Winter mornings in Canberra can be tough. The alarm goes and you stumble through breakfast in the half-dark, then wipe the ice off the car so you can drop off the kids and head to work.

Everyone has their own reason to get up in the morning, but for me, during NAIDOC Week – and every other week of the year, but particularly this week  – it’s hope.

Reconciliation means a lot of things to a lot of people and while we can rightly celebrate the development of nationwide momentum in the spirit of reconciliation; the practice of reconciliation still has far to go.

For Indigenous people like me, we can hope for a narrowing of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We can hope to live longer than our parents, but probably not as long as our non-Indigenous neighbours.  Same for my expectations of health, wealth and opportunities – things are a little better.

The panoply of issues that confront Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across the nation have confounded many, but I get up in the morning because my organisation, the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, has one part of the answer.

We transform the lives of Indigenous people from across Australia by providing tailored, accredited leadership training programs – giving them not only a recognised qualification, but also a kitbag of skills and ideas to become the best people they can be. We deliver courses to emerging Indigenous leaders across the country – and our graduates take the lessons learned back to benefit their communities.

In 10 years as Australia’s only national provider of accredited Indigenous leadership training, we’ve changed the lives of more than 800 people who have graduated from AILC programs. Unfortunately, we have also had to knock back outstanding enrolment applications from thousands more, because of a lack of funding.

Australia’s major corporations have recognised the value of our programs and we now have the Telstra Foundation and Rio Tinto as partners, with valuable support also from Westpac and Virgin Blue. The Federal Government have also recognised leadership as one of the key pillars to driving positive change in Indigenous communities – and our challenge is now to convert the goodwill of mainstream Australians into financial support for our programs.

Some graduates have changed communities, some have helped families, some have simply been able to change jobs – but their common experience of empowerment and development is inspiring. Giving all Australians the chance to be the best they can be will benefit the whole nation. That’s what will keep getting me up, morning after morning. If you have time tomorrow morning, spare a thought for the people who we haven’t been able to train yet – and if you are able join our efforts by donating at www.indigenousleadership.org.au