Our Mission
Leveraging our extensive experience and expertise, we have the ability to effectively engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to develop and deliver effective solutions aligned to your organisation's requirements.
Broadly, the types of services and solutions we provide seek to:
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Empower and grow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and peoples by increasing commercial opportunities;
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Empower First Nations business owners through coaching and mentoring;
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Strengthen First Nations businesses and business owners by working collaboratively at every opportunity to enable commercial success;
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Use profits to build the skills and capability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.
Our Identity
Our Name
TBNG (meaning 'Stronger, Together' in Kyle's Dhurga language) is committed to improving economic and social outcomes for First Nations businesses and communities.
BULWUL - (pronounced boolwool) means 'STRONG'
NJINDIWAN - (pronounced nindiwan) means 'All OF US'
Our Logo
Mother Gulaga is the centre of Yuin Culture around which daily life is anchored. She's the Mother Mountain and holds the creation story of the Yuin people.
The Bulwul Njindiwan Group logo utilises an interpretation of Gulaga (Mt Dromedary) and its topographic map. Specific formations include subsections of the topography of Gulaga (The Mother, Mt. Dromedary), Najanuka (The Little Brother, Little Dromedary) and Barunguba (The Brother, Montague Island).
Gulaga
Najanuka
Barunguba
Our Services
Cultural Awareness and Targeted Training:
Developing bespoke cultural awareness training programs and sessions specific to the organisation. This can include designing a targeted masterclasses for key areas of the business including, procurement, recruitment, HR etc to further organisational awareness and offer practical knowledge in their areas under the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
Community Engagement and Consultation:
Facilitate meaningful engagement and consultation processes with local Traditional Owners and Aboriginal community groups and organisations. This involvement ensures that community perspectives are considered as part of any decision-making processes, particularly when it comes to business operations and / or projects that may impact Aboriginal lands, cultural heritage, or sacred sites.
Increase Indigenous Supplier Engagement and Supplier Diversity:
Assist in developing strategies that increase engagement with Indigenous suppliers. This can include identifying opportunities & supporting procurement processes.
Cultural Heritage Assessments:
Guidance and development of key relationships with Traditional Owner groups to work more effectively on Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs). Analyse and design strategies that consider the options for a retention rather than salvage approach to cultural sites and artefacts.
Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Development:
Support the development and / or implementation of Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP). Give insight into areas of engagement and targets where organisations can create a meaningful impact to the broader Aboriginal community.
Strategy and protocol review:
Review corporate strategies and documentation to remove any barriers to engagement with Aboriginal people across the business. Guidance with Cultural protocols and documentation to ensure it is up to date and aligns with Aboriginal community expectations.
Indigenous Employment, retention and development:
Providing guidance on implementing culturally inclusive recruitment and retention practices & promote Indigenous employment by assisting in the creation of an Aboriginal candidate pool to improve Aboriginal employment opportunities. Link Aboriginal staff with Aboriginal mentors to help them on their career journey. Resource for Aboriginal staff to get professional advice. Mediation between staff and managers if culturally sensitive issues arise.
Social enterprises:
Identify opportunities to create and develop partnerships with Indigenous businesses / social enterprises (e.g. a café) that activates, engages and creates benefits for local communities.
Our Difference
Our solutions create commercial value for our clients and increase the economic participation of First Nations peoples, suppliers and Community. Our approach to developing solutions is purposefully non-prescriptive.
Our preference is to engage with our clients to understand what they are currently doing and the outcomes they are looking in order to develop the right, bespoke approach that best suits their organisation.
We are committed to:
*Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community projects;
*Creating scholarships & training programs;
*Developing internships and employment opportunities for First Peoples;
*Reinvesting up to 51% of our profits in the above within the next 10 years.
Our Team
David Stanford - Director
Kane Bowden - Director
John Paul Whitbread - Director
David has held several senior procurement roles including Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Macquarie Group and Westpac before starting his own consultancy business. Working across a range of industry sectors, he has extensive procurement and strategic sourcing experience and has developed and executed global procurement strategies with a track record of achieving significant cost benefits and supplier improvements. He is passionate about using this experience to work with corporate and government agencies to develop and improve their engagement with Indigenous business while creating real opportunities to build capability and capacity in the Indigenous supply market.
Kane grew up in Alice Springs, and before that in Pukatja, an Aboriginal community on the South Australian/Northern Territory border. After starting professional life as a teacher, Kane moved into not-for-profit leadership, including 10 years as a CEO, followed by leadership roles with the Northern Land Council in the Northern Territory and Killara Foundation in Victoria. Kane jumped at the opportunity to again work closely with Kyle and JP to establish Bulwul Njindiwan and sees it as a fantastic opportunity to support and grow the number of Indigenous business owners in Australia, while also facilitating great outcomes for corporate Australia.
John Paul and Kyle Vander-Kuyp have been friends and business partners for many years. Together they have been involved in a variety of projects to advance economic participation for First Peoples in Australia. Bulwul Njindiwan is the latest of these initiatives. JP has over 25 years experience as a CEO, Executive Director and insurance industry leader. He is a Co-Founder and Chair of Killara Foundation, an Indigenous non-profit that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through pathways to employment, cultural connection and mentoring, an assistance in navigating the housing and labour markets.
"Committed to creating improved economic and social outcomes for First Nations businesses and communities."
