When Russell stepped into her first CEO role at Supply Nation, she had just had a baby and hadn’t worked full-time for several years due to caregiving responsibilities.

This, however, didn’t stop the organisation’s board from recognising Russell’s leadership potential. In July 2023, she was appointed to the top job at Australia’s leader in supplier diversity.

“They said to me that they wanted to be a modern organisation, and that if I was successful [in the recruitment process], they’d work with me to make sure I could be a successful CEO and the kind of parent and partner that I wanted to be,” Russell tells Women’s Agenda.

“[Supply Nation] said to me that they wanted to be a modern organisation, and that if I was successful [in the recruitment process], they’d work with me to make sure I could be a successful CEO and the kind of parent and partner that I wanted to be." — Kate Russell, CEO, Supply Nation

“Sadly, that left me gobsmacked,” she says, noting that many capable women are too often turned down for even more junior positions due to a reluctance for organisations to adopt flexible work practices.

The fact that this national organisation was talking to Russell about flexible work and allowing her to work part-time as a CEO signalled to her that their values were in alignment with the inclusive practices that she’d long advocated for in her career.

“I've seen both from my own experience and with my network of personal and professional friendships, what flexibility and parental leave can do to someone's career,” says Russell.

Intersectional inclusion

A proud Awabakal woman from Lake Macquarie, Russell has extensive experience across public and community sectors, driven by a desire to promote opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through an intersectional lens.

She has held senior roles at the Department of Planning and Environment, has worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Sydney and Canberra and for the Catalan Department of Education in Spain. She’s also currently the Chair of the Diversity Council Australia’s Indigenous External Advisory and a Director of the Committee for Sydney.

As CEO of Supply Nation, Russell is leading a not-for-profit team of about 60 people nationally.

Supporting a vibrant and sustainable Indigenous business sector, Supply Nation manages Australia’s largest directory of verified Indigenous businesses. The organisation then facilitates connections between these businesses and their corporate and government members to help deliver positive social outcomes.

Now in its 16th year, Supply Nation is all about long-term relationships, with Russell putting it in layman's terms: “I often say we want to be matchmakers, for long-lasting supplier relationships.”

Russell was initially attracted to Supply Nation because of the potential impact she knew she could have at the organisation.

“We are supporting our Indigenous business sector, but it's not just about businesses. It's about economic empowerment, it's self determination, and it's closing the gap through those opportunities,” says Russell, adding that every contact or connection they make can have a big ripple effect.

“We are supporting our Indigenous business sector, but it's not just about businesses. It's about economic empowerment, it's self determination, and it's closing the gap through those opportunities." — Kate Russell, CEO, Supply Nation

“We're not just supporting entrepreneurs, but we are supporting their families, their communities and the generations that are going to come.”

Advancing the conversation

Diversity and inclusion, particularly with an intersectional lens, has always been a driving passion in Russell’s career and personal life. She’s seen firsthand how talent and potential can exist everywhere, and yet not always receive fair opportunity.

Early on in her own executive career, Russell was once pushed towards taking an Aboriginal leadership course, which she quickly realised was due to an assumption that people were making about her professional development needs purely because she is Indigenous.

“At that point in time, I was working in a male-dominated field, so my gender was probably more of an impact on how I was feeling in my career prospects than my Indigeneity,” says Russell, noting that it was interesting how easy it can be for people to slip into a one dimensional perspective.

While she says Australia has made progress in many different ways, there’s still a lot of work to be done in terms of recognising “where the intersection meets”.

For example, when talking about pay disparity, Russell points out that women don’t earn as much as men, but the discrepancy is even greater for women of colour, which is an important part of the overall issue.

The 30% average pay gap across workplaces identified in the latest report, from Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) and the Centre for Indigenous People and Work (CIPW), stretches to nearly 40% for First Nations women.

“We need to start having those more advanced conversations if we're actually going to continue to progress,” Russell says.

While her own leadership journey hasn’t been without challenge, Russell says it’s been especially noticeable the many women leaders who’ve stepped in to “nurture” and “care” for her along the way.

It’s this generosity that’s inspired her to continuously pay it forward and “give other people that same opportunity”. 

“Aboriginal women have been leading and caring for communities for over 60,000 years.”

“I’ve learned so much from our elders, but I'd also recommend that anyone consider what they can learn from the oldest continuing culture on earth,” Russell says, adding that “anyone can make a difference.”

“Aboriginal women have been leading and caring for communities for over 60,000 years. I’ve learned so much from our elders, but I'd also recommend that anyone consider what they can learn from the oldest continuing culture on earth." — Kate Russell, CEO, Supply Nation

“It really depends on your framing of impact. Sometimes it can be the little acts that can cause a huge ripple effect.”

This article was written in partnership with and originally published by Women's Agenda.