Michelle Deshong

I am a Kuku Yalanji woman from North Queensland with more than 25 years’ experience in Indigenous affairs across government, the not-for-profit sector, business and academia. I have held senior executive roles including CEO of the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Interim CEO of Supply Nation, and now lead Deshong Consulting, working nationally and internationally in Indigenous leadership, governance, organisational development and economic participation.

My work is grounded in a strong commitment to self-determination and the role of strong governance in creating sustainable futures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2016, I received an Australian-American Fulbright Indigenous Professional Scholarship to research First Nations leadership and governance, particularly nation building and self-determination. I built on this work through my 2018 Churchill Fellowship, visiting First Nations communities and institutions across Canada, New Zealand and the United States to examine different approaches to leadership and self-governance. The Fellowship explored how concepts including nation building, cultural governance, sovereignty and identity could inform approaches in an Australian context.

These experiences continue to inform my work supporting Indigenous organisations and communities to strengthen governance, leadership and economic development, and to create pathways for greater self-determination and intergenerational prosperity.

I have a PhD examining Indigenous women's participation in public and political life and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and Indigenous Studies. In 2015, I was named National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year. I contribute to a range of national leadership, business and policy forums and was formerly the Chair of Queensland’s First Nations Treaty Institute. I am an experienced facilitator and speaker, working across Australia and internationally on leadership, governance, gender equality and Indigenous affairs.