‘Respectful’, ‘empowering’ and ‘thought-provoking’ are some of the words used to describe the recent Take on Board online event: Cultural competency for board members with Jillian West.
Jillian provided a very informative presentation on Indigenous Cultural Awareness.
Jillian spoke about:
- What is a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country
- Taught us “Wominjeka!” Welcome in the language of the Wurundjeri people of the Melbourne area and the Dja Dja Wurrung people of Central Victoria
- Introduced us to the five language groups of The Kulin Nation
- Confirmation of Aboriginality
- The symbolic meaning of The Aboriginal flag and The Torres Strait Islander flag
- Revisiting our past
- What is ‘culture’ and understanding Aboriginal culture
- Kinship – there are over 500 Aboriginal nations across Australia
Resources
Jillian mentioned the following resources:
- Map of Indigenous Australia – information about traditional owners to
match your address - Nomuckerlener Indigenous Consulting and Mentoring
- Aboriginal writers you may be interested in: Sally Morgan, Anita Heiss, Kevin Gilbert
- Significant date calendar
Meet the attendees
Some of our Take on Board guests were at the event too:
Caitlin Siostrom
Episode 109: Caitlin Siostrom on why size doesn’t matter when thinking about risk management
Carolyn Grant
Episode 124: Carolyn McSweeny Grant on benchmarking psychological safety in the boardroom
Morgana Ryan
What did the attendees like about this event?
“I felt Jillian was so good at being open and welcoming of our curiosity and yearning to learn about First Nations culture.”
“Thank you for broaching a topic we are all trying to manage respectfully.”
“I have gained so much from listening to Jillian. I have been eager to learn how I can embrace and support further our incredible history – Jillian has given me so much to work on and include in creating and being more culturally aware.”
Board marketplace
Board roles are often shared in the Take on Board Facebook group, so please join us there if you haven’t already.
