ABOUT
creating a world
free from
judgement
and shame about
our bodies



The Embrace Collective is the only Australian DGR1 registered health promotion charity, dedicated to the prevention of body image issues and eating disorders to help people achieve optimal health and wellbeing.
Led by 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt and international body image expert Dr Zali Yager, The Embrace Collective brings together the best of science and creativity for impact. Our global network of researchers, experts, advocates, and lived experience advisors inform our programs, advocacy and campaigns that change the way the world thinks and feels about bodies, weight, and health.
Through our suite of age-appropriate Embrace Kids programs and resources, we get in early to teach the message of body appreciation to young people and support the adults around them to create a culture of kindness and body inclusion in all the places where young people live, learn and play to build better body image, now and for generations to come.
Our vision: A world where people are empowered to thrive, free from feelings of pressure, judgement and shame about their appearance.
This is needed because building better body image has the power to prevent eating disorders and depression, help young people achieve optimal health and wellbeing, and ensure that they are free to reach their full potential.
Our mission: To build better body image from the beginning, so all people can be happy, healthy and thrive.
Taking a holistic, multi-layered approach, we are driving change through programs, settings, and policy change, and by leading a national conversation about bodies, weight and health that has the power to shift social norms in ways that benefit health and wellbeing, now and for generations to come.
Where it all began

We started The Embrace Collective because we couldn’t ignore what we knew…
We had the lived experience, the research and the stories that made one thing clear: too many of us who grew up in the diet culture-ridden ’80s and ’90s were at war with our bodies. The shame we carried cost us our joy, our memories, our time, our energy and our dollars. It held us back from living life to the fullest—and we were determined to make sure our kids wouldn’t grow up feeling the same way.
As parents, professionals and people with a deep drive to change things, we both had moments when we thought: This isn’t okay. And it doesn’t have to be this way. So we joined forces and took action.
The Embrace Collective was born from a shared belief that all young people deserve to grow up feeling comfortable, confident and safe in their bodies. We knew that early intervention and support could prevent years of pain, and that a more inclusive, kind and supportive world was possible if we reached children early and empowered the adults who care for them—so we made it our mission to create this world.
Our approach
Evidence-
based
programs

Informed
by lived
experience

Changing professional practice

Advocating for change

Supporting young people—in all of the places where they live, learn and play—to build better body image from the beginning. We blend the latest science with creative approaches to produce programs and resources that are safe, effective and have epic impact.
Our team, advisory networks, and clinical advisors inform our approach by bringing the voices and stories of people who have experienced body dissatisfaction, eating disorders (clinical and subclinical), depression and mental health concerns, as well as those living in larger bodies and those who identify as culturally diverse, neurodiverse, gender diverse, and disabled.
We educate the adults around the young people—in home and family, education, and sport and movement settings—to create cultures of kindness without the criticism, comparisons and comments that fuel body shame.
Our collaborative advocacy efforts have driven change in school curriculum and health policy, to ensure a focus on health, not weight.
The Team
Founders

Taryn Brumfitt
Taryn Brumfitt is an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author and internationally sought-after keynote speaker. Awarded 2023 Australian of the Year, 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.
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.
Diverse Voices

Sara Shams (she/her)
Policy and Project
Pharmacist, Speaker,
Disability Advocate, Model

Yemi Penn (she/her)
Speaker, Researcher, Engineer, Author and Filmmaker

Emily Unity (they/them)
Intersectional Lived and
Living Experience
Consultant

Lacey-Jade Christie (she/her)
Fat, LGBTQIA+,
Neurodivergent Activist, Content Creator and Public
Speaker

Sam Bloom (she/her)
Author, Speaker, Para Athlete

Amy Marks (she/her)
Disability Advocate and Freelance Filmmaker

Chevese Turner (she/her)
CEO, Body Equity Alliance; Founder & Former CEO, Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA)

Janu Dhayanathan (she/her)
Senior Analyst, Living with Neurofibromotosis and Ambassador for the Children’s Tumour Foundation

Henry Hughes (he/him)
Deaflympian
Trustee, Board Member & Social Advocate
Academic Advisory Network

Dr Marilyn Bromberg (she/her)
Director Higher Degrees Coursework, The University of Western Australia Law School

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

Dr Beth T. Bell (she/her)
Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of York

Prof Nichola Rumsey (she/her)
Professor Emerita, Centre for Appearance Research, UWE Bristol UK; Health Psychologist

Dr Jo Doley (they/them)
Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University

