In 2001, a 14-year-old boy walked into a stockbroker’s office in Wagga Wagga. With his earnings from a part-time job at KFC, he sat down and asked where the best place to invest his money was. The broker looked at him, laughed, and said, “Come back when you have more money”. Today, Adam Davids, Managing Director of First Nations Equity Partners, reflects on that moment and highlights how a career in finance can drive personal growth and enhance representation and equity for First Nations people in corporate Australia.

Raised in the country town of Wagga, nestled between Sydney and Melbourne, proud Wiradjuri descendant Adam Davids explained that the town was home to many successful athletes.

“If you were going to bring prosperity back to the community, it was going to be a gold medal in the Olympics. People like Cathy Freeman and Kyle Vander-Kuyp were our role models,” Davids said.

“I think to a large degree, that was mainly what we were encouraged to do.”

Reflecting on his family’s move to Wagga, Davids said it feels surreal when he thinks back.

“When we moved, my family—my stepbrothers, my brother, and my mum—we visited the presidents of all the local rugby league clubs to decide where we’d play footy,” he said.

“I remember meeting one of the club presidents at his shop. He was eager for us to join and pointed to a brand new barbecue and power tools, saying we could have them if we all played for the Wagga magpies. Coming from a humble background, that felt like a big deal.”

At the time, young Davids thought it was ‘cool’. However, he later realised the impact of the stereotype that Blak kids are good at sports.

“What that really was, was someone in the community providing outreach to cultivate talent, develop it and mutually benefit from it. Later in life I realised that we need to see this kind of outreach in other areas outside of sports,” he said.

Despite his family’s enthusiasm for footy, it wasn’t until it seemed like the only avenue to pursue that he realised there was a problem.

“On the other hand, the meeting with the stockbroker couldn’t have been more different. I wanted to start saving for my future, and at the time, I thought it would be around $500. The stockbroker explained he only invested hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time and laughed me out of the door,” he explained.

“The reason I bring this up is that it was a very different experience compared to all the presidents of the football clubs wanting us to play for them.”

Community connection

Alongside his surroundings in sports, community impact was a significant part of Davids’ childhood.

“My mum was deeply engaged in community organisations, supporting women experiencing domestic violence. After school, I’d do my homework there, surrounded by those staunch women in the not-for-profit sector. They became my role models, and that environment felt like a second home to me,” he explained.

With an entrepreneurial spirit, it was his mother, Lynda’s, guidance that inspired Davids to chart a different course. Speaking by telephone, Lynda shared that she recognised his potential early on.

“When Adam was about four years old, we went to the video shop to rent a movie for the weekend—back when VHS tapes were still a thing. While Danyal, his older brother, and I were searching up and down the aisles for the movie, Adam did something different,” she said.

“He didn’t bother looking around the shop. Instead, he went straight up to the lady at the counter and yelled, ‘Mum, the lady’s got it!’ Even then, he knew exactly where to go. That kid had a knack for getting straight to the point, and now, he’s gone places.”

While completing high school, Davids’ family relocated back to south west Sydney where he was born. Upon graduation, he started to contemplate his university options. Given his grades in business studies and a nudge from his teacher, a commerce degree seemed the obvious choice.

“For me, getting the chance to go to university was a journey in itself. After graduating and getting my HSC, I managed to get into a commerce degree at UNSW, thanks to university outreach programs. Typically, this degree required a 96 or higher ATAR, but I came out of Campbelltown High without the same proficiency in algebra and calculus as many of my peers at university,” he explained.

“The first couple of years were tough. I found myself sitting in a room with graduates from all the elite private schools—kids of billionaires—you can’t help but think, ‘Do I really belong here?’”

However, Davids wasn’t going to give up easily.

“My attitude and my commitment were going to make it work. I had to make it work,” he said.

As graduation approached, Adam was deciding on his career path.

“When I was about to graduate from university, the question was where to go as a commerce graduate from one of Australia’s top universities. The university advised working at a major bank or a professional services firm, which wasn’t really my passion,” he said.

“My family’s advice was just to take a job that pays the most money. So, I had to juggle both of those things and in the end, I did the opposite.”

‘A full-circle moment’

While studying full-time at university, Davids took on a casual role with the Kool Kidz Club, an organisation dedicated to early intervention and prevention for young people, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, in Sydney’s Maroubra and La Perouse regions.

“I don’t know. I guess that community kid came up in this. At the time I found myself gaining experience in business in the city and sitting in university classrooms with very accomplished people and I couldn’t ignore the need to lift up Mob in community,” Davids explained.

