Indigenous women across the Oceanic Pacific are building businesses, creating economic models that honour cultural protocols, and defining what prosperity means for their communities and future generations. Yet international development conversations about economic power have too often excluded their leadership and perspectives.
At Women Deliver 2026 in Narrm (Melbourne), RDI Network, ACFID and First Australians Capital are hosting a side event that shifts that focus. On Our Terms brings together entrepreneurs, young leaders, development practitioners, researchers and government representatives for honest, facilitated dialogue about what economic empowerment looks like when Indigenous women across generations define it themselves.
The session will explore what enables and what hinders Indigenous women’s economic participation, how development practice and research can better support Indigenous women’s economic initiatives, and what moving from capacity building to genuine self-empowerment and resource control requires in practice. Through keynote presentations and facilitated audience dialogue, participants will hear from diverse voices across the region and work toward concrete commitments for more equitable, culturally grounded practice.
Speakers:
- Renee Cremer [Moderator], Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Community First Development
- Sisi Coalala, (Acting) Manager Inclusive Development at the Pacific Disability Forum
- Elaine Jolliffe, Manager, Partnerships & Public Relations at First Nations Economics
- Jessica Walters, Indigenous Research Project Manager at Monash University
- Alice Tamang, Managing Director at Connecting Cultures International
We hope you will join us on Thursday April 30th from 12pm – 1.30pm for this session.
