Our Story
Dr Lilly Brown (Gumbaynggirr) and Genevieve Grieves (Worimi) were educators in the university sector for many years before they brought Shifting Ground to life.
Recognising the potential to deepen the impact of their teaching, they chose to channel their knowledge towards empowering organisations and individuals to rethink and strengthen their approaches to working with First Nations people, while also fostering ethical engagement and collaboration more broadly across all communities.
An Aboriginal-owned and women-led enterprise, Shifting Ground is designed to foster meaningful conversations that connect personal experience with systemic realities. We support organisations and individuals to engage with issues of culture and race by decolonising their consciousness, fostering the skills and understanding needed to begin the challenging conversations that are the seeds of systemic change.
Co-founder
Co-founder
Our Guiding Principles
Our approach is underpinned by core principles that guide our practice, the way we engage with each other and clients, and how we deliver our projects:
Self-determination, the right of First Nations people to determine First Nations futures
Connecting lived experience with systemic realities
The process is as important as the outcome
Ethical relationship building is action
When you build genuine, respectful relationships with First Peoples, it strengthens your capacity to engage well with all communities
our collective
Facilitator
Program Coordinator
General Manager
Program Manager
Facilitator
Facilitator
Workshop Support
Facilitator
Senior Program Manager and Facilitator
Facilitator
“Diversity Arts Australia is proud to work with and learn from Shifting Ground, a First Nations owned and led organisation driving genuine cultural change. Their expertise and guidance in decolonising practices and embedding cultural safety from a First Nations lens has been invaluable to our work. Through our longstanding collaboration on initiatives such as Fair Play, the Imagine Case Studies and the Creative Equity Toolkit, we’ve witnessed their deep integrity, vision, and commitment to equity. We’re honoured to continue learning and growing together.”
— Lena Nahlous
CEO & Executive Producer, Diversity Arts Australia