In celebration of International Women’s Day tomorrow, Australian social purpose organisation Good Return and its partners are looking to build a network of more than 100 Indigenous women entrepreneurs in the Kimberley area to grow on their business journey through the business club Maganda Makers.
The Maganda Makers business club is a collaboration between Good Return, Indigenous-led organisation Kimberley Jiyigas, and the Sir Robert Menzies Foundation for Leadership.
Under the initiative, Good Return will bring over its experience in financial capability and financial inclusion, working with Indigenous leaders to build resources and training programs and help the women become investment-ready and have better control of their financial future.
The organisation is supporting the UN’s rallying cry for increased investment in women, as it has already supported 15000 women across the region access finance and 65,000 women with financial and business training over the past 20 years.
Natasha Short (pictured) of Kimberley Jiyigas, and Good Return’s ambassador for the program, said that it is vital to combine access to finance with culturally competent training in financial and business capability.
“For many Indigenous women in the Kimberley, the idea of business is brand new,” Short said. “It can also be overwhelming to think about their own goals and how to reach them, especially when these women are used to seeing themselves as responsible first for their family and community.
“We are passionate about improving the financial literacy of the members of Maganda Makers as the club helps women see they have the assets, the cultural knowledge, the strength, and the creativity to venture,” Short added. “I love the light that comes on people’s faces when they learn there’s a different way to make money and they can consider opportunity for themselves.”
Established three years ago, the Maganda Makers club brings the women together in person or online, to share resources, knowledge and ideas, encourage each other, and access links to capital sources and informed business support. The women share learnings on marketing, budgeting and finance, production and sales and how to deal with the unique challenges of doing business in remote areas, where even getting to the post office in the wet season can be impossible. Its members are in different stages of their business ventures across the arts, food and catering, hospitality, mining services and much more.
Kathleen Cox is a Maganda Maker from Goombaragin on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome. Kathleen owns and operates a small eco-tourism business that provides self-contained accommodation and unpowered campsites. Kathleen recently hosted a women’s gathering for Maganga Makers, using her club connections to get feedback on business ideas and share her learnings with women who are interested in setting up businesses with a focus on cultural tourism.
“Networking is vital and using the Maganda Maker Business Club as a platform to encourage, engage and give lift to all women, is the step in the right direction”, Kathleen said. “I am an advocate for grassroots tourism on country and I believe my people can control their own destiny, create their own autonomy, and develop viable and sustainable businesses and communities in which they live and become financially independent.”
Good Return’s Program Director for Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship Cindy Mitchell said that recognising the strength and skill of Indigenous women entrepreneurs should be part of every International Women’s Day celebration in this country.
“These women are extraordinary in how they manage their lives and their commitment to family and community alongside their businesses, often in very remote locations,” Mitchell said. “Investors need to see the opportunity in these powerful women leaders. I think they have so much to teach us all about the role of business in empowerment and community.”
