Community First Development is a First Nations Led community development and research organisation, whose mission is to support the aspirations of First Peoples through community-led solutions.

Chief executive Steph Harvey, a Bidjara woman from central Queensland, will soon share the experience and insights Community First Development has gained over its 25 years serving the community, as well as her own knowledge, at the Hatchery's Public Sector First Nations Leadership & Allyship Summit which takes place in Canberra and Online on the 21st-22nd of May.

She told National Indigenous Times that she started working with Community First Development because of its focus on self-determination.

"I was in leadership roles, and this was an opportunity. I could see the potential for Community First Development.

"For me, I'm utterly committed to shifting the dial for my own mob. I could see that CFD had the potential to do that, that we are the only national Aboriginal organisation working to the principles of self-determination in our development practice.

"We work in a unique way. We only work by community invitation, and we only work in what community identifies as their priority. We don't deliver programs and services on behalf of funders, whether it's government or philanthropy. Everything is purely community led, so for me, the attraction was that potential to reach communities right across Australia, to support them achieving their own dreams."

Ms Harvey praised the organisation's "deadly board ensures CFD is moving forward with wisdom and strategic vision".

"Self-determination, it's everything. It is the key, critical piece. And it's not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is that old adage of 'nothing about us without us'. It doesn't matter whether it's about mob or whether it's around people with a disability or people who are unhoused, we hold the solutions.

"We often need support to bring those solutions to fruition. But self-determination is everything. Every human being on the planet wants to be able to have a say and have control over their own life. Because the alternative, if you flip that around, is no self-determination means that you are powerless; You have no power over how you're going to run your life or raise your children, or where you're going to live, or how your kids are going to be educated or access health solutions.

"It is everything. It is the critical piece, and it should be the critical piece in every policy development by this government or any other… not just in policy development but also funding decisions. You can have all the brilliant self-determined policies in the world, and we do have one, we have the national agreement on closing the gap that talks about self-determination - but if it's not funded and if it's not acted upon, then it's the critical piece that's missing"

Ms Harvey said two of her key messages for attendees at the Leadership Summit are: "Leadership is attainable, and that you've got to keep it real."

"There is no point working outside your own defined set of values to try and lead other people. If I was to take a non-strength-based approach to this, I would say the key message is just don't be gammin. You know, you've got to be real," she said.

"You've got to commit to being genuine and building relationships and being vulnerable to hearing other people, other people's views, explore new thinking and to not fall into the trap of thinking you're the smartest person in the room… You don't have to be the smartest person in the room yourself, because that just blinkers your thinking."

Ms Harvey said she had never imagined becoming a leader.

"I started living independently when I was about 15. Being a leader was never on my radar. I'd never have thought I'd even be in an office, so showing emerging, particularly young women leaders, what's possible is really important to me, but to not showcase it as unreal - that I've got it together and that I'm juggling all the important balls all at the same time - because that makes it seem unreal and unrelatable, and it's simply not true.

"No leader that I know has it together all the time and doing an exceptional job and not making mistakes and learning. And so, if there's a key message is it is around that it's attainable, and that it's attainable by keeping it real. And it's important that all of us as leaders show how real it actually gets."

Ms Harvey told National Indigenous Times that she also sees the Leadership Summit as a learning opportunity.

"I grasp every learning opportunity. I don't think that anyone ever makes it to a point in our career where we think we know it all, or we've done it all. It's an opportunity to do some deep listening and reflection and to gain wisdom through other people's learning," she said.

"It's always helpful to learn by other people's learning, because it means you don't necessarily have to make that mistake yourself, but it opens up the world of possibility.

"We are surrounded all the time by the work we're doing, the environment we're living in. We have our work pressures, family pressures. We're in community. We can see what's happening, and we can't afford to keep our gaze so narrowly focused.

"Being at a summit like this reminds us to lift our gaze and to be open to other contexts and other opportunities that people are exploring."

More information about The Hatchery's Public Sector First Nations Leadership & Allyship Summit is available online.