Weaving Presence - Embodied Truth-Telling and Relational Accountability in Education and Wellbeing
| Tuesday, October 21, 2025 |
| 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM |
| Kookaburra Room (M3) |
Overview
Dr Heena Akbar, Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Advocacy, Pacific Health and First Nations Health, Kyle Ryan (Yuggera Ugarapul),
Indigenous Educator | Cultural Strategist | Youth Empowerment Advocate, Mr Tahi Gray-Tuapawa & Jaelyn Biumaiwai, Author
Presenter
Dr Heena Akbar
Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Advocacy, Pacific Health and First Nations Health
The University of Queensland
Weaving Presence - Embodied Truth-Telling and Relational Accountability in Education and Wellbeing
Presentation Overview
This keynote is a woven tapestry of Indigenous leadership, youth empowerment, and cultural truth-telling. Through a yarning circle, four co-presenters share embodied narratives that honour ancestral knowledge, lived experience, and the power of collective dreaming. Framed by the theme Education and Youth Empowerment: Leaders of Today and Tomorrow, this presentation centres youth voices in wellbeing strategies, guided by Elders and cultural mentors.
Dr Heena Akbar, as a community Elder, senior Pasifika academic and community opens with a reflection on leadership rooted in cultural wisdom. Her work with Pasifika communities and youth-led research exemplifies relational mentoring and cultural safety as foundations for wellbeing. Her work with Māori and Pasifika communities in Australia exemplifies community-led research, where youth are not just participants but co-researchers and storytellers. Tahi Gray-Tuapawa, with ancestral roots to Aotearoa shares his journey of healing through traditional barbering, creating spaces for Māori and Pasifika youth to reclaim identity and connection. His work creates culturally safe spaces for Māori and Pasifika youth to reclaim identity, self-worth, and connection. Kyle Ryan, a Yuggera Ugarapul educator and strategist, leads with the principle of Ngara Wangarra — listening deeply to spirit and ancestors. He introduces Songlines of Science, a project embedding Aboriginal knowledge in STEM education, and speaks to the quiet strength of ancestral leadership. Jaelyn Biumaiwai, a proud Mununjali and iTaukei Fijian creative, brings the yarn to life through visual storytelling, using art to empower and educate.
Together, these voices challenge colonial impacts on education and wellbeing, calling for a restoration of kinship-based learning and embodied knowledge. This keynote is not a linear presentation but a collective truth-telling held by Country, Matriarchs, and the breath of Ancestors.
We invite delegates to walk with us, to listen deeply, and to witness the rising generation—who are leaders of today, tomorrow and the future. Always was, always will be.
Three Key Learnngs:
1. Cultural safety is central to youth wellbeing — It creates spaces where identity, truth, and healing are honoured.
2. Leadership is relational and ancestral — Guided by Elders and lived experience, it empowers youth to lead with presence.
3. Education systems must re-centre Indigenous knowledge — Restoring kinship-based learning and deep listening to youth voices.
Dr Heena Akbar, as a community Elder, senior Pasifika academic and community opens with a reflection on leadership rooted in cultural wisdom. Her work with Pasifika communities and youth-led research exemplifies relational mentoring and cultural safety as foundations for wellbeing. Her work with Māori and Pasifika communities in Australia exemplifies community-led research, where youth are not just participants but co-researchers and storytellers. Tahi Gray-Tuapawa, with ancestral roots to Aotearoa shares his journey of healing through traditional barbering, creating spaces for Māori and Pasifika youth to reclaim identity and connection. His work creates culturally safe spaces for Māori and Pasifika youth to reclaim identity, self-worth, and connection. Kyle Ryan, a Yuggera Ugarapul educator and strategist, leads with the principle of Ngara Wangarra — listening deeply to spirit and ancestors. He introduces Songlines of Science, a project embedding Aboriginal knowledge in STEM education, and speaks to the quiet strength of ancestral leadership. Jaelyn Biumaiwai, a proud Mununjali and iTaukei Fijian creative, brings the yarn to life through visual storytelling, using art to empower and educate.
Together, these voices challenge colonial impacts on education and wellbeing, calling for a restoration of kinship-based learning and embodied knowledge. This keynote is not a linear presentation but a collective truth-telling held by Country, Matriarchs, and the breath of Ancestors.
