CHANGEMAKERS

You're already leading at the highest levels.
Now deepen your influence, drive systemic change, and shape the legacy you want to leave.

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Looking to develop your team? Learn more →

You're leading at the highest levels. Your decisions shape organisations, communities, and systems.

The challenge isn't learning to lead. It's navigating the complexity of creating systemic change as an Indigenous executive in environments that weren't built for your leadership.

Leading teams at scale. Influencing strategy across sectors. Creating impact that extends beyond your organisation.

Changemakers is designed for senior First Nations leaders who are reshaping their sectors.

WHAT’S CHANGEMAKERS?

Changemakers is for Indigenous leaders operating at executive level.

Over 3 months, you'll attend 2 intensive face-to-face workshops and work with an executive leadership coach who's navigated senior leadership as a First Nations professional.

You'll analyse your values, purpose, and ambition as a change leader. You'll craft your public narrative to create shared purpose and influence strategy at all levels.

You'll master negotiation and agreement-making in complex environments. And you'll develop the agility to lead through disruption while staying grounded in your values.

This is leadership beyond the horizon — creating ecosystem impact.

WHO’S IT FOR?

✓ Indigenous executives leading organisations, departments, or systems at scale

✓ Senior leaders influencing strategy across sectors

✓ Leaders carrying the weight of decisions that extend beyond their organisation

✓ Executives looking for a peer community operating at the same level

✓ Leaders ready to build their legacy and extend their impact beyond the horizon

Doesn't sound like you? If you're a team leader and not yet leading at the systems level, our Impact program is likely a better fit.

Ready to step into leadership →

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WHAT’S INCLUDED?

2 x 2.5-day intensive face-to-face workshops with accommodation and meals.

Recognised micro-credential in leadership upon completion.

Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment.

2 x group executive coaching sessions.

3 x one-on-one executive coaching sessions with Indigenous coaches.

Lifetime membership in the First Peoples Leading alumni community.

THE RESIDENTIAL WORKSHOPS

Changemakers is built around 2 intensive face-to-face workshops – immersive experiences designed to take you out of the day-to-day and into deep work with a cohort of Indigenous executives who understand the complexity of what you're carrying.

Workshop 1

Leadership starts with understanding yourself. You'll develop the self-awareness and executive presence to lead with vulnerability and authenticity.

As you understand what truly drives your performance, you'll learn to communicate your vision in ways that create shared purpose. This foundation becomes the basis for the negotiation and relationship-building skills you'll need to lead high-performing teams and develop the leaders around you.

Workshop 2

Leadership at your level extends beyond your organisation. You'll master change leadership – navigating resistance and building momentum.

As you develop the presence and resilience to lead through pressure, you'll facilitate the tough conversations that create conditions for real transformation. Finally, you'll build your external brand and create a strategic roadmap for the influence and legacy you want to leave.

EXECUTIVE COACHING

Included in Changemakers are 3 one-on-one executive coaching sessions and 2 group coaching sessions, all with Indigenous coaches who have navigated senior leadership themselves.

Your coach understands the specific terrain you're operating in. The cultural load, the community expectations, the complexity of driving change in systems that weren't designed with you in mind.

The coaching runs across the 3 months of the program, giving you a consistent space to work through the challenges you're actually facing in real time.

MEET YOUR COACHES

David Major

David is a Yuin Maneroo man from south east NSW and co-founder of First Peoples Leading. He has spent more than 25 years working across government and as a consultant in land, cultural heritage, and community partnerships — most recently as an Executive Director at Parks Victoria.
As a coach and facilitator, David works with leaders on the things that are harder to name — the assumptions shaping how decisions get made, the dynamics that slow organisations down, and what becomes possible when those things shift.
Jason Ardler PSM

Jason is a Yuin man from the NSW South Coast and co-founder of First Peoples Leading. He has spent more than 20 years operating at the highest levels of public policy and systems leadership – including 7 years as Head of Aboriginal Affairs NSW and senior roles in the university sector.
As an executive coach, Jason works with leaders navigating the complexity of driving change from within large systems. He's done that work himself, which means he understands the terrain – the political dynamics, the institutional resistance, and what it actually takes to move things.
Nicole Major

Nicole is a Bundjalung woman from northern NSW and Chief Learning Officer at First Peoples Leading. She has spent more than 25 years working across First Nations education – from classroom teaching through to senior leadership within the Australian Education Union and the University of Melbourne.
As an accredited executive coach, Nicole works with leaders navigating the structural pressures of large institutions. She understands what it takes to drive meaningful change from inside systems that weren't designed with First Nations leadership in mind.
Trent Brickle

Trent is a tommeginne man with a career that has spanned the Victorian public service, executive leadership, consulting, and business ownership. He spent a decade in the Victorian Government, culminating in his appointment as Chief Information Officer at Parks Victoria – at the time, the only Aboriginal CIO in Australian government.
As a coach, Trent works with leaders who are building their own path in environments where there isn't always a blueprint. He knows what it takes to step into roles where no one has gone before you, and he brings that experience into every conversation.