Late November 2018, around a dozen women – all Australia Awards alumni – spent two days discussing, learning and participating in a workshop aimed at helping women to become leaders in their industries, workplaces and communities. Led by Coffey International Development’s Cara Ellickson and Dani Cash, the group were introduced to the concept of purpose-led leadership, how to articulate that vision and how to lead with authority and credibility.
The workshop offered women a chance to connect with other alumni, as well as to learn from Vanuatu women leaders about their own leadership journeys. With presentations, round table discussions, expert panels and hands-on activities, the two-day workshop culminated in tok tok with women Port Vila municipal councillors to understand leadership in action.
“These have been a dynamic and inspiring two days for quite a number of Australian alumni that were present yesterday and today,” commented Anne Pakoa from the Vanuatu Human Rights Coalition. “We learnt strategies on how to be inspired leaders and the delivery was straight forward, very dynamic. When alumni return to Vanuatu they can face a lot of challenges that burden us, and this can be a stumbling block to proceed on our journey, but I got a lot of good energy and inspiration, especially from the younger Australia Awards graduates. As a leader, the last two days have been rejuvenating for me, I’ve been inspired and now I have more energy to go out there and continue the work I do every day, with the people that I serve and contribute more proactively.”
The Inspiring Women into Leadership workshop was part of a series of alumni activities held across Vanuatu in 2018. Other activities have included workshops on entrepreneurship, curriculum vitae writing, gender equality, and project monitoring and evaluation. Open to all returning Australia Awards students, the alumni network brings together individuals to maintain and strengthen links between Australia, Vanuatu and the Pacific region. Together, members are empowered to contribute to the long-term development of Vanuatu as part of the network’s ongoing professional development and events program.
All Australia Awards Alumni are invited to become a member of the network. For more information, please browse Australia Awards Vanuatu website or contact us here.
About Australia Awards
Australia has provided development assistance to Vanuatu for many years. Scholarships provide opportunities for Ni-Vanuatu to study in Australia or the Pacific region. Australia Awards scholarships address human capacity needs in Vanuatu and build people-to-people links.