Keynote Speaker 2: Andrew Dowding & Steve DeRoy

Speakers for this event

• Andrew Dowding

  Andrew Dowding

  Managing Director, Winyama

  Andrew is the Managing Director of Winyama. Andrew’s role is to manage and guide Winyama, create opportunities for the team to grow into their roles and most importantly to generate work for the organisation to be sustainable. Andrew is from the Ngarluma traditional owner group and grew up between Perth, Sydney, and the Pilbara.  Andrew has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney majoring in both Anthropology and History, and is a current PhD candidate in Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne. Andrew has lived and worked in a range of places from Perth, Broome, Arnhem Land, Los Angeles, Sydney, New Delhi and Roebourne. Each of these places has influenced the skills and experience that he brings to his current role. Andew’s major professional roles have been in the fields of Native Title, ethnographic heritage survey and more recently in Indigenous mapping.  Andrew’s passion is Indigenous mapping and the use of technology for cultural safeguarding. He co-founded Winyama in 2018 to provide more opportunity for Indigenous people to work in the geospatial industry and within the broader digital economy.

  Managing Director, Winyama

• Steve DeRoy

  Steve DeRoy

  Director, Firelight

  Steve is from the buffalo clan, is Anishinaabe/Saulteaux and a member of the Ebb and Flow First Nation from Manitoba. He is the co-founder, director and past president of the Firelight Group. Steve founded the annual Indigenous Mapping Workshop. Steve is an award-winning Anishinaabe professional and entrepreneur with expertise in mapping and geographic information sciences, business development, natural resources management, and project management. He has applied his expertise to lead traditional knowledge and use studies for numerous Indigenous groups affected by large-scale energy developments. Since 1998, Steve has mentored Indigenous practitioners, conducted risk assessments, built decision-support systems and monitoring tools, supported land claims, developed best practices, established consultation processes, facilitated community engagement and planning approaches, and supported negotiations between Indigenous communities, governments and industries. Steve is an international speaker and has presented at numerous conferences, university lectures and events.

  Director, Firelight