to complete her postdoctoral work at the Centre for Appearance Research in the UK.
Zali co-authored the Embrace Kids book with Taryn Brumfitt from the Body Image Movement, and was the body image expert advisor on the EMBRACE KIDS film. She is ridiculously passionate and driven by the desire to create a safer body image environment for the next generation.
The Embrace Collective Advisory Network
Advisory Network
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Sara Shams (she/her)
Policy and Project Pharmacist, Speaker, Disability Advocate, Model
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Yemi Penn (she/her)
Speaker, Researcher, Engineer, Author and Filmmaker
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Emily Unity (they/them)
Intersectional Lived and Living Experience Consultant
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Lacey-Jade Christie (she/her)
Fat, LGBTQIA+, Neurodivergent Activist, Content Creator and Public Speaker
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Sam Bloom (she/her)
Author, Speaker, Para Athlete
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Amy Marks (she/her)
Disability Advocate and Freelance Filmmaker
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Chevese Turner (she/her)
CEO, Body Equity Alliance; Founder & Former CEO, Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA)
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Janu Dhayanathan (she/her)
Senior Analyst, Living with Neurofibromotosis and Ambassador for the Children's Tumour Foundation
Academic Advisory Network
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Dr Marilyn Bromberg (she/her)
Director Higher Degrees Coursework, The University of Western Australia Law School
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Dr S. Bryn Austin (she/her)
Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director, Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders
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Dr Beth T. Bell (she/her)
Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of York
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Prof Nichola Rumsey (she/her)
Professor Emerita, Centre for Appearance Research, UWE Bristol UK; Health Psychologist
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Dr Jo Doley (they/them)
Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University
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Dr Marilyn Metta (she/her)
Director, The Metis Centre
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Rojina Parchizadeh (she/her)
Law/Psychology Student at Macquarie University
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Dr Yves Saint James Aquino (he/him)
Research Fellow, University of Wollongong
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A/Prof Jennifer Webb (she/her)
Director, Wellness Equity Advancing through Research & Education in Mindful Embodiment, Kindness, Yoga, & Non-Dieting Lab (WE ARE MIND-BODY KYND); Department of Psychological Science, University of North Carolina
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Dr Liz Dale (she/her)
Worimi woman, Clinical Psychology Registrar, and Senior Lecturer and Health Researcher in Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong
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Dr Fi Willer (she/her)
Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, QUT; Senior Research Assistant at the UQ Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing; Board Director, Dietitians Australia; Director of Health, Not Diets
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A/Prof Nina van Dyke (she/her)
Principal Research Fellow & Health Lead, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
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Dr Lyza Norton (she/her)
Paediatric Dietitian; Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
Youth Crew
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Angus Murray (he/him)
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Rhea Werner (she/her)
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Abbey Williams (she/her)
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Additional Youth Crew members coming soon
Collaborating with
TEC Board of Directors
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Dr Ivanka Prichard (she/her)
Founding Board Member
Associate Professor in Health & Exercise Sciences, Flinders University, SA
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Dr Laura Hart (she/her)
Founding Board Member
Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, VIC
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Additional board members coming soon
