Nornie Bero is from the Komet tribe of the Meriam people of Mer Island and was raised in the Torres Strait.

A professional chef for more than twenty years in Melbourne and London, she is the owner and executive chef of Mabu Mabu, a hospitality and food business that celebrates Indigenous produce and flavours from across Australia.

Her restaurant Big Esso is located at Federation Square in Melbourne, and her cookbook Mabu Mabu was published by Hardie Grant earlier this year.