The inaugural Indigenous Business Month (IBM) Awards were held at Melbourne Business School last night celebrating this year’s theme Indigenous Ingenuity.
The Award Dinner was a wonderful evening celebrating Indigenous business success and saw the winners announced for the inaugural Indigenous Business Month Awards, alongside the PwC & MURRA Boost Initiative and also for the first time, the Wa-Murayangkulang Awards.
INDIGENOUS BUSINESS MONTH AWARD WINNERS
This year, IBM introduced for the first time three IBM Awards to showcase the outstanding achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
The winners are:
I2I Award – Mitchell Ross, MURU Office Supplies
MURU Office Supplies is the only truly national Indigenous owned and operated office products company. They are a B2B supplier of products used in every room of the modern office, offering thousands of items from categories including copy paper, tech accessories, kitchen supplies, janitorial and cleaning products, office furniture and office supplies.
Indigenous Ingenuity Award – Serena Bara, Bush Medijina
Bush Medijina is a growing social enterprise that supports women’s capacity building and well-being through its handcrafted skincare range that combines traditional knowledge and botanicals.
Indigenous Digital Inventiveness Award – Luke Briscoe, INDIGI LAB
INDIGI LAB is an award-winning Indigenous digital agency that is independent of Government and is a 100% Indigenous owned and operated. INDIGI LAB is about innovating out of necessity and creating social, cultural health, economic and environmental solutions through Indigenous STEM, embedding Indigenous Culture, Science and Knowledge into the sector.
“On behalf of the Indigenous Business Month Co-Founders, I would like to congratulate our first annual IBM Award winners. Its businesses like these that make Indigenous Business Month a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs and their contribution to their communities and ultimately the Australian economy”, said Michelle Evans, MURRA Program Director and Associate Professor of Leadership at the University of Melbourne.
The IBM Awards were created by Indigenous award-winning trophy supplier Aboriginal Steel Art. The Award winners were selected by a panel of judges, which included Mikaela Jade, CEO and Founder of Indigital, Natalie Walker, founder and Managing Director of Inside Policy, and Scott Young, Managing Director of Young Guns.
PWC MURRA BOOST INITIATIVE WINNERS
For the fourth year, PwC Australia and the Melbourne Business School have provided skills and expertise, valued at $30,000 to an Indigenous Business. The initiative is designed to help strengthen business practices and build capacity within an Indigenous organisation in Australia while supporting a specific issue that will allow for future growth.
This year the competition was particularly impressive. Kim Cheater, Co-Chair, PwC National Reconciliation Governance Group, announced that for the first time, two recipients would receive the PwC & MURRA Boost Initiative, valued at $30,000
The winners are:
Kylie-Lee Bradford, Kakadu Tiny Tots & MURRA Gen 9
Kakadu Tiny Tots is a wholly Australian owned company that creates authentic Aboriginal clothing, accessories and artwork. All of their designs originate and are uniquely handcrafted in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Mundanara Bayles, BlackCard Pty Ltd & MURRA Gen 5
The Australian BlackCard (BlackCard) is a specialist consultancy providing cultural capability training and consultancy services to enable people and organisations to work effectively with members of the Aboriginal community. BlackCard’s purpose is working with people, not for people, with the genius of Aboriginal Knowledge.
”I would like to congratulate this year’s joint winners of the PwC & MURRA Boost Initiative Kylie-Lee Bradford and Mundanara Bayles. It was exceptionally hard to choose between these applicants, so we decided to support both inspiring businesses this year. We look forward to working with them”. Said Kim Cheater, Co-Chair, PwC National Reconciliation Governance Group.
CGU INSURANCE INDIGENOUS BUSINESS GRANTS
At the Awards Dinner, leading small business insurer, CGU Insurance was proud to announce the winners of its Wa-Murayankulang Awards competition. Run as part of Indigenous Business Month, each of the five winning First Nations business owners received a $5,000 grant for professional development.
The winners are:
Scope Solutions
Scope Solutions effectively plan and manage formal and informal occasions in any environment, including corporate and government meetings and conferences, cultural capability awareness and guidance, any other culturally inclusive event or multi-cultural occasion, sports and community events, children’s activities, and much more.
Pawa Catering & Events
Pawa Catering & Events bring fresh produce to their clients using local and Indigenous ingredients, presenting high-quality food to all.
Jarin Street
Jain Street aims to provide ongoing ethical and sustainable support to Aboriginal artists who contribute their work on Jarin Street yoga mats and soon to come activewear and fashion garments.
Alinga Energy Consulting
Alinga Energy Consulting is an energy consulting service providing affordable services and deliver inspired, optimized solutions that create synergy between client needs, our natural environment; and beneficiaries of the built environment or technologies.
Panku Pty Ltd
Panku Pty Ltd (meaning ‘united, together’ in Nyiyaparli) consolidates and tailors supply across First Aid, PPE, Work Wear, and Spill Control and offers quality First Aid training.
Manager of Indigenous Engagement at Insurance Australia Group Lee Hinton said:
“It is a great honour to provide these five innovative Indigenous businesses a Wa-murayangkulang Award, to assist them to walk forward in their business and their communities. The diversity of these recipients proves that Indigenous Ingenuity is all around us and will continue to grow within the Australian business sector”.
Mayrah Sonter, Co-Founder of Indigenous Business Month and Co-Director of 33 Creative further adds:
“This year, over seventy Indigenous Business Month events took place nationally, breaking records from previous years. IBM is a movement. We set out to show the power of the Indigenous Business sector and we did.”
Seventy Aboriginal and Torres Strait business delegates and representatives from across Australia attended the Melbourne Business School Award Dinner. The night also featured performances by singer/songwriter Wergaia woman Alice Skye.
Indigenous Business Month is an initiative driven by the alumni of Melbourne Business School’s MURRA Indigenous Business Master Class, who see business as a way of providing positive role models for young Indigenous Australians and improving the quality of life in Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Business Month runs from October 1 to October 31. Check out the website.
The initiative is supported by 33 Creative, MURRA Indigenous Business Master Class program, Iscariot Media, PwC and IAG.
For more information on Indigenous Business Month visit:
#IndigBizMth #IndigenousIngenuity
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Indigenous Business Month Co-Founders Michelle Evans, Leesa Watego and Mayrah Sonter; are available for interviews.
- Indigenous Business Month Awards winners are available on request.
- High resolution photos are available here.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Marguerite Barbara, Media and Communications Manager at 33 Creative Pty Ltd
p: 02 9516 3466 |m: 0417 692 832 |e: Marguerite@33creative.com.au