Connect with Us

As mother and daughter, we founded Cultural Cohesion with the mission to enhance the quality of life and empower self-determination of First Nations Peoples. Cultural Supervision is the vehicle by which we intend to realise that mission, whereby we provide culturally grounded, strengths-based support to the health and community service workforces. 

We're Estella and Ranjika; Western Arrernte women, Territorians and community service workers.  Estella was born on Arrernte Country and grew up in Tennant Creek on the lands of the Warumunga people and spent time on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country in Mossman, Far North Queensland. She has worked throughout communities in the Northern Territory for over three decades, with vast experience throughout the community services sector. Ranjika was born on Larrakia Country and grew up between Garramilla and the lands of the Mirrar people in Kakadu, West Arnhem Land. She is Western Arrernte through her mother and her fathers family is Bundjalung Gumbaynggirr from the Boorimbah region in Northern NSW. 

Being from a local family, we are intimately acquainted with the Northern Territory's sociocultural and political landscape. Sharing a background in health and community service work, we understand the gaps in culturally safe, sustainable and meaningful service provision. 

We offer culturally grounded support that aims to bridge those gaps. After decades of providing Cultural Supervision and leadership, Estella knows what is important in connecting with Mob and non-First Nations people who provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. She is passionate about meeting people where they are, affirming their strengths, supporting meaningful action and empowering others to be the best they can. 

Our Story

We are the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Gloria (Glory) Lee Hong, a Western Arrernte woman from Alice Springs. Our Nanna Glory was born in 1908 to an Aboriginal mother from the Central Western Desert region and a Chinese father from Canton. 

Born in Alice Springs, our Nanna Glory and her siblings were later taken to China by her father to avoid being stolen by the government. She spent about a decade in China before returning to Alice Springs. She was well-known for her sharp card playing and spent her life travelling up and down the Northern Territory.

Our Nanna Glory was an incredible woman. She fluently spoke Western Arrernte, Cantonese, and English. She was a hard worker, and the first Aboriginal woman in Alice Springs to own a home. In her old age, Nanna Glory fought for her native title land just outside Alice Springs, which due to her strength and resilience, would become the Gloria Lee Ngale Environment Centre as part of the Iwupataka Aboriginal Land trust. 

It is her tenacity, strength, sense of justice, and cultural grounding that we carry with us and is woven through our work.