This culminated in the award of Charles Sturt Distinguished Alumni of the Year - First Nations Excellence.

The Distinguished Alumni of the Year - First Nations Excellence award conferred on Ms Fiona Harrison (pictured top) recognises outstanding achievement or contribution by a First Nations alumni in their chosen industry, profession or field.

Fiona’s journey to entrepreneurship is as rich and complex as the chocolate she crafts and epitomises resilience, determination and vision.

Her story began in the face of deep personal trauma beginning with her removal from her father’s Wiradjuri family as a child, facing hidden Aboriginality and being denied the Culture of her heritage.

Her drive to relearn ancestral ways and decolonise her thinking drew her to the Charles Sturt Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage program.

She embraces First Nations excellence through sharing language and Wiradjuri nation-building, fuelled by social entrepreneurship and a determination to meaningfully improve lives.

A proud Wiradjuri woman of the Galari (Lachlan River) in the central tablelands of NSW, Fiona’s journey from personal and cultural fragmentation to entrepreneurial success began with a childhood marred by intergenerational and personal trauma.

Overcoming intergenerational trauma, Fiona sought and found healing through ancestral guidance, and discovered the therapeutic power of Australian native botanicals and became an aromatic medicine practitioner.

“I was intensely curious as to how these plants could be so powerful as to bring healing, so I studied Aromatic Medicine so I could share my learning for the benefit of others,” Fiona said.

“This sparked the idea to study as a chocolatier and combine these healing plants to create chocolate that tells stories of Culture and healing through the universal language of chocolate.”

In 2012, she became Founder and CEO of certified social enterprise Chocolate On Purpose, Australia’s first Indigenous chocolate company.

Fiona’s premium range fuses fine Belgian chocolate with premium Australian native botanicals, honouring the wisdom of the ingredient custodians and ancient plant knowledge systems.

Wiradjuri storytelling infuses each piece – from the owl shape representing Elders’ wisdom to the ‘Walking On Country’ chocolate bar – creating a bridge to understanding, respect, inclusiveness and reconciliation.

As a business leader, speaker and advocate, Fiona shares the richness of Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing while highlighting the inequity between Colonial Australia and First Nations peoples.

Disrupting the artisan chocolate market, she embeds social impact in every business decision, from supply chain to sustainable sourcing and ethical production.

The concept of Yindyamarra – in her words, “respect, honour and go slowly to do it properly” – underpins her vision.

“My chocolate embodies the change I want to see, and knowing my efforts support equity in supply chains and contribute to sustainable communities makes every challenge worthwhile,” Fiona said.

“Every successful Indigenous business dismantles stereotypes in an economic sector we have historically been excluded from.

“I am committed to building a First Nations-led supply chain to increase Indigenous representation in Australia’s bushfood and botanical industries, where currently less than two per cent of leadership is Indigenous – and even fewer are women.”

For Fiona, it is about much more than chocolate.

“It’s about nurturing a legacy of Yindyamarra, healing and empowerment,” she said. “A call to ask ourselves: what sort of ancestor do I want to be for the seven generations looking up at us, waiting for their turn to emerge?”