When Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative – one of the largest Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations in Victoria – sought to define its next phase of growth, it partnered with CoLab Strategy to develop a clear, four-year strategic direction.
Working closely with the Board, CEO and Executive team, we clarified long-term priorities, aligned leadership around key strategic choices, and translated ambition into a clear and actionable strategy to guide decision-making and delivery.
Photo above: Jakara Hansen participating in Rumbalara’s NAIDOC Week Family Day (2026). Photo courtesy of Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative. Published with parental permission.
The Ask
Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative (Rumbalara) is one of the most significant Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations in Victoria – a trusted gathering place, employer, and service provider for Aboriginal people across Yorta Yorta Country. Born from the courage of Elders who walked off Cummeragunja Mission, Rumbalara has grown over more than five decades into a multi-service organisation employing more than 300 staff and supporting thousands of community members across the whole of life – from early years through to Elder care.
As Rumbalara approached an important milestone in its history, the Board, CEO and Executive team sought to set a clear, four-year strategic direction that would build on its proud legacy, respond to the contemporary needs of community, and prepare the organisation to play a leadership role as Treaty unfolds in Victoria.
The Board, CEOand Executive team engaged CoLab Strategy to design and facilitate a strategic planning process that would honour Rumbalara’s culture and community-controlled identity, surface the real strategic choices ahead, and deliver a plan that was both ambitious and grounded.
The Challenge: Building Shared Strategic Understanding
Like many Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations, Rumbalara was navigating a set of interconnected strategic contexts:
- a long history of growth, with services, programs, and partnerships expanding rapidly to meet community need
- the opportunity to bring services closer together so that families and community members experience a more connected, whole-of-life response
- a desire to build the financial strength and independence that gives the organisation real choice – beyond the constraints of program-by-program government funding
- an ambition to invest in its people, systems, and infrastructure to match the scale and complexity of what Rumbalara has become
- the need for a strategy that the Board, Executive team, staff and community could all see themselves in.
The organisation needed a strategy that was clear, owned by Board, CEO Executive team, staff and community, and capable of guiding both day-to-day decisions and long-term ambition.
Our Approach: Listening first, then leading together
CoLab Strategy partnered with Rumbalara through a process designed to centre community voice, build shared ownership, and translate insight into clear strategic direction.
1) Deep listening and understanding
We began with deep listening – working closely with the Board, CEO and Executive team to understand Rumbalara’s history, culture, strengths, and the strategic questions shaping its future. This was complemented by a review of existing information to ground the work in a clear understanding of context.
2) Bringing insights to life
We synthesised what we heard into a clear set of insights, highlighting key themes, opportunities and strategic provocations. This created a shared evidence base for the Board, CEO and Executive team to engage in focused, forward-looking discussions.
3) Aligning on strategic direction
Through a facilitated process, Elders, Board, CEO and the Executive team worked together to test and refine strategic priorities, build alignment around long-term direction, and define the outcomes the organisation is seeking to achieve.
4) Shaping a practical strategy
We worked with the CEO and Executive team to translate strategic priorities into a clear and actionable strategy – ensuring the final direction reflected Rumbalara’s voice, ambition and commitment to community.
“CoLab Strategy listened and heard our story. They kept us focused and on track. They helped us set ambitious yet achievable goals. They are professional and deliver on what they promise to deliver.”
— Felicia Dean, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative.
What We Delivered?
- an evidence-based summary of key risks, opportunities and strategic choices
- facilitation of strategy ideation workshops with the Board, CEO and Executive team
- a Balanced Scorecard and outcomes based implementation roadmap to guide delivery over the next four years
- a stronger evidence base and clearer narrative to support engagement with funders, partners and government
- a strategy that – in the words of the Chair – “belongs to all of us.”
The Outcome: A Unified Strategic Direction
As a result of the engagement, Rumbalara achieved:
- clear, forward-looking strategy document articulating Rumbalara’s long-term vision and direction
- stronger alignment between Board, CEO and Executive team, with a clear distinction between governance and operations
- a shared, practical understanding of how its strategic pillars translate into action
- defined priorities, ownership and milestones to support execution
- clear measures of success to track progress and demonstrate impact
- increased Board, CEO and Executive team confidence, alignment, and accountability in delivering the strategy.
“Our outcome was a unified Strategic Plan that is grounded in self-determination, embedding culture and identity across the service areas and is owned by everyone.”
— Felicia Dean, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative.
Why This Work Mattered?
Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations occupy a unique and vital place in Australia’s health and community services landscape. They are trusted by community because they are community – built by Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people, and accountable first and foremost to the people they serve.
Rumbalara has grown over more than five decades into one of the most significant of these organisations in Victoria. With that scale comes both the opportunity and the responsibility to deliver in ways that genuinely meet community need, sustain the organisation for generations to come, and continue to assert self-determination in a sector that often pulls in other directions.
This strategy is Rumbalara’s commitment to match the ambition of what it has become with the strength it needs to deepen and sustain its impact – to bring services closer together, invest in its people and systems, build financial independence, and continue to lead within its community and the broader sector.
For CoLab Strategy, it was a privilege to partner with Rumbalara in this work – to listen, to facilitate, and to support the organisation in shaping a plan that honours its past and points clearly toward its future.
Why This Matters for Organisations Like Yours?
Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations, not-for-profits and purpose-driven organisations often reach a moment where the scale of what they do has outpaced the systems, structures and strategy that hold them together. Growth, complexity and rising expectations from community, government and funders create real strategic choices – and those choices are best made with clarity, evidence and shared ownership.
This case study demonstrates how a culturally grounded, insights-led approach can help organisations:
- centre community voice and lived experience in strategic decision-making
- align Boards, leadership and staff around a clear, shared direction
- translate long-term ambition into practical, year-by-year delivery
- strengthen the foundations – people, systems, finances – that allow purpose to be sustained at scale.
How Can CoLab Strategy Help?
Whether you are an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation, a not-for-profit, or a purpose-driven organisation seeking to clarify your strategic direction, strengthen your foundations, and build a plan your people own, CoLab Strategy can help.
Book a free 30-minute strategy session to get clarity about your next steps.
“Our organisation was completely satisfied with all work performed by CoLab Strategy and would engage them again.”
— Felicia Dean, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative.
Let’s Chat!
Reach out to CoLab Strategy today to discuss how we can help you grow your organisation for greater impact.