As we round the corner to the final quarter of 2023, I’d like to reflect on what we have been hearing through our work across the year.

First Nations enterprises and community organisations are increasingly using business as a vehicle for change as we saw in the Dilin Duwa Regional Business Workshops across Australia. In Shepparton dialogues picked up on the community driven Goulburn Murray Regional Prosperity Plan which lays out a road map for achieving parity between First Nations and the broader regional community through productivity and regional economic development. Our partnership with Kaiela Institute and Uncle Paul Briggs will continue to strengthen through our mutual commitment to First Nations business leadership.

In Broome there was so much diversity of business activity and we were super happy to re-engage with our MURRA Alumni Uncle Neville Poelina and Aunty Pat Torres as well as Maganda Makers leader Natasha Short. The Kimberley's First Nations business sector is sparking new products each year and we look forward to continued partnerships with key economic drivers in the region.

Indigenous Business Month enters its ninth year, and this year more than ever the month will be driven by grassroots First Nations business people. Data from our annual Snapshot project reflects Indigenous businesses in every sector and location.

August marks two years since the Centre was established and what an amazing journey it has been. Highlights include:

Recruitment of our biggest MURRA cohort (Gen 14) and over 200 inspirational alumni

Launch of the Regional Business Series workshops across the nation

Partnerships with local community groups – Yarrabah Leadership Forum, Kaiela Institute, Central Land Council, Enterprise Learning Projects and Black Coffee, just to name a few!

Indigenous advisory groups to guide the centre and our research, grounding our activities in Indigenous ways of doing

Over $1m in research funding

None of this would have been possible without your support. Through our collective voices – in the classroom, on research and in the community - change will follow. If you’d like to share your ideas, or just have a yarn, drop us a line at dilin-duwa@unimelb.edu.au

We are so proud to be entrusted with this work and with your dreams for your community.

As we approach the midway mark of 2023, I’d like to reflect on some of the activities in the Centre so far this year.

We welcomed our largest ever cohort of MURRA – Gen 14 – with 28 amazing Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Our research projects continue to gain pace with visiting global members and MURRA Alumni joining our steering committee for the Indigenous Preferential Procurement Project.

The Yarrabah Business Workshop on breathtaking country (pictured) was a great success, with Shepparton this month and Broome later this year rounding out our full Engagement activities, delivered in partnership with local communities.

And we welcomed back SEMBA Class of 2003, founding supporters of MURRA in 2012, who celebrated their 20th anniversary by committing to our flagship program as it enters the next phase of growth.

The unifying theme through all this is collaboration. We thank all our supporters and our network of changemakers and look forward to the rest of 2023 with excitement for what lies ahead!

2023 has kickstarted an incredible year of Indigenous business leadership.

We began the year welcoming 23 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students from across the country to Naarm to participate in the National Indigenous Business Summer School (NIBSS). The students had the opportunity to explore the Indigenous fashion industry through the eyes of Ngali founder Denni Francisco (MURRA Gen 6), visit the Australian Open and meet Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and get their creative juices flowing in a T-shirt design exercise with Tahnee Edwards of Gammin Threads.

NIBSS reminds us why we are here – to create future Indigenous business leaders who are front and centre in the economic life of Australia. It was a joy to meet them and to share their aspirations for the future.

In 2023, we look forward to bringing you news of our activities and to working with you on programs for the community.

Celebrating Indigenous Business Month

It’s been a wonderful Indigenous Business Month. In this 8th year of a MURRA Alumni-led movement, I hope you’ve been able to attend some events and engage with some of the wonderful Indigenous enterprises in the community.

We were especially honoured to welcome all the winners of the IBM Awards to Melbourne for the award ceremony:

Regional Indigenous Business Award – South Coast Seaweed

Indigenous Digital Inventiveness Award – Sar.ra Creative

Indigenous-2-Indigenous Award – Bridgeton

Indigenous Ingenuity – Aboriginal Carbon Foundation

PwC MURRA Boost Initiative – Healthy Dreaming

The judging becomes more difficult each year with the quality of the nominees. Along with the winners, we celebrate the contributions that all the nominees make to their communities. A big thank you to our partners PwC and Coles for making it possible.

A decade of Indigenous business leadership

Such joy to recently reconnect with Alumni from all over Australia and faculty from the US and New Zealand for the MURRA 10-year Reunion.

The day kicked off with a plenary session in which we looked back on the past 10 years, heard from our global members on the opportunities and challenges of the Indigenous business sector globally and discussed our aspirations for the next 10 years. We are collating these thoughts and will be sharing with our alumni how we can work together to shape the future.

The reunion was capped off with a gala dinner which included a tribute to Dr Dean Jarrett (MURRA Gen 3). We were honoured that Dean’s partner, Jo Harney, and his daughter and niece were able to attend. Dean’s legacy reminded us that we all have a part to play in developing opportunities for our community and we look forward to working with you to realise this dream.

Celebrating a decade of Indigenous business leadership!

Hard to believe but MURRA is TEN years old. Join us to celebrate a decade of Indigenous business leadership on 10 August. So excited to announce that our dear friend and MURRA co-founder Professor Ian Williamson is flying in from California to celebrate with us!

During the day, we will have workshops for MURRA Alumni – we want our alumni to dream big of a future of Indigenous business that they want to see in this country, and how we can all work together to make this happen. Dilin Duwa International Global members will be attending to contribute to the Alumni program and discussions.

Greetings! It’s been a big quarter for Dilin Duwa. MURRA Gen 11 and the Graduate Certificate of Indigenous Business Leadership (Class of 2021) have just graduated – such joy to welcome everyone to Melbourne and to have so many of our participants fly in from across Australia.

We were also delighted to welcome back two MURRA Gen 1 members – Sean Armistead who was the keynote speaker at the first joint Dilin Duwa – Melbourne Business School breakfast and Jason Eades, guest speaker in the MURRA Gen 11 Leadership module. Together with Belinda Kendall (Gen8), the keynote speaker at the graduation dinner, March showcased how our alumni are constantly evolving and giving back to the next generation of changemakers.

Always humbled and proud to hear their stories.

To celebrate the power of our Alumni and our amazing network, we are holding a MURRA 10-year Reunion on 10 August. More information will be coming shortly so SAVE. THIS. DATE!

Welcome to 2022. We hope that you’ve had a restful break and that you and your family have remained safe.

In these times connecting with others become even more important. We are here for you and encourage you to reach out for support at any time.

It is also a challenging time for many businesses. The story of 2021 has been one of opportunity and loss. While many Indigenous entrepreneurs report new revenue streams, others speak of crushing trading conditions.

Never before have knowledge and network building been more important. We’ve made available resources through our online platform to support you and continue to offer business education programs. Details are below - please contact us to find out how we can support you.

Welcome to our first newsletter since the establishment of Dilin Duwa, Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership!

This will be a bi-monthly publication to bring you news of our activities and our amazing network of First Nations changemakers.

We have been so honoured to receive your messages of support. There’s much to do to achieve our goal of Indigenous economic empowerment and the wider the network, the quicker we will realise our dreams.