Crafting successful and beautiful public events is one of Tilly’s superpowers. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, Tilly launched a curated online event series called Storytime for the Apocalypse, which has attracted a loyal and engaged fan base from across the United States and Australia. As one audience member said: “Thank you all for sharpening our minds and warming our hearts.” Also in 2020, she hosted a live online Q&A for the Latin Heat Entertainment screening of the feature film DUSTWUN and she is often called on to provide strategic advice about delivering compassionate and engaging online audience experiences, something she does with warmth, systems, and insight.
In Sydney, Tilly led teams of around 400 volunteers to deliver Australia’s premier open building event, Sydney Open in 2017 and 2018, giving more than 8,000 people the opportunity to explore some of Sydney’s favorite and most intriguing architectural spaces. Sydney Living Museums’ Logistics Manager Ward Ayscough describes Tilly as “ridiculously efficient. I was particularly impressed by Tilly’s productivity, ambition, and ability to handle even the toughest situations effortlessly. She always exuded a positive presence that would command a room and get people on board, a skill often takes years to develop among professionals, that seemed to come perfectly naturally to her”.
Tilly founded and curated a year-long event series called Nourish Talks which in 2015 and 2016 brought difficult social, political, and environmental issues to audiences in beautiful and inspiring ways. High profile speakers included actor Mandy McElhinney, TV host Costa Georgiadis, food icon Joanna Savill, and acclaimed vocalist Darren Percival. Nourish attracted generous sponsorship from businesses, individuals, and organizations across Sydney including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Young Henry’s, Indira Naidoo, Davenport Campbell, Stylecraft Sydney, Cult Furniture. Funds raised by Nourish supported homelessness outreach, supported refugees and asylum seekers, and seeded the establishment of Two Good Co. which has gone on to supply almost 170,000 meals to survivors of domestic violence across Sydney and Melbourne.
Producer and curator Lisa Watts describes Tilly’s work as “…genius. She is a natural leader, a wonderful communicator and beautifully organized”.