RDI Network, together with ACFID and First Australians Capital, will co-host a side event at Women Deliver 2026 in Narrm (Melbourne) later this month.
On Our Terms: Indigenous Women Defining Economic Power and Self-Determination takes place on Thursday 30 April from 12pm to 1.30pm. The session will bring together Indigenous entrepreneurs, young leaders, development practitioners, researchers and government representatives to explore what economic empowerment looks like when Indigenous women define it themselves.
Indigenous women across the Oceanic Pacific are already building businesses, creating economic models that honour cultural protocols, and shaping what prosperity means for their communities and future generations. This session starts from that reality. Rather than asking whether Indigenous women can lead economically, it asks whether international development systems, funding mechanisms and policy frameworks are genuinely ready to support and champion that leadership.
The programme will include a panel discussion featuring voices from across the region and facilitated audience dialogue. Participants will explore what enables and what hinders Indigenous women’s economic participation, how development practice and research can better support Indigenous-led economic initiatives, and what the shift from capacity building to genuine self-determination and resource control requires in 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
Women Deliver 2026 is the first Women Deliver Conference regionally hosted by the Oceanic Pacific. RDI Network is proud to contribute to this moment with a session that centres Indigenous women’s leadership, knowledge and agency in the economic conversations that affect their communities.
On Our Terms is open to all Women Deliver 2026 attendees. We hope to see you there.
