Vonda Malone is a nationally recognised First Nations leader and strategic influencer in governance, clean energy, climate adaptation, and economic inclusion. A proud Peiuduram of Erub Island and Yupungathi and Wuthathi of Western Cape York Far North Queensland - she brings more than 30 years of senior executive experience across community-led development, government reform & international engagement.

Vonda’s drives and facilitates national alliances that strengthen Indigenous participation in Australia’s clean energy transition, working at the intersection of renewable energy development, climate adaptation, and First Nations self-determination. Her work ensures initiatives are grounded in cultural authority, deliver equitable economic outcomes, & create lasting generational benefit for communities.

Her leadership is shaped by lived experience in her community where the impacts of climate change are immediate and intensifying. This perspective underpins her commitment to place-based, community-led solutions that bring together clean energy innovation, cultural knowledge, and environmental stewardship.
In 2016, Vonda made history as the first female Mayor of the Torres Shire Council and has held senior governance roles including Chief Executive Officer of the Torres Strait Regional Authority and Commissioner of the Queensland Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry. She is also the founding Chair of Torres Health, the first community-controlled health organisation in the Torres Strait.

Vonda’s leadership is recognised nationally and internationally. She is a recipient of the Susan McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year Award and the Centenary Medal, a Fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, and an alumna of the United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commission Indigenous Fellowship Program. She was recently appointed as a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Science and has been named among Far North Queensland’s Most Influential Women and the Top 100 Movers and Shapers.