What It Means to Be Part of Gilibanga
Gilibanga is more than a Network: it is a collective movement of Blak evaluators, thinkers, leaders and changemakers who are shaping the future of evaluation in Australia.
Together, we are co-creating a space of light within the evaluation sector by amplifying First Nations voices, strengthening culturally grounded practice, and driving systemic change for positive impact. We honour Indigenous worldviews, knowledge systems and ways of knowing, being and doing, ensuring they are visible, valued and embedded within evaluation practice.
Being part of Gilibanga means belonging to a connected community built on kinship, reciprocity and cultural responsibility. It means contributing to a growing movement that shares knowledge, supports one another, and creates opportunities for mob to lead. Our strength comes from the collective wisdom, lived experience and innovation that exists across our Network.
As we grow, we remain committed to creating meaningful relationships, nurturing leadership and supporting members to develop and share their own culturally grounded methodologies, tools, workshops and approaches. Every member who steps forward strengthens not only their own practice, but the broader visibility, legitimacy and future of Blak-led evaluation.
Together, we are amplifying voices, building confidence and disrupting systems to create lasting change.
How We Support Our Members
Many of our members are already developing frameworks, methodologies, workshops and approaches grounded in Country, community and culture. Our role is to help create the conditions for this work to grow and thrive.
As a member, you gain access to opportunities for learning, professional development, mentoring and connection. We are committed to increasing the confidence, capability and visibility of First Nations evaluators, creating pathways for mob to strengthen their practice and step into leadership across the sector.
Your voice, knowledge and lived experience matter. Through Gilibanga, members contribute to shaping how Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing are understood, valued and embedded within evaluation practice. By bringing our collective wisdom together, we ensure that community perspectives remain at the centre of this work and that the future of evaluation is informed by First Nations leadership.
First Nations peoples have been among the most researched, measured and evaluated peoples in the world, often through systems that have not accurately reflected our strengths, aspirations, cultures or definitions of success. Too often, data has been collected about us rather than with us, producing narratives that can reinforce deficit perspectives and influence decisions that impact our communities without our voices being at the centre.
When evaluation is not culturally safe, it can do more than misrepresent our experiences, it can shape policies, funding decisions and programs in ways that fail to meet the needs and aspirations of our communities. Creating culturally safe evaluation practice means ensuring First Nations peoples have authority in how stories are gathered, interpreted and shared, and that our knowledge systems, values and ways of knowing are respected throughout the process.
Yet our peoples have always held sophisticated ways of observing, reflecting, learning and adapting for future generations. Long before evaluation became a profession, our communities were assessing what was working, maintaining accountability to culture, Country and community, and sharing knowledge across generations.
Gilibanga exists to elevate these strengths and create space for First Nations-led approaches to be recognised, valued and embedded across the evaluation sector. By supporting our members to develop, lead and share their own methodologies, tools and practices, we are helping to redefine what good evaluation looks like. When our members succeed, the ripple effect extends far beyond individuals, strengthening communities, influencing systems and creating lasting change.