Dr Marilyn Metta
(she/her)
Director, The Metis Centre

Rojina Parchizadeh
(she/her)
Law/Psychology Student at Macquarie University

Dr Yves Saint James Aquino
(he/him)
Research Fellow, University of Wollongong


Dr Liz Dale
(she/her)
Worimi woman, Clinical Psychology Registrar, and Senior Lecturer and Health Researcher in Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong

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

A/Prof Nina van Dyke
(she/her)
Principal Research Fellow & Health Lead, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University

Dr Lyza Norton
(she/her)
Paediatric Dietitian; Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne

Dr Angela Hinz
(she/her)
Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast

Vanessa Coulbeck
(she/her)
Doctoral Researcher at University of Toronto and Director of Research Project Management for the ReThinkSport Project
Youth Crew

Angus Murray (he/him)
Youth Crew Co-Lead, Law and Arts Student

Rhea Werner (she/her)
Youth Crew Founder & Co-Lead, Economics & Philosophy Student

Abbey Williams (she/her)
Health Sciences Student

Rachael Burns (she/her)

Matilda Ruchs (she/her)
High School Student, Dancer and Musician

Ella Roper (she/they)
Psychology Student and Inclusion Support Worker

Amalea Halls (she/her)
Psychology Student and Mental Health Advocate

Tahlia Hohaia (she/her)
Family Support Worker and Peer Advocate

Isabella Blake (she/her)
Pre-Service Primary Teacher

Lucy Flynn (she/her)
Founder of The Freedom Movement and Youth Intersectional Advocate for Mental Health and Chronic Illness

Maya Pepper (she/her)
Mental Health Advocate, Student and Aspiring Nutritionist

Emily Wright (she/her)
Pre-Service Primary Teacher, Netball Coach and Disability Advocate

Izzy Berry (she/her)
Steel Fabricator and Advocate for Mental Health, Disability Inclusion and Body Acceptance

Claire Bayley (she/they)
Advocate for Equality, Disability, Neurodivergence, Mental Ill Health and Domestic Abuse
Board of Directors

Dr Zali Yager (she/her)
Executive Director
Adjunct Associate Professor, Victoria University

Taryn Brumfitt (she/her)
Executive Director
Founder of the Body Image Movement

Dr Ivanka Prichard (she/her)
Founding Board Member
Associate Professor in Health & Exercise Sciences, Flinders University, SA

Damon Hunt (he/him)
Board Member
Senior Advisor at FTI Consulting

Annabel Rattigan (she/her)
Board Member
Coach and Facilitator at Our Community
Who we are collaborating with





Be a force for good
Partner with us to empower young people and those around them with the inspiration, research and resources to build better body image, now and for generations to come.
Advocacy for Impact
- ADVOCACY, IN THE MEDIA

IMPACT STORIES
That’s when we smile!
Hear from the inspiring stories from professionals and the community.
ADRIANA CVITAN
“I also run an out-patient eating disorder group in a Sydney private hospital and the proposal for school nurses to weigh kids in schools was part of our discussion last week. My patients were horrified with the consideration of implementing this, but also deeply moved, hopeful and thankful for individuals like you who are working for change in this sector. “
KYLIE BURTON
“The collaboration between myself, EDFA & TEC has made significant changes to the Australian school system. By joining forces we’re really starting to see tangible change now. It’s heartening to hear from families & teachers who report that our resources have been helpful in increasing awareness of eating disorders & improving body image in our young people.”
BELLE * PARENT
“I want everyone to know you CAN change this! My daughter’s HPE assignment was to critique her calories… I informed them of the curriculum changes with @theembracehub help and they changed the assessment!”
BRUCE STALDER * CEO, FOOTBALL FEDERATION NT
“We need this!”
IMPACT STORIES
That’s when we smile!
Hear from the inspiring stories from professionals and the community.
ADRIANA CVITAN
“I also run an out-patient eating disorder group in a Sydney private hospital and the proposal for school nurses to weigh kids in schools was part of our discussion last week. My patients were horrified with the consideration of implementing this, but also deeply moved, hopeful and thankful for individuals like you who are working for change in this sector. “
KYLIE BURTON
“The collaboration between myself, EDFA & TEC has made significant changes to the Australian school system. By joining forces we’re really starting to see tangible change now. It’s heartening to hear from families & teachers who report that our resources have been helpful in increasing awareness of eating disorders & improving body image in our young people.”
BELLE * PARENT
“I want everyone to know you CAN change this! My daughter’s HPE assignment was to critique her calories… I informed them of the curriculum changes with @theembracehub help and they changed the assessment!”
BRUCE STALDER * CEO, FOOTBALL FEDERATION NT
“We need this!”