We invite delegates to walk with us, to listen deeply, and to witness the rising generation—who are leaders of today, tomorrow and the future. Always was, always will be.
Three Key Learnngs:
1. Cultural safety is central to youth wellbeing — It creates spaces where identity, truth, and healing are honoured.
2. Leadership is relational and ancestral — Guided by Elders and lived experience, it empowers youth to lead with presence.
3. Education systems must re-centre Indigenous knowledge — Restoring kinship-based learning and deep listening to youth voices.
Biography
Dr Akbar is a senior lecturer at the School of Public Health, specialising in advocacy, First Nations and Public Health within medical education training. Dr Akbar is a Fellow of Higher Education and Associate Fellow for Health Education (Indigenous Knowledges) and brings over 30 years of experience in community development research with a focus on health inequity using community participatory action research and Indigenous methodologies to inform social policy change that translates to equitable health outcomes for First Nations, Māori and Pasifika and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities in Australia and internationally.
Jaelyn Biumaiwai
(Via video presentation)
Weaving Presence - Embodied Truth-Telling and Relational Accountability in Education and Wellbeing
Biography
Jaelyn Biumaiwai is a proud Mununjali and iTaukei Fijian woman, born and raised on Kombumerri country (Gold Coast, Australia). Jaelyn is a multifaceted creative, but is mostly known for her illustration work and business ‘Jae’s Illustrations’.
In the context of First Nations and Pasifika, Jae’s Illustrations focuses on representation, strengthening Cultural identity amongst diaspora communities and educating the wider community about our cultures, histories and stories.
Additionally, Jaelyn is a Cultural Tour Guide at Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre on the Gold Coast. Being able to educate everyone from local school kids to international tourists about Culture is something that brings Jaelyn great fulfilment.
Tahi Gray-Tuapawa
UQ & T Bladez
Weaving Presence - Embodied Truth-Telling and Relational Accountability in Education and Wellbeing
Biography
Mr. Tahi Gray-Tuapawa is a Senior Barber with over 10 years of experience, working at the intersection of self-image, identity, and community connection. Of Māori and Australian heritage, Tahi blends traditional barbering with therapeutic, culturally safe spaces for Māori and Pasifika communities across Australia and Aotearoa. As a peer researcher in the Feeding our Mana (Food Security in Māori and Pasifika Families in Australia) study, he contributed valuable insights into Indigenous strength and struggle. Tahi is passionate about cultural wellbeing and is honoured to participate in the Indigenous Wellbeing Conference, supporting conversations that uplift Indigenous voices and promote community healing.
Kyle Ryan
Indigenous Educator | Cultural Strategist | Youth Empowerment Advocate
Inala Wangarra
Weaving Presence - Embodied Truth-Telling and Relational Accountability in Education and Wellbeing
Biography
Indigenous Educator | Cultural Strategist | Youth Empowerment Advocate
Kyle Ryan is a Yuggera Ugarapul man with ancestral ties to the Ipswich region and surrounding areas. As an Indigenous educator, cultural strategist, and systems thinker, Kyle brings a sharp, culturally grounded lens to youth empowerment, educational design, and institutional accountability.
Over the past decade, he has held key roles across health, community, and policy sectors — including Queensland Health, Mission Australia, and the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA). He currently serves in a leadership capacity with Inala Wangarra, where he continues to shape culturally safe systems and mentor the next generation of First Nations leaders.
Kyle’s practice is guided by the principle of Ngara Wangarra — a Yuggera Ugarapul expression evoking the act of listening deeply to spirit and ancestors. It is this listening that informs his approach to cultural resurgence, youth development, and systemic change. Known for moving between grassroots spaces and institutional arenas, he challenges systems to reckon with deeper truths — without losing cultural humour, embodied clarity, or strategic calm.
Between the coffee, the newspaper, and the morning light, Kyle observes the world with quiet intensity — always attuned to the unseen scripts shaping today’s stories. Whether holding a yarn on the front porch or disrupting power in the boardroom, he embodies the belief that our young ones are not merely future leaders — they are reshaping today, right now.
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” — Frantz Fanon