“It was a full-circle moment for me. Coming from where I did and getting ready to graduate from university, I was determined to play a role in making a difference. I’m glad I did because, when it came time to decide what to do as a graduate, I came across a new not-for-profit organisation called CareerTrackers.”

Davids explained that CareerTrackers had a bold vision for change—getting Indigenous Australians into the highest levels of leadership across various professions, like finance, law, engineering, and business.

“Choosing to join CareerTrackers was a no-brainer. Even though it didn’t offer the same financial perks as a graduate program with a government agency or a bank, it was one of the best decisions I made. It perfectly blended my early visions for Indigenous representation in the corporate sector,” he explained.

“So that’s what I did as a grad—I spent the next 10 years pioneering the organisation’s programs and strategies.

”What started with 18 Indigenous university students completing internships with nine employer partnerships grew into a program that has produced thousands of graduates. Some have even achieved the CFA, one of the highest qualifications in finance. Reflecting on this, I feel truly privileged to have been part of such impactful work.”

Through his involvement with the Kool Kidz Club, Davids became engaged with many of the program’s sponsors, including the Clovelly branch of Bendigo Bank.

“I got to know their branch manager and board well. When they went through a board change and sought to expand their member base, they invited me to apply for a board role. For a fresh university graduate, it was a significant and quick opportunity. I jumped at it, interviewed, and joined the bank board,” he explained.

Davids explained that the Bendigo Bank franchise model involves each branch having its own board of directors while maintaining a franchise agreement with the main office. Additionally, 50 per cent of the profits from each local branch are donated back to the community.

“What initially drew my interest was the opportunity to help ensure that programs like the Kool Kidz Club continued to receive essential funding,” Davids said.

“I started to blend my focus on this intersection: the alignment of community aspirations and the capability of companies to act on them.”

While serving on the board of the bank and working at CareerTrackers, Davids assisted a group of Māori and Pacific leaders in setting up a similar program for their communities which is now known as Tupu Toa. At the same time, he helped address the growing needs of asylum seekers and refugees for professional employment and re-settlement in Australia by helping to launch CareerSeekers.

Concerned that essential community programs might be short lived and face funding cuts, he applied for a Fulbright exchange program in the US.

The Fulbright program, now in its 75th year, is a bipartisan initiative focused on cultural exchange, global diplomacy, and building expertise to tackle ‘wicked problems’ around the world.

“And so, the big topic that emerged from that for me was being able to more clearly define the role of large corporations in promoting racial equity and the positive impact this can have in families and communities.”

Upon his return to Australia, Davids couldn’t see a clear standard for First Nations equity in the workplace.

“In the US, equity means representation in the boardroom, management teams, salary and wages and racially just business practices. In Australia, I saw organisations celebrated for being the largest employers of Aboriginal people without addressing the roles, seniority, or influence of those employees,” he said.

Seeking to establish standards, he developed a methodology to objectively rate and measure ASX 200 companies to determine how well they are progressing on key issues where Indigenous Australians have aspirations.

“My goal was to establish a framework to research these organisations, identify gaps, and find opportunities for these companies to be more measured, proactive, rigorous, and robust, rather than chasing after tokenistic gestures,” he said.

“The whole concept here is that the largest companies in Australia have a significant influence and responsibility to support social and environmental outcomes. They’ve shown interest in committing to net zero and reducing their carbon footprint, driven partly by investor pressure, but also because it’s the right thing to do and increasingly better for business.

ASX 200 companies include some of Australia’s most recognisable brands, such as Woolworths, Westpac, Qantas, Domino’s Pizza and Telstra. We depend on these companies for various products and services and those with a super fund also rely on their profitability to ensure a comfortable retirement.

“These companies also play a significant role in shaping Australia’s social and economic landscape,” Davids said.

“I believe they need to approach the way they employ people and do business with Indigenous Australians with the same strategic mindset as any other core business innovation. If they can do this successfully I believe we will have a more cohesive society and one that celebrates Indigenous excellence and brings mutual benefits to community and corporations.”

In 2022 First Nations Equity Partners was established to lead this work, by using research and actively engaging with investors and companies to influence change.

“I aim to bring capability to investors in a way that they have never had before and enable them to play a more proactive role to make a difference. Currently, there are few Indigenous Australians in the finance sector and many asset managers make uninformed decisions. I want to see super funds, asset managers and investors take a long-term view, identify leading companies and issues and work collaboratively and strategically towards those making an impact,’’ he explained.

Looking back at that 14-year-old boy who walked into the stockbroker’s office, Davids encourages the next generation to utilise higher education and follow their passion.

“An attitude of commitment to simply be effective and excel in whatever it is you’re passionate about will be paramount,” he said.

“Be the best person in your field, not just the best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, but master your craft and aim to be the most effective in the community.”