Impact on our Broader Community
The goal of the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership is to support and encourage recognised and emerging leaders from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds who have vision and enthusiasm to strengthen their communities, and are willing to work with their young people to build positive futures. This is achieved by investing in the ideas and capacities of these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, as well as providing them with financial support, networking opportunities and professional development to enable them to continue their valuable work within communities across Victoria.
Through the Fellowship, the exemplary achievements of some of Victoria’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have been acknowledged. Their vision and energy has been harnessed for a better future for all Victorians, including improved health, better educational opportunities, enhanced life skills and community connections.
It is important to note that the Fellows and Emerging Leaders are able to continue or commence forging relationships and provide leadership to the community. This leadership is not just for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community but for all of Australia, and without their drive for social inclusion we are depriving young Australians of aspirational change and the opportunity to fulfill their potential and understand how they can drive cultural change.
The knowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have from sixty thousand years of occupying these lands is of benefit to all Australians in how they determine their future lives. Knowledge is still transferable and that knowledge needs a conduit to initiate the process of sharing, and our past Fellows and Emerging Leaders have proved that they can be that conduit.
They have made exceptional contributions in both their own communities and beyond. The most important legacy of each is their practical action and the long-term results from their work. Sharing their skills and experience with others is another achievement of our Fellows and Emerging Leaders.
The possibilities for each future Fellow and Emerging Leader are as endless as each individual’s vision. They have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Fellowship and to come up with a flexible and innovative plan for their term.
The Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership’s essential focus has been, and will continue to be, to foster an environment in which individuals, families and communities can increase their self-reliance and share their purpose and vision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians.
In 2013, the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership published a book entitled IT’S IN US ALL: Stories of leadership. The book and the DVD’s that can be seen throughout the website were created to showcase the Fellows and Emerging Leaders to the wider community as well as to their own communities.
The Australian Communities Foundation interviewed Maree Davidson AM retiring Chair of the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership as well as Alumni members Ngarra Murray, Peter Aldenhoven and Kathryn Coff for an article for their website in 2020. To read the article click on the following link:
To view our booklet “IT’S IN US ALL: Stories of Leadership” Click Here. To download a copy (in PDF format) Click Here.