Bridging the Education Gap: Introducing Inspirational Organisations Leading the Way
By: Slalom Australia
Tags: Stem Education, Inclusion, Slalom, Diversity, Diversity In Tech

Since launching in Australia earlier this year, a key focus for the team has been to ramp up our Inclusion & Diversity initiatives. This year, the Black Lives Matter and anti-racism movement more broadly highlighted the importance and need for employers to implement stronger inclusion programs in the workplace. At Slalom Australia, this is our key priority and we have created initiatives that show our alliance and support to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.



We are proud of launching our Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) Council in April and a Working Group specifically to develop our ‘Reflect’ Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and initiatives. The Working Group’s focus is on increasing awareness and education, and we are planning an ongoing series of cultural education sessions for our team to learn from elders and members of the Indigenous community.



At Slalom, we know that for real change to take place in our communities and workplaces, we must educate and support current and future leaders. So we launched several anti-racism initiatives and we recently hosted a virtual event for our team and clients with Indigitek and GO Foundation.



We are excited to share some learnings from our inspirational guest speakers, Liam Ridgeway (Indigitek and NGNY Co-founder) and Shirley Chowdhary (GO Foundation CEO), and showcase the incredible work they are doing. We are honoured to work with impactful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations like Indigitek and GO Foundation.

Liam Ridgeway, Indigitek and NGNY Co-founder

Indigitek is a community of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are continuing a proud tradition of Indigenous innovation and entrepreneurship in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). While it is estimated that STEM professions will make up 75 per cent of the Australian workforce by 2025, only 43 per cent of Aboriginal children graduate High School with one STEM subject.

Indigitek is on a mission to change these statistics.



The organisation is working to build a realistic and viable pathway for more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to secure STEM learning and job opportunities. Through their relationships with technology partners, like Slalom, they have been able to provide internships and ongoing job opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to who may not have considered this as an option.

Indigitek co-founder, Liam Ridgeway says: “I encourage everyone to look and learn the history of traditional owners of the land. As traditional owners, we have lots of experience and knowledge we want to share with the world.”

Some tips from Liam on where start:

· Remove judgement and preconceptions of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders people

· Learn the true history of Australia’s 60,000+ year history

· Learn the history of the traditional owners and inhabitants of the land that you are living and working on

· Make an effort to connect with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people — connect with your local Indigenous organisation(s)

· Support Indigenous led causes because the best way for the community to overcome the problems is to build their own sustainable solutions

Shirley Chowdhary, GO Foundation Founder

GO Foundation is an organisation focused on creating opportunities for Indigenous youth through the power of education. Founded by former AFL stars, Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin, GO Foundation provides scholarships to Indigenous students from kindergarten through to university. Through a GO scholarship, students can access the tools and resources they need to ensure their journey through school is as rich and rewarding as possible; as well as provide them with the tools and opportunities that will empower them to further their education.



Recently, as schools across the country moved to online learning models due to COVID-19 restrictions, GO Foundation became conscious of the many Indigenous students who did not have laptops or Wi-Fi at home. Digital exclusion is already a barrier for so many Indigenous students, so GO, along with key Ecosystem partners, created Technology Scholarships. The scholarship awarded students with laptops (preloaded with Microsoft Office) and NBN Wi-Fi access — with the aim of awarding 250 Indigenous students who are empowered to engage with their own learning online.



GO Foundation founder, Shirley Chowdhary, says: “Life expectancy for Indigenous men and women is almost 10 years less for a non-indigenous person. If you are a young indigenous person between the age of 10 and 24, you are 24 times more likely to be incarcerated than finish year 12. This statistic gets me every time.”

“Our research shows that education is the silver bullet that can change so much for Indigenous people. Go Foundation exists to end the economic dis-empowerment faced by Indigenous and advocate against racism, we advocate for equality, we advocate for first nations people in this country to have an equal footing.”



We are excited to share more about our I&D journey working alongside these outstanding organisations. Together, we will work towards educating our team members and clients to make a significant impact in the education and futures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.



At Slalom, we are committed to justice, humanity, and equality. We do not tolerate racism. Anti-racism starts with listening and learning.



It is important that we continue these conversations and take meaningful and impactful action to create a better tomorrow without racism.



You can find out more about the great work our partners are doing via their social pages here: Indigitek and GO Foundation