In short:
- Entrepreneurship workshops are being held around NSW for Indigenous high school students.
- They aim to inspire students to think about how businesses with purpose could solve issues in their own communities.
- What's next? It's hoped the workshops will help young people build pathways to financial independence.
When Walbunja man Jordan Nye was inspired to start his own business, he had an exciting idea but no-one to turn to for help.
As he looked around his hometown of Mogo, on the New South Wales far south coast, he realised he did not know any entrepreneurs.
"For me it was a big challenge to find people within my family and community to support me starting my own business and becoming an entrepreneur," Mr Nye said.
"There weren't many people around me that owned businesses or could show or teach me how to run a business."
He launched his business Muladha Gamara two years ago, capitalising on growing interest in cultural tourism by employing local Indigenous people to run cultural youth programs, immersion experiences, traditional dance and cultural consultancy services.
"It was a big challenge to be able to get started because it was new and there's not really much like this type of business out there," Mr Nye said.
Providing his community with "a space to learn about their cultural identity and a purpose other than the usual cycles that we see within our families" has changed Mr Nye's life.
"To be able to run my own business has really made a big impact on my life, but not only my life, my family's life," he said.
Passing on knowledge
Now Mr Nye is helping the next generation of Indigenous students dream big for the future.
He is co-facilitating Invest in Yourself: Exploring Money and Self-Employment, a workshop provided in partnership with the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship (SSE), as a part of the NSW government's Regional Aboriginal Partnerships program.
Mr Nye ran the event in Batemans Bay.
It was one of eight workshops being held across the state, with others scheduled for Bathurst, Dubbo, Kempsey, Manilla, Cardiff, Tumut, and Worrigee.
The workshops are designed to equip local Indigenous high school students with money management skills and the ability and confidence to launch their own business.
"To be able to have a program like this when I was young would have been massive," Mr Nye said.
Solving problems through business
A year 10 student at Batemans Bay High School, Emma Sproates, said the workshop left her feeling confident about managing money and tax.
"It made me believe that I can start a business, and it's not that hard," she said.
The teenager currently works with Mr Nye at Muladha Gamara, and dreams of taking over the business in the future.
At the workshop, she was also brainstorming ideas for a business running racism education programs in schools.
"There's a lot of racism in my community and I want to change that — educate more people about my culture and where everyone is standing on this land," she said.
Living out their dreams
SSE training facilitator Frank Newman said the program was about helping young people build pathways to financial independence.
He said the students were encouraged to identify problems in the community, and then craft a business idea as a solution to that problem.
Mr Newman was inspired by students bringing creative solutions to issues such as housing, poverty, drugs and mental health.
"It makes me feel like the future is full of hope when I see some of these young people starting to go, 'Oh, I could do that, and I could make money doing that, and it could help my community'," he said.
"I'd love to see students go off and live their dreams."
Author: James Tugwell Date: 6 March 2024 Publication: ABC South East NSW
Disclaimer- This article was first published on the ABC News website by James Tugwell on 6 March 2024
