The Girls Academy provides in-school programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

CCI WA Chief Executive Officer Chris Rodwell said the chamber’s recent $20,000 donation to the school had been generated through staff fundraising events and donations last year.

The Girls Academy was founded by former champion basketballer Ricky Grace in 2004 to help indigenous girls overcome barriers that prevented them from attending and achieving at school.

The program works within the school system to drive community-led solutions. The students receive intensive one-on-one mentoring and support from a team of skilled field staff, 80 per cent of whom are highly accomplished indigenous women.

Girls Academy Program Manager Lisa Semmens said the CCIWA donation would be of great benefit.

“It gives the students opportunities to succeed in their chosen pathways and become tomorrow’s leaders,” she said.

“Our motto is: ‘Develop a Girl, Change a Community’ – and that’s what donations of this kind enable us to do.”