Julie Kantor:
The concept of giving started early for me. I was brought up in a family who gave a lot. Being around a very giving mother and grandmother, I thought giving was just something people did. My mother started a house for families with a member in Pentridge Prison, so their families had a place to come back too after a visit. My father came from war-torn Czechoslovakia and had witnessed so much suffering in WW2. Our house was always open to other migrants, even though it wasn’t big and my parents had six children.

Belinda Duarte:
For me giving is a currency and the currency I've been brought up with culturally as a First Nations woman is the practice of collective care. There are real historical implications for me as a First Nations woman working through what that means but I have been gifting my time for as long as I can remember. Some roles have been very structured, some very unstructured, but predominantly within First Nations communities and young people. More recently, I’ve been working with philanthropy to consider how to contribute to and invest in work for First Nations people. By giving back to my community I'm honoring my cultural responsibilities. I’m also recognising that I’ve been privileged with opportunities and walked through doors with people, like Julie, with capacity to influence in a whole other way that dissipates a power structure that has fundamentally excluded members of my family, my clan country, our countries for over 200 years. To be part of the solution to spearhead that decision-making and self-determined direction is an opportunity I take seriously. The power of women contributing to relationships, building trust in areas outside their standard sphere, is where I feel we've been able to influence transformational change in the philanthropic sector through Julie's leadership.

Belinda Duarte:
What's different about Julie is that she's very relationship based. That's what makes her unique and a trailblazer in her own right. Her decision to take a philanthropic trust and appoint First Nations people to determine its direction is the first of its kind in this country. The first of its kind globally from what we can see. That action sends a very powerful message back to the philanthropic and corporate sectors against the backdrop of historic systemic racism that has existed in this space. 

Julie Kantor:
It’s a difficult thing to talk about but I think we need to.  It goes to the heart of my desire for our foundation’s work with First Nations Peoples. Indigenous Peoples have so much to give but are severely limited by systemic racism and historic inequity. In our foundation, we all work together. My inspiration comes from my board, and I feel so privileged to have them because they've had the lived experience that I haven't. Obviously, we do considerable due diligence and research but I listen as carefully as I can when the board knows about areas we might be able to start something other organisations can join. It’s a lot to do with relationships.

Belinda Duarte:
This question challenges my very psyche because we do not come from an inherited wealth background and it’s a different way of giving that does not use that language. We are employed to be custodians of care of resources that we want to maximise. The areas of focus for us are country and culture, healing and wellbeing, and truth and justice. And in those three areas, how do we best influence change and put parameters around that? We do due diligence around our united values and what our best contribution can be to add value in these areas. Sometimes that means backing and trusting key leaders, key agents of change, who might be seen as risky or uncertain to the rest of the world. It's not a quick fixed turnaround that still occurs where people want to contribute to something that looks a bit sexy or is an immediate urgent contribution. We look to catalyze change longer term in spaces where in the world of philanthropy short-term investment might look like the thing to do. It's the long-term investment in change that's poignant right now and we've had to do the work as a team to reach this position.

Julie Kantor:
I actually don't think I'm driven to give, if anything, giving drives me. It gives me a return because I feel so privileged to be working with people who can teach me so much - people who have enriched my life so much.  I feel quite confident in the people we give to. We're a small organisation so we need to put a lot of thought into who we support and what might be able to leverage for more support. It is extremely gratifying to know that we are doing something that can hopefully make some difference to some people's lives. Lives which have been damaged or limited by this racist country we live in. Let's not forget to call racism out because since the referendum that word seems to have fallen out of people's conversation. I think we need to get back to making sure people rethink that whole result.

Belinda Duarte:
I think Julie's leadership is different from the standard approach in the philanthropic world. Her intent, her curiosity, her patience and her care are outstanding. As far as personal attributes that come to the table for us as mob, it is the matriarchal structure of leadership and the role of our women that is really significant in so many communities. Julie also had that matriarchal leadership in her family, which was very progressive at the time.

Generally, in First Nations communities we are used to seeing the extreme power imbalance where decision-making processes are often taken away from us. There is expectation to do certain things in order and achieve performance with no knowledge of the needs and capacity required to deliver and achieve certain impacts. There are many examples in First Nations communities that I've experienced myself where you are required to teach as well as do what you are specialists in. We are happy to contribute. We can see and understand there are complex needs but it’s a colonial burden that is often not carried by other causes. And there is the extreme racism and discrimination and inequities that have occurred around that giving historically. In First Nations communities, there is around 2% giving back. Of that 2%, the amount gifted to First Nations led and determined structures is minuscule. The Annamila First Nations Foundation – through Julie's awareness, value set, deep curiosity and investment in being guided by a whole range of First Nations voices to inform and support the work – is unique from a philanthropic perspective.

The historic power dynamic is also important to recognise when we talk about women. Once women make their mind up, the ‘how’ is often about dispersing power and trusting other people to make the change happen rather than it being about them as the transformational agent. There is a collective connection piece that I've loved witnessing in women, and in men, but more so in women where it’s much more prevalent than the historic leadership styles in philanthropy. 

Julie Kantor:
It was a dream for me and then I had to learn how to live the dream. Belinda was the first board member, so we've grown through this process of building Annamila together. We are focused on getting it to be as effective as we can. That comes through the relationships we have developed across the country. We have all learned so much.

Belinda Duarte:
There's nothing more powerful than being authentically what you want to see in your world. We're not super got-it-all-together but we're doing well in how we've evolved and the foundations we've put in place. The sector cannot be what they cannot see. What Annamila has done is seeded some contributions back into the space. It’s about the relationships Julie has influenced, where people have recruited to their board, who they've recruited, how their thoughts around other emerging organisations have changed. We are playing a role in seeding and showing one particular way of considering your role within philanthropy. I get excited about the legacy piece. We owe it to our young people to provide them with a connection to the space and shape it for the better good. At times in philanthropy there is shame about not knowing where to begin, how to contribute or how to do this. Or they've done things the same way for so long they don't consider making changes when they need to. What Julie models is how to be open to possibilities, how to do things differently and not be front and center.

Julie Kantor:
We are a small foundation, but we can do a lot with the partnerships we have formed. We have a CEO now and an entity that allows others to come in and flourish. My ambition is for The Annamila First Nations Foundation to carry on its work in perpetuity. We are working towards that and I am sure it will happen.

Belinda Durante:
We have also made really considered investments in what we see could be a key contribution to any sector. For example, backing the Ebony Institute in their Truth Justice and Healing Project. I’m really proud of these investments that have supported a piece of work whose findings have been used to inform truth telling across many forums including the European Commission. Work that will inform what needs to be done in this space to prepare the country and local communities on how to actually get ready and to do the right work to actually truth tell. It requires a level of bravery to back those key agents of change. And that's because of the trusted relationships either through the board, through the Annamila First Nations community of family and then how we've invested in that.

Have we been good custodians? That's the question I see in Julie's eyes when she's considered the direction of Annamila and its contributions to this space. It’s not egotistical or arrogant. The custodial values are anchored in care and asking, ‘Am I contributing my assets?’ I've used my gifts in the best way possible to nourish and create positive change and impact in a community. That is the point of difference. Sometimes the grand gesture that doesn't look like a grand gesture is the seed of change that we won't see until those that come after us. When the new custodians of Annamila First Nations Foundation will witness the trees that we've planted.