Speakers

Dr Samantha Cooms is a Noonuccal Quandamooka woman and Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland Business School. Her research focuses on Indigenous leadership, cultural responsiveness, and the role of Indigenous knowledges in shaping more equitable and culturally safe systems, particularly within the disability sector. Samantha’s work centres Indigenous ontologies and relational approaches to leadership, challenging deficit-based models and advancing strengths-based, community-led perspectives. She has extensive experience working across academia, government, and community sectors, and is committed to research that delivers meaningful outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.