In this presentation I reflect upon myexperiences of being an Australian Indigenous, disabled and, yes, a woman, who leadsa major research project in higher education. More specifically, I will speakof how I navigate the university landscape that largely remains under theleadership of men, the able-bodied and those who are affiliated with thedominant culture. While Indigenous women are increasingly achieving leadershiproles in higher education, they are hindered in their undertakings by barrierssuch as racism and sexism, and for me and many others, ableism. This complex entanglementof identities too often results in multiple sites of exclusion, disempowermentand invisibility. However, such identities can also be sites of opportunity,strength and resistance.

For generations colonisation has enacted aprocess of disempowerment for Indigenous women. It is essential to understandthat my Aboriginality comes first and impacts all that I do. A culturallyresponsive model of leadership goes beyond being a position or a person.Instead, it involves responsibility and respect in both directions—from theyounger to the older and the older to the younger. It is about deep listening,recognizing difference and lived experience, and working from where people areat—not where you would want them to be. It is, undoubtedly, also a genderedpractice. Culture also frames disability as a strength and not a deficit. Cultureis a way of reclaiming power; about disrupting racialized deficit narratives; resistanceand, pushing back against the colonial load. Finally, using the framework ofintersectionality reveals both the barriers and opportunities of belonging tomultiple categories of inequity and ways in which to work across borders ofdifference.