Gwen Williams spent her childhood on the banks of the Richmond river, New South Wales, growing up in a politically active family, her father took her to Sydney in the late 1960s, where she worked and studied and later was active in the Aboriginal political activism in Sydney. She had worked for trade unions, and then with Charlie Perkins, taking part in protest marches and raising funds for Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs, the first registered Aboriginal organisation. William had also established her career in education and health. (Source: Our Way Stories gives Indigenous elders a voice to guide next generation, ABC Online, 10 August 2016)