Amy Thunig (B.Arts, M.Tch) is a Gamilaroi yinarr (woman) who resides on the unceded lands of the Awabakal people. An academic and PhD candidate, Amy researches the intersection of Indigenous knowledges, sovereignty, and formal education systems. Her thesis ‘Sovereign women: why academia?’ utilises Indigenous research methodologies to record and analyse the choices, motivations, and experiences of First Nations women academics in so-called Australia, centring participant sovereignty and voice. Amy’s focus on disrupting colonial systems and disseminating research widely and accessibly has seen her engage extensively with mainstream traditional and new media, as well as being invited to deliver her 2019 TEDx talk ‘Disruption is not a dirty word’. Her focus on creating accessible pathways for knowledge exchanges has seen her recognised as Emerging Female Leader in the Public Sector at the 2019 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards, and be honoured as an Emerging Leader by Future Women for International Women’s Day in 2020. Amy is also the host and founder the community-focused project ‘Blacademia: a podcast of yarns with First Nations academics’.