Emma Gibbens gets people involved and excited about issues they care about.
Emma grew up in in Alaska and Minnesota in the US. Most of her career has involved, as she describes it, “the trade of political campaigning or organising”. She campaigned for Barack Obama before migrating to Australia, where she worked on the state election and the fight for marriage equality in WA.
Now Emma works on the issue of reconciliation, supporting people to be agents of change in this space.
Together with Yamaji man Rhys Paddick, she co-facilitates ‘Acknowledge This’, a workshop on how to deliver an authentic Acknowledgement of Country. The training explores ways to bring Traditional cultural practices and modern culture together into a shared space.
“We have a really lovely balance of a white fella from the States – a migrant who’s had a six-year connection to this place – and then Rhys who has a 65,000-year connection to this place and still lives five kilometres from where he grew up.”
Acknowledge This is as much a conversation as it is a training session.
“The reason we call it a conversation is because we don’t hold the space as the experts. There are many voices that have expertise. Together we can discover what reconciliation means to us, and work in a direction – not necessarily towards a destination.”
Emma’s Acknowledgement of Country practice is driven by her innate curiosity and excitement as she seeks a respectful role in the culture of this country. It also shapes her personal reconciliation journey.
The greatest challenge, as Emma sees it, is how much courage this type of work requires.
“I know that someone somewhere will be offended by something I say,” she says. “I don’t proclaim to have the answers, but I do think the discussion is worth having. Courage can be defined as seeing or feeling fear and taking a step anyway. But of course those learning moments have discomfort.”
Emma draws inspiration from seeing the multi-coloured fabric of Australia reflected in each training session.
Fifty people come together every fortnight from different walks of life to expand their understanding of First Nations cultures – people from migrant backgrounds, people from the Stolen Generation who are rediscovering their culture, and those who may have just discovered their own Aboriginal heritage.
“I get so inspired holding space, and being able to sit in conversation with all Australians as we sort through what reconciliation means to us and how we can actively participate in, and shape it to make a more inclusive and loving world.”