Tania de Jong

AM

Born
Arnhem, Holland
Occupation
Entrepreneur, Lawyer and Opera singer
Website
http://www.taniadejong.com
Jurisdiction

Tania de Jong has a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts in opera, music theatre and voice.
She is a leading Australian soprano, social entrepreneur, innovation catalyst and international keynote speaker on leadership, creativity and innovation. She founded Creativity Australia and Creative Universe and works with disadvantaged communities through the 'With One Voice' choir social inclusion programs.

She is also the Founder of Creative Innovation Global and Executive Producer of the Ci2010-Ci2016 conferences, online charity campaign Sing for Good, acclaimed Australian singing group Pot-Pourri and MTA Entertainment & Events.

De Jong was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2008 for service to the Arts as a performer and entrepreneur and through the establishment and development of music and arts enrichment programs for schools and communities.

Through her work, de Jong has received numerous awards including Ernst and Young Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year as Founder of The Song Room, a Churchill Fellowship and she was named Brainlink Woman of Achievement in 2009. She was a Finalist in the Telstra Business Women's Awards and was inducted into the AGSE Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2015 de Jong released her first solo CD entitled Heaven on Earth. She has recently founded a co-working space called Dimension5 in Melbourne to drive social innovation and collaboration.

De Jong says her mission, 'is to change the world…one voice at a time!'

Sources used to compile this entry: How singing together changes the brain: Tania de Jong AM at TEDxMelbourne, with de Jong, Tania, TEDx Talks, 18 December 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_HOBr8H9EM; Information supplied by Tania de Jong April 2015.

Prepared by Tania de Jong (with Nikki Henningham)