Deb Barwick is a proud Gamilaroi Yinaar (woman) and CEO of the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce Inc. Deb is also a national and international award-winning entrepreneur and business owner who believes the Aboriginal people themselves are the solution to social and economic parity and that enabling Aboriginal leadership regionally, nationally, and globally is a strategic and wise investment towards a stronger Australian economy and nation.

Deb’s many professional achievements include:

Establishing Australia’s first Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in 2006 and leading the national network of Indigenous Chambers of Commerce to establish a peak national Chamber in 2015 to unite the voice of Indigenous business nationally and to represent in global markets. Today, the national network of Indigenous Chambers of Commerce represents thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses supplying across industries and sectors to local, state, national and internal supply chain.

Deb received the NSW Premiers Award for Excellence recognising the impact of her work since 1999 in supporting the establishment and growth of Indigenous owned businesses in NSW and for advocating their inclusion in government and industry supply chains. Today she is a highly sought after procurement advisor and strategist in the development and implementation of social procurement policy working with both sides of the supply chain for sustainable engagement and best practice.

Deb’s accomplishments are complemented by her many successes and achievements as a business owner. Her company Winya Indigenous Furniture, established in 2016, has won multiple local, state and national awards in Australia including the overall business of the year award by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Management and in 2018, became the first and only Australian company to win a United Nations Sustainability Goals Award.