Joleen Ryan is a proud Gunditjmara woman with qualifications in social work and project management. She is currently a lecturer in social work at Deakin University. Prior to that she was a lecturer in Indigenous health in the school of medicine where she delivered education to allied health professionals about the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how to work with Aboriginal patients and community members in a culturally safe way, including Indigenous communication methods such as yarning. For this work, she was awarded the 2019 LIMElight Award for Excellence in the Development of New and Innovative Indigenous Health Curriculum.