Emancipatory decoloniality as leadership in social service organizations: Insights from indigenous and anti-oppressive yarnings

Abstract Around the globe, there is a growing demand for leadership in resolving longstanding social injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples. As part of a larger, international study, this article draws on early findings from yarnings/qualitative interviews to contribute to theorizing Indigenous leadership in social service organizations. Within our research design, the team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers consciously centre Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing to build emancipatory, decolonizing theory and practice. The analysis in this article identifies Indigenous social justice leadership in several overlapping forms, including Indigenous-centred/cultural-centred ways of knowing, being, and doing; intersectional identities; partnerships; and envisioning for all. The article concludes with further early theorizing and calls for future research to delve more deeply into Indigenous leadership as it develops in resistance to new conditions, including the far-right push-back against human rights and equity and the constraints of neoliberalism.