Module 3 recap
Module 3 of the 2024 Melbourne Poche Indigenous Health Leadership Program began in beautiful Moama, by the Dhungala river.
The experience of heading to Cummeragunja and hearing from Uncle Col and Aunt May about the history and activism of the Yorta Yorta and ongoing connections was powerful, and an excellent way of contextualising leadership and its interconnection to place and our understanding of who we are as Indigenous peoples.
Moving on to Shepparton we were able to see the continuing and future aspirations of Yorta Yorta leadership, and to reflect on our own motivations and ways of stepping into leadership.
The Program Fellows spent time with Post Doctoral Fellow Dr Karyn Ferguson; Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-op CEO, Aunty Felicia Dean; and Elder and Senior Leader, Uncle Paul Briggs at the Kaiela Institute yarning about vision and big ideas, Indigenous social and economic inclusion and repositioning value. This exposure to Aboriginal leadership in action within a community that has a rich leadership history fostered important conversation and reflection on the Fellows’ own work and trajectories.
The Flats Walk with Uncle Lance James and Aunty Cheryl Bourke closed the program with a full circle story of Indigenous values and how they influence change and support self-determining futures.
Photos: Dhungala river, Moama (left), Leadership Fellows with Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Lance at Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-Operative (top) and smoking ceremony with Uncle Colin Walker at Cummeragunja (bottom).
Applications are open for the 2025 program.