FPDN sets an example for the disability sector on how to work with First Nations peoples living with disability, their families and carers, and communities. We continue this into our internal approaches, and strive to set an example for each other, and the communities we represent every day based on our value system.
We take setting an example seriously and are guided by the following principles:
We are led by First Nations people with disability. We are guided and led by First Nations people with disability in formal ways including in our executive leadership and Board structures. We prioritise the recruitment of First Nations people with disability in leadership roles. We also create opportunities for the communities we serve to be heard and to guide our work and organisation. At the time of writing at least 70% of staff at FPDN are First Nations people with disability which makes us the largest single employer of First Nations people with disability in the country.
FPDN’s leaders model behaviour for us all. Leadership is important across and within FPDN. Every staff member has an individual responsibility to demonstrate leadership, and our Board, CEO and Executive model the FPDN way for us.
We set an example for all disability organisations and for those who seek to work with them.
We have a human rights-based approach that is centred on First Peoples’ experiences of disability, their strengths and determination. This starts from within our own organisation. The training and advice we provide for the broader disability sector is first modelled by us and how we conduct our own business.
We are all accountable to each other and the communities we serve.
We are accountable in all aspects of our work to First Peoples with disability and their families, our communities, and to the community generally. FPDN has an accountability framework (see 2.3.2 below) within which every member of staff and our board operate to ensure we always act to meet the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour.
We support each other to engage equitably. FPDN supports our staff and our communities to engage equitably in our work – this includes promoting accessibility requirements and reasonable adjustments.
We all accept responsibility for our actions. Mistakes are part of life and should be accepted and used as a way to learn and progress.
We learn from our mistakes.
Trust and respect are the basis for our working relationships. We acknowledge that making mistakes is part of being human and is how we learn and progress. We do not make excuses or blame others.
We work together to find innovative solutions. Collaboration is core to First Nations ways of working together. We work together to identify gaps and problems and find innovative ways to solve or address them.
We listen to each other deeply.
We use traditional deep listening techniques to stop and genuinely hear each other in our workplace and the communities we serve. We honour each other’s commitment to our collective work by this deep listening and by recognising each other’s commitment to what we do and why.
Meet the visionary leaders and founders of FPDN—First Peoples with lived experience of disability who have shaped our mission, values, and advocacy from the very beginning.
