Backing First Nations Entrepreneurs: What Works When Support Is Designed with Place, People and Partners
Tracks
Concurrent Room 1
| Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| 2:00 PM - 2:20 PM |
| Concurrent Room 1 |
Overview
Alexie Seller, Impact North
Details
1. Delegates will learn why strengthening the ecosystem around entrepreneurs (trusted relationships, peer networks, and the right connections at the right time) is crucial.
2. Delegates will learn how a simple People, Place, Partners lens can be used to design enterprise support that is practical in remote and regional contexts and grounded in Country, culture, and community priorities.
3. Delegates will learn what “scaling what works” can look like in the north, including why scaling often means **scaling deep** by investing in local roles, relationships, and networks that make support sustainable over time.
Speaker
Ms Alexie Seller
Ceo
Impact North
Backing First Nations entrepreneurs: what works when support is designed with place, people and partners
Presentation Overview
Northern Australia has no shortage of ideas or ambition. The harder part is supporting those to grow into enterprises that can create impact in remote and regional places.
Impact North is an Aboriginal-controlled organisation that works alongside First Nations entrepreneurs and communities across the north. We back entrepreneurs by strengthening what sits *around* a business: trusted relationships, local decision-making, practical support, and the partners and systems that make an enterprise viable.
The challenge is not “getting entrepreneurs ready”. It is strengthening the ecosystem around entrepreneurs, including peer networks, trusted intermediaries, and practical connections to the right people and opportunities at the right time.
This session shares how we are learning to “link people, place and partners” through a simple, place-based approach:
**People**: backing entrepreneurs to build confidence, skills and momentum without adding burden. We invest in local coordinator roles and connect entrepreneurs with other Aboriginal business owners to grow strong peer networks.
**Place**: designing with Country, culture, language, distance and community priorities as the starting point. These realities shape what is feasible and what good support looks like.
**Partners**: mapping the ecosystem around each entrepreneur and making warm connections to training, markets, procurement and funding when it is timely. We support partners to understand remote and regional business realities, and help entrepreneurs navigate options without a one-size-fits-all model.
Government and regional leaders are often asked to “scale what works”. In remote settings, scale looks different. It is less about replicating a training model and more about scaling deep: investing in relationships, local roles and networks that help support stick.
The session includes local Aboriginal entrepreneur voices and practical examples. Attendees will leave with design tips they can use immediately to build light-touch pathways from first contact to readiness, strengthen trusted connections, and form partnerships that respect cultural protocols.
Impact North is an Aboriginal-controlled organisation that works alongside First Nations entrepreneurs and communities across the north. We back entrepreneurs by strengthening what sits *around* a business: trusted relationships, local decision-making, practical support, and the partners and systems that make an enterprise viable.
The challenge is not “getting entrepreneurs ready”. It is strengthening the ecosystem around entrepreneurs, including peer networks, trusted intermediaries, and practical connections to the right people and opportunities at the right time.
This session shares how we are learning to “link people, place and partners” through a simple, place-based approach:
**People**: backing entrepreneurs to build confidence, skills and momentum without adding burden. We invest in local coordinator roles and connect entrepreneurs with other Aboriginal business owners to grow strong peer networks.
**Place**: designing with Country, culture, language, distance and community priorities as the starting point. These realities shape what is feasible and what good support looks like.
**Partners**: mapping the ecosystem around each entrepreneur and making warm connections to training, markets, procurement and funding when it is timely. We support partners to understand remote and regional business realities, and help entrepreneurs navigate options without a one-size-fits-all model.
Government and regional leaders are often asked to “scale what works”. In remote settings, scale looks different. It is less about replicating a training model and more about scaling deep: investing in relationships, local roles and networks that help support stick.
The session includes local Aboriginal entrepreneur voices and practical examples. Attendees will leave with design tips they can use immediately to build light-touch pathways from first contact to readiness, strengthen trusted connections, and form partnerships that respect cultural protocols.
Biography
Alexie Seller is the CEO of Impact North, an Aboriginal-controlled organisation supporting First Nations entrepreneurs and communities across northern Australia. She returned to Australia in 2019 after co-founding Pollinate Group, an award-winning social enterprise that reached over half a million people in seven years. Alexie brings expertise in executive leadership, social innovation and community-led enterprise development. Her work focuses on creating culturally safe, place-based pathways that enable remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to thrive in business, with an emphasis on building the enabling conditions and networks around entrepreneurs.
