Since 1996, Sarina has successfully run her own small public relations and marketing business (SARJAN CONSULTANCIES) in Western Australia and in 1999, with a group of other like-minded Aboriginal professionals, helped to establish The Indigenous Business Institute Ltd. The Institute's purpose is two-fold. Firstly, to specifically assist Aboriginal business people in gaining appropriate and professional business acumen and prowess so that they can cultivate greater Aboriginal independence and business commercialism; and secondly, to encourage linkages (strategic partnerships) between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal industries, governments, private and public sector businesses that will improve the status, value and asset base of the Institute and its 130 Aboriginal members. As the founding Director and Chairperson of this non-profit organisation, Sarina is responsible for facilitating the development and growth of Indigenous entrepreneurialism within Western Australia.

Other positions Sarina holds include Chairperson of the Aboriginal Customary Law Reference Council (WA Law Reform Commission); Member of the WA Parole Board and the WA Mentally Impaired Board; Councillor for the Australian Marketing Institute (WA) and the University of Western Australia's Research Centre for Women in Business & Management; and Justice of the Peace.

Sarina's professional logo "Strong woman bringing different people together for Business in a Meeting Circle" is reflected in her life's philosophy: that she is "a cultural experience worth incorporating … ".

For more information, write to:
The Indigenous Business Institute Ltd: theibiltd@hotmail.com
Sarina Jan: sarjan2@bigpond.com

This entry was research and written by Philida Sturgiss-Hoy