About Us

In November 2020, Politics in Colour launched as Australia’s first - and only - Political Leadership Incubator (PLI) dedicated to advancing cultural diversity in political leadership. 

Created in direct response to the deep institutional racism shaped by 70 years of the White Australia Policy (1901–1970s), our mandate has remained unwavering: to confront racism in politics and amplify the leadership of First Nations and culturally diverse communities.

By early 2021, we delivered Australia’s first specialised Political Candidate Training program for Women of Colour - empowering aspiring leaders with First Nations and multicultural heritage to run for office with confidence, capability and community support. This pioneering work has inspired thousands of Women of Colour nationwide to consider, prepare for and pursue elected leadership.

Our impact has reached global audiences in 10 countries, and in 2022, the Apolitical Foundation—an international democracy think tank—recognised Politics in Colour as one of the top 28 Political Leadership Incubators in the world.

To date, we have directly supported more than 100 Women of Colour and 50 First Nations women on their political journeys. Participants represent a wide spectrum of cultural and faith backgrounds, including Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Australian South Sea Islander, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Turkish, Pakistani, Assyrian, Malaysian, West Indian and African heritage - across Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish and Christian communities.

 Foundation Director

Kat Henaway was born and raised in Indigenous communities across Cairns, Tully and Ayr in Far North Queensland, and is a proud descendant of the Mer and Mua peoples of the Torres Strait Islands. With more than 30 years of professional experience, she has worked across multinational corporations, government agencies and leading universities in Sydney, London and Edinburgh.

From 2009 to 2014, Kat worked at the City of Sydney within the Office of Independent Councillors and across broader Council business. Today, she is an Indigenous entrepreneur specialising in Indigenous business development, investment readiness and impact-led enterprise growth. As a Learning Designer, Kat has created and delivered some of Australia’s most innovative leadership programs, including the nation’s first Political Leadership Incubator for Women of Colour, funded by Pathways to Politics for Women.

Kat has a long-standing record of community service. She volunteered with UN Women in 2014, served on the board of Women for Election (2019–2020) and currently sits on the boards of Bankstown Women’s Health Centre and the Indigenous Peoples Organisation Australia. She is also an Indigenous Advisor to Women & Leadership Australia and Generation Women.

Director & Advisor

Marie Barbaric is a proud Dunghutti and Gamilaroi woman and CEO of Koori Kulcha Experience, which provides catering, cross-cultural training, team building workshops and tourism. She is a Director of Illawarra Wingecarribee Aboriginal Alliance; a Director of Hume Coal Charity; and lead negotiator for OCHRE , the community focused plan of the NSW Government. 

Marie is also Director of Women's Business and has completed political training with Women for Election Australia and Pathways to Politics Program for Women at UNSW.

CFO

Raghu is an experienced CFO and Strategy executive with more than 20 years experience. His career has spanned large companies like Accenture, GE and Westpac and was recently working at an Indigenous Investment Bank (Iba.gov.au). Most recently he is focused on start-ups and scale-ups in the fin-tech and med-tech space, such as X15 and Trimph. His passion with Politics in Colour is to encourage minority groups to participate in the political process.