Founder’s Story
My name is Dean Foley and I’m a Kamilaroi man from Gunnedah, NSW. I come from a poor family and grew up in a rough environment like most people from low‑socioeconomic backgrounds.
But somehow I finished year 12 and received a special and positive mention at our school graduation, despite not turning up to approximately 30% of school days and ending up with below-average school scores. Only a few classmates received a special mention at our graduation, and I think many people were shocked that I was one of them, let alone being told I would eventually become successful in something one day. I wasn’t sure what that thing was.
I didn’t feel I was smart enough to go to university with below-average grades, so I joined the Royal Australian Air Force, which is pretty funny in hindsight because I was in the last semester of my master’s degree at the Queensland University of Technology, and the Air Force was definitely harder. Joining the Air Force was a dream because I had always wanted to serve in the Australian Defence Force like my grandfather, who fought in numerous locations during World War II and was one of the Rats of Tobruk.
First Nations Entrepreneurship
Highlights from the Barayamal Accelerator — the founders, the pitches and the community behind Australia’s first Indigenous business accelerator.
However, after a friend in the Air Force gave me a book on entrepreneurship and when I started learning about entrepreneurs like Richard Branson who I believe are making a real difference in the world, I decided to leave the Air Force after 5 years to learn about what it takes to run and grow businesses. It became apparent to me that Indigenous Australians had a lack of positive role models in business and a lack of awareness of pathways to starting and growing a business.
In addition, I discovered organisations that are given 10s of millions of taxpayer funding every year to help Indigenous entrepreneurs weren’t that helpful – the most help I got from them after being told they could help me was “if you want to own a cafe, go work in a cafe”. I now believe Indigenous entrepreneurship is the high-growth and impact solution that will help close the disparity and opportunity gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. And with over 50% of Indigenous Australians under the age of 25, the youth have to stand up and help lead the way.
“If you want to own a cafe, go work in a cafe.”
Instead, Dean built Australia’s first Indigenous business accelerator — the high-growth, high-impact path those agencies weren’t offering.
This is why I started Barayamal, Australia’s Indigenous business accelerator, now known as a world leader in Indigenous entrepreneurship. We inspire and support Indigenous youth and entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams through entrepreneurship and technology — to achieve their self-determination aspirations and create a better Australia for all who live in it.
Despite not receiving the kind of funding available to larger organisations, Barayamal has run the world’s first Indigenous business accelerator program, Australia’s first Indigenous Startup Weekend, and a CoderDojo focused on supporting Indigenous youth to learn coding. Barayamal officially began in April 2017, and the work has been recognised through national awards including the CSIRO Indigenous STEM Early Career Award and the Entrepreneurship Award at the Australian Digital Excellence Awards.
Indigenous business leaders provide role models, leadership and practical pathways for our community members. That ripple effect is why Barayamal continues to back First Nations entrepreneurship, accountability and community-led development.
Built without the big grants.
Dean Foley
Dean served five years in the Royal Australian Air Force before founding Barayamal, Australia’s first Indigenous business accelerator and a First Nations-owned charity focused on entrepreneurship, accountability and community-led development. Dean is a Kamilaroi man from Gunnedah, NSW, a former Microsoft RAP Advisory Board member, CSIRO Indigenous STEM Award winner and Indigenous Digital Excellence Entrepreneurship Award winner.
LinkedIn
Recent focus
Practical platforms, visibility tools and accountability projects that turn the founder story into impact for First Nations people, businesses and communities.
First Nations Job Board
Connecting First Nations job seekers with employers across Australia and beyond.
Browse jobs →Innovation Map
Documenting First Nations innovation, knowledge and entrepreneurship.
Explore the map →Reconciliation & accountability tools
Helping organisations and communities move from symbolic reconciliation to practical action.
View project →Barayamal History
Key milestones — from the first startup weekend to the platforms Barayamal is building today.
Australia’s First Indigenous Startup Weekend, a 54-hour event that had over 40 aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs attend to learn how to start a business in a weekend and achieve their self-determination aspirations — to break the poverty cycle and help their communities through entrepreneurship.
Australia’s first Indigenous Business Accelerator Program was run in collaboration with Slingshot, which educated and supported five Indigenous startups over four weeks in Fishburners.
With the help of Australia’s leading law firm, Clayton Utz, Dean incorporated Barayamal as a legal entity and secured charity status to help Barayamal increase its social impact.
Accelerator cohorts continued and the work earned national recognition — the CSIRO Indigenous STEM Early Career Award and the Entrepreneurship Award at the Australian Digital Excellence Awards.
Community programs grew alongside the accelerator — a CoderDojo teaching Indigenous youth to code, and Give Backathon events putting tech skills to work for community organisations.
The platform era — the First Nations Job Board connecting job seekers with employers across Australia and beyond, and the Indigenous Innovation Map documenting First Nations innovation and knowledge.
Barayamal keeps building First Nations infrastructure for the next generation — reconciliation accountability tools, the FirstCard discount card for First Nations peoples, and eMentoring for emerging founders.
Be part of the next chapter
Barayamal backs First Nations entrepreneurship, accountability and community-led development. Explore the work, or get in touch to partner with us.
Indigenous Job Board
Browse Indigenous jobs across Australia and beyond:
Visit the First Nations Job Board — Browse Indigenous Jobs Across Australia