31. EMELDA DAVIS

In this podcast episode of the "Courage to Lead" interview series, I interview one of my favourite guests so far, a truly beautiful human being, Emelda Davis, a councillor on the City of Sydney Council who is deputy to Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney in a myriad of important areas. We laugh and we cry and we are exposed to some of the best leadership wisdom on the program so far. We discuss Emelda's background as as a proud Australian South Sea Islander and survivor of trauma of the “Black-birding” trade that occurred in Australia history that not many Australians know anything about. We then discuss Emelda’s leadership experiences, and challenges she faces in her role. Emelda shares her heritage and reflects on the challenges of transitioning from grassroots community advocacy for the Australia South Sea Islanders to council work. We also discuss Imelda's experiences as an activist, her work in community engagement, her involvement in the film industry, her role as a single mother, and her advocacy for climate change and indigenous voices. Throughout the interview, Imelda emphasises the importance of inclusivity, kindness, and building strong relationships within communities. My Favourite Emelda quote is: "wherever I am in the world or working, I've always tried to provide a pathway for those that wouldn't necessarily have that opportunity because I know someone did that for me and that's my grounding in everything I do." At the end of the interview I highlight some further leadership wisdom shared by Emelda Work with the positive and step around the negative. It’s about listening, work with your agreed vision, respect the process and empower voices. We don’t have to like each other, you go home and I go home to separate houses but we do have to get on with it.