Our story
History
‘Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong’ is the first First Nation Community-Led Philanthropic Fund to be established that exclusively focuses on Victoria. Named for country by prominent Wurundjeri Elder, Aunty Diane Kerr, Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong means “to give jointly, to share together” in Woiwurrung language.
It's officially launched on March 1st 2019 at Bunjilaka, Melbourne Museum and then commenced granting through its established networks with Woor-Dungin and the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership from April onwards. It operates as a sub-fund within the Australian Communities Foundation.
The history of its formation is very interesting. A sub fund of Australian Communities Foundation called ‘Towards a Just Society’ had for 14 years supported First Nation people and communities in Victoria via its grant-making. Their members decided to transition the fund into Indigenous control and over the last two years engaged in a thoughtful and respectful transfer process to achieve this goal.
Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong will honour the legacy of "Towards A Just Society" and their belief in First Nation agency by evolving its own distinctive Indigenous grant-making vision and practice, based around traditional cultural values and the principle of self-determination.
The hope is that Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong goes from strength to strength and achieves a prominent profile as a game-changing player in the Victorian Indigenous philanthropic context.
A Culture of Giving
In a sense, it can be said that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the First Philanthropists. Our way has always been to share resources amongst our mobs. Food and materials gathered every day were distributed amongst community according to need – no one was left wanting.
Everyone was fed. Our backgrounds, too, as First Nations’ Peoples are ones based on love and caring. There was a place and role for everyone, a shared identity based on the interconnectedness of kinship and language. Our societies were relationship-based. Everyone had responsibilities to the mob.
Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong’s grant-making process seeks to reflect these traditional First Nations’ values and is focused on sharing, nurturing, reciprocity and relationships. We therefore understand the importance of working with grantees before, during and afterwards – we value the relationship, not just the project being completed. Our Executive Officer will visit individuals and communities for a yarn regarding proposals. There will always be someone for grant seekers to get help and mentoring from. We will provide feedback to all unsuccessful applicants immediately after every round of granting, and, where appropriate, encourage future submissions.
Because we understand the nature of community work, there will be flexibility around deadlines, (if needed), to take into account cultural and community issues that sometimes arise. As a lot of the challenges and opportunities for our mobs are known and shared, the conversations around granting can be more honest and based on trust. Also, because the communities we are investing in know us and we know them, there will be a mutual desire and commitment to success.