After four years leading SharingStories Foundation, Pitta Pitta woman and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Williams has stepped down on 29 October, ahead of her planned retirement on 4 December. Creative Director, Georgia Boe succeeds her as SharingStories’ incoming CEO.
“It has been an extraordinary honour to walk alongside Traditional Custodians, Elders, communities and our dedicated team to protect, maintain and celebrate First Nations languages, stories and cultural heritage across the continent.” – Sharon Williams.
Sharon joined SharingStories in 2021 as Head of Education, became Co-CEO in 2022 and CEO in 2024. During her time, SharingStories expanded to work with 47 First Nations community partners across the continent, centring First Nations leadership. She led major work in education and curriculum, including the development and launch of Jajoo Warrngara: The Culture Classroom, and oversaw a major financial review, a new business plan and delegation frameworks. She also strengthened SharingStories strategic corporate partnership with Deloitte Australia.
“Sharon’s leadership has left an extraordinary mark on SharingStories Foundation and the communities we serve. Through her unwavering commitment to Indigenous storytelling, arts and education, she has helped create opportunities for young people, strengthened community voices, and grown the organisation’s impact and reputation nationally. On behalf of the Board, I thank Sharon for her vision, passion and dedication, and wish her every success in this next chapter.
We are also delighted to welcome Georgia Boe as CEO.
Georgia brings a wonderful blend of cultural leadership, strategic expertise and international arts experience to SharingStories, having worked with artists and organisations across some of the nation’s and the world’s leading cultural institutions and platforms. We look forward to working with Georgia as she builds on the strong foundations and legacy Sharon leaves behind, leading SharingStories into an exciting new era where we continue collaborating with communities across the continent to protect, maintain and grow languages, stories and cultural heritage.” – Shane Boseley, Gunnai man and SharingStories Foundation Board Director
Incoming CEO Georgia Boe, of Butchulla/Badtjala and Burmese heritage, joined SharingStories at the start of 2025 as Project Manager and became Creative Director in mid-2025.
“I am honoured to be appointed CEO of SharingStories Foundation at this moment of possibility and growth. I thank Sharon Williams, our outgoing CEO, whose leadership, support, care and commitment have shaped the organisation and provided a strong foundation for this next chapter. Next year, 2027, will be our fifteenth year of operation. It is a privilege to lead the organisation, continue our work and consider the next fifteen years of impact we can co-create.
What matters to me is the way SharingStories brings community, stories, language and cultural knowledges into a space where culture can be shared and made visible. Our work begins by listening: to communities, Custodians, staff, partners and the knowledge held across generations. I look forward to working with all of our communities and partners to strengthen our work and support meaningful collaboration, shaping how First Nations stories and languages are recorded, protected, shared and understood as contemporary, living forms of art and culture.”- Georgia Boe
As we approach our fifteenth year in 2027, we have many incredible projects and stories to share, and a major exhibition is planned at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. The exhibition celebrates fifteen years of community practice, including storytelling, the development and revitalisation of First Nations languages, and the impact of community practice on longer-term outcomes with our community partners. One of the major works to be shown next year, with its public release and premiere, is Singing the Spirit Home, a book and film production with the Wägilak community. Drawing on footage and teachings on Country recorded as far back as 2006, this language-rich work records the journey of Gandjalala, the Sugarbag Hunter, on Country, as shared by Senior Wägilak Cultural Custodian, the late Roy Wunyumbi.
Together, these projects celebrate our long-standing heritage of community practice and our work in sharing and recording the stories and teachings of a single community. They are part of our broader work in this space, and of the ways we connect that work to wider wellbeing for our community partners and for First Nations and non-First Nations community members, through connection to Country. We thank Sharon for her care, commitment and vision, and look forward to continuing our mission of strong, connected First Nations young people and communities working together with all Australians to care for culture and Country.