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Category: Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) / Community and Society / Small Business / Internet Technology

Start-up weekend aims to empower Indigenous entrepreneurship

Friday, 8 Jul 2016 07:51:18 | Jessica Hinchliffe

Brisbane will host Australia's for Indigenous Startup Weekend. (Supplied: Indigenous Startup Weekend)

Young Indigenous people will be encouraged to make their mark and create a ripple effect at Australia's first Indigenous Start-up Weekend later this month.

Brisbane will host the not-for-profit event, which will run day and night for 54 hours and teach participants the pitching process, networking and basic business practices.

Founder Dean Foley, a Kamilaroi man who grew up in the Aboriginal community in Gunnedah, New South Wales, hopes the weekend will encourage Indigenous entrepreneurship.

"We want to create that flow-on effect and we want participants to go away and keep building a business that would benefit their communities," Mr Foley said.

"I want Indigenous people to see what's possible and get them motivated and involved in the start-up community."

External Link: Mind Your Mob won one of the awards at the recent Health Startup Weekend held in Brisbane.

Mr Foley was inspired after being involved in a Health Start-up Weekend where he was part of a team that developed an app called Mind Your Mob to help isolated communities with their health.

"It was a life-changing experience to be part of the group and it opened things up for me," he said.

"I also read a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and it made me think about the possibilities for myself and other Aboriginal communities."

Finding the next Richard Branson

Mr Foley's mentor and fellow coordinator, Matthew Jones, a Torres Strait Islander and senior accountant in Brisbane, said he wanted to provide opportunities to create a "light-bulb" moment for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

"It's very important for Indigenous people to have the opportunity to gain exposure to the key fundamentals of business," Mr Jones said.

Mind the Mob inspired Dean Foley (left) to found Australia's first Indigenous Startup Weekend. Photo: Mind the Mob inspired Dean Foley (left) to found Australia's first Indigenous Start-up Weekend. (Supplied: Dean Foley)

"Each topic within itself can be a lifetime of learning and to identify the support networks that can help facilitate potential business owners."

Along with opening up doors, Mr Jones said he hoped the event might encourage a future Indigenous entrepreneur to become the next Sir Richard Branson.

"As Indigenous Australians we have outstanding sports people and fantastic politicians, but we don't have any entrepreneurs to date.

"We don't have any Richard Bransons or Lorna Janes, so by holding this event it could lead to a generation of people that think, 'Hey, that could possibly be me'.

"That's helpful in creating that economic self-sufficiency."

'Working together for economic independence'

Mr Foley said previous start-up weekends he had attended spurred him to do more and want to give others the chance to create their own business future.

"I hope to do more in the Aboriginal community that I grew up in and I think everyone can do it and have a go," he said.

Michael McLeod (left) from Message Stick will be one of the judges at the Startup Weekend. Photo: Michael McLeod (left) from Message Stick will be one of the judges at the Start-up Weekend. (Supplied: Message Stick)

"A lot of Indigenous people I know don't know what entrepreneurship is, and this weekend will be about working together for economic independence and taking those skills back to their communities."

Judges for the event include Michael McLeod, chief executive and co-founder of Message Stick, a company that helps Indigenous businesses connect with government and large companies.

Mr Foley hopes participants learn from Mr McLeod and encourage Indigenous people to look at how they can create their own businesses.

"When you look at Indigenous self-employment, it's 5 per cent and non-Indigenous is 16 per cent," he said.

"Indigenous majority-owned businesses are 100 times more likely to employ Indigenous people.

"I think a lot of that could be solved by Indigenous people themselves. We shouldn't have to rely on the government or big corporations ... we need to take more control and do it ourselves."

Australia's First Indigenous Start-up Weekend will be held at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, from July 22 to 24.

AustraliaPlus


 

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