Aunty Yvonne Kent Commemorative Portrait: Community program to honour legacy of Indigenous leader

Aunty Yvonne was a well-known Indigenous elder and leader for the cohesion and collaboration between the local First Nation people and the broader community.

She dedicated her life to serving her community in the areas of land rights, education and health, and was a founding member of Regional Unlimited, which was formed in Tamworth in January 2017.

Now, the board want to honour her legacy through a unique project called the Aunty Yvonne Kent Commemorative Portrait Leadership Development Program.

Regional Unlimited chair Deb Maes told the Leader the group felt they needed to highlight the model that Aunty Yvonne set for the community.

"She was a very loud advocate of 'we are one' and the way she modelled herself in the community impacted many leaders," she said.

"In a way, we hope to carry forward her work.

"If people can know that she did this work and impacted many of our leaders in the community in the way that she has, that's a wonderful example for us."

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The project will connect with the community through painting and speaking events and culminate with the gifting of a portrait of Aunty Yvonne to Tamworth Regional Council, to install in a prominent place.

The program is designed to foster leadership by bringing people across the community together to organise the painting and speaking event.

This week council deferred a decision to support the project with a $25,000 donation until a workshop is held to find out more information.

But Ms Maes said she supported the decision, because the project is completely new to the council, and includes many different aspects.

She said she was particularly touched by councillor Marc Sutherland's comments about how much the project means to the local Indigenous community and Aunty Yvonne's family.

The first planning event is this Saturday, at the Tamworth Hotel from 1pm to 3pm.

Community members are invited to attend to discover how they can become involved with the project.

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