The Director of Richmond Football Club’s Korin Gamadji Institute (KGI), Aaron Clark, is taking part in a ground-breaking program aimed at bringing more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders into the C-suite.

Clark, a Gunditjmara man from Western Victoria, has worked as KGI Director for the past 18 months, overseeing unique and innovative programming that is helping develop resilient, confident and culturally affirmed young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ready to lead their community.

NAB led the development of the Emerging Indigenous Executive Leaders Program (EIELP), with strong support from Richmond Football Club, Crown Resorts, AFL, Broadspectrum, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, the Australian Government Department of Human Services and Reconciliation Australia.

“We need more Aboriginal people in executive roles, sitting around boardroom tables and getting involved in the big decisions,” Clark said of the program which has already commenced.

“This course is an important step forward and the commitment of the 10 Elevate RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan) partners to deliver this opportunity is fantastic.

“Richmond has been very proactive in supporting myself and identifying career development opportunities. It provides great support for Indigenous talent on and off the field and that allows people to grow.”

Eleven women and five men will participate in a 10-day course run over seven months that includes modules on leadership and decision making, identity, innovation, learning and growth, personal effectiveness, resilience, managing change and communication.

Of the 700 businesses across Australia that have RAP’s, Richmond Football Club is one of just 17 to be recognised as in Elevate status and the only sporting Club.

“This development of this course points to the power of collaboration and we congratulate NAB who led this particular initiative and the other Elevate RAP partners that have made a commitment as well,” Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said.

“We are a Club that wants to make an authentic contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and this is another example of that.”

The EIELP will be run by the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) and is a nine-month program during which participants will undertake executive learning modules focusing on strategic thinking, leadership and identity, innovation, personal effectiveness and communicating with influence – amongst other things. Participants will also be individually mentored by senior executive leaders within their respective organisations.

Reconciliation Australia CEO, Justin Mohamed said “While we have seen progress in the areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and development by corporate Australia, we are not yet seeing many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent move beyond middle management. This program aims to change that - and see our talented Indigenous leaders enter the C-suite and Boardrooms of Corporate Australia.”

Frank Kennedy, Executive Director of AGSM Short Courses, who will run the program, welcomed the initiative, not only from the perspective of developing talented Indigenous leaders, but also for the value it will bring to Australian organisations.

“It has been proven time and time again that diversity and inclusion, and in particular different perspectives within the C-suites and Boardrooms, improves the rigour of decision-making and ultimately performance of organisations. While gender diversity has received much focus in recent years, other aspects of diversity have not. This program aims to address that and tap a valuable talent pool that has to date been under-represented amongst the decision-makers in Australia,” Mr Kennedy said.