Change the future of young high-potential girls

Year 1 Scholars – Leadership Summit

In Mid May welcomed 43 of the record 45 Year 1 Accelerate scholars and their mentors from all over Australia to Sydney to take part in the ABCN Foundation 10 Year Anniversary Leadership Summit and Dinner.

The first day of the summit began with the students meeting their mentors at TAL Australia before taking part in a Financial Capability session hosted by ABCN’s Head of Program Development Maree Drury.

After lunch, the scholars took part in an insightful and engaging presentation on leadership skills with Craig Griffen, CMO and Head of Growth at Macquarie Group.

As the evening set in, the first-year scholars and more than 50 special guests arrived at EY’s George St office with a stunning view of Sydney Harbour for the ABCN Leadership Dinner.

For many of the scholars it was their first time in Sydney, making the sights extra special.

Scholars Sophia and Harrison acted as co-emcees, opening the evening with their inspiring stories and what lead to them applying for the Accelerate scholarship program.

Later in the night, we also heard from the dynamic mentor-mentee pair of Swetha and third-year scholar Haileigh, who has gone on to study psychology and law at UNSW.

On Day two of the Summit the Scholars attended a fun session at the Australian Theatre for Young People before bidding their new network of peers farewell over lunch and heading to the airport and train station to return home.

Year 2 and 3 Scholars – Peer Mentoring

Whilst our Year 1 Scholars were enjoying meeting their peers and mentors for the first time our Year 2 and 3 Scholars were strengthening their bonds through a focus on Peer Mentoring in their online group sessions. Across the country 82% of our scholars attended these online sessions and the general themes coming out of the sessions were:

• Sharing stories – highlights and challenges
• Learning from Peers – scholars working with scholars, mentors with mentors
• Giving feedback 
• Setting and achieving goals
• Goal setting/habit frameworks

Feedback from current Year 2 Scholar Tui, she says:

“This program has helped me a lot in preparing for my upcoming external examinations as it helped me financially to buy important revision books for my general subjects. It also assisted me with driving lessons fees. Moreover, the lessons and workshops helped me gained more universal skills such as leadership skills and in communications.

I came to realize that being a leader is not just about leading with dominancy, it also about taking initiative to do things which others are not willing to. With these skills, I have been helping my friends with their schoolwork. I am also currently leading my culture dance group and in the year 12 graduation preparation committee with the leadership skills I learned from this valuable program.”

Scholarship Applications for 2024 now closed

Applications for 2024 Scholarships have recently closed and we received an incredible level of interest. We received 303 applications from 96 different schools across the country. This is an increase of 56% of applications from the previous year indicating the very real ongoing need for the Accelerate Program.

The breakdown of applications received from across the country is as follows:

• New South Wales – 42%
• Victoria – 22%
• Queensland – 18%
• Western Australia – 11%
• South Australia – 5%
• Northern Territory – 2%

We are now in the process of reviewing applications and a new group of scholars will be announced in late October 2023 to begin their scholarship in 2024.

Links:

• Celebrating 10 Years of the ABCN Foundation
• Our Foundation

 Leadership Update

We would like to acknowledge Rachel Walker, who was ABCN Foundation Manager for four years leading our Accelerate program as it has grown from 31 three-year scholarships in 2018 to 45 in 2022. Rachel leaves behind a talented team that is committed to continuing the ABCN Foundation’s impact. We welcome the new Head of Foundation, Catherine Stace, who began the role in January 2023. Most recently, Catherine was Executive Officer for the Australian Association of Gerontology Research Trust and was previously CEO of Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.

Year 1 Scholars

During February and March our Accelerate program manager Louise Manka travelled across Australia to onboard our 45 new scholarship recipients. At these meetings Louise supported the new scholars as they were introducted to their dedicated corporate volunteer mentor from the ABCN Member Company Network at their school and embark upon their three-year scholarship program to gain the skills, knowledge and experiences to ‘be what they can see’.

Louise travelled through the capital cities and through regional areas to reach our new cohort of Accelerate scholars. This year 73% of our scholars are female and the breakdown of Accelerate scholars from each state is:

• NSW 47%
• QLD 22%
• VIC 20%
• WA 11%

The Year 1 cohort are now eagerly awaiting the 2 day Accelerate Leadership Summit which is will take place in Sydney in mid-May. The Accelerate scholars will be travelling from all around Australia to meet each other and their mentors as well as participate in workshops and a formal dinner.

Some feedback from an inspired scholar who attended last year's Summit: 'The most important thing they learned was that we should find a career we enjoy which means we will perform much better than others in that area. That we should strive for the best and take as many opportunities as possible and to keep pathways open. Leave room for error and change.'

Year 2 and 3 Scholars

Our Year 2 and 3 scholars have been busy attending Goals and Planning sessions across the country. The focus of the first session hosted by Member Company Macquarie Group for our Victorian scholars was about not being defined by titles or attributes but leading by example, building relationships, finding non traditional and unstructured leadership roles and most importantly, leading yourself. A session in New South Wales hosted by Member Company Accenture followed where scholars and their mentors reflected on their stories of direct and indirect leadership and how they can lead in the many roles that they play.

The third session took place in Queensland hosted by Member Company Stockland and invovled a range of interactive and informative activities including a careers interview presentation, panel, tour and Q&A session. Wonderful wisdom was shared about saying yes to opportunities, multiple pathways and careers in different disciplines, graduate programs and doors not closing forever if you change your mind. The final session was also hosted by Member Company Stockland and took place in Western Australia. During this session the focus was on Leadership vs Management, career pathways and culture. Scholars and Mentors discussed what to consider when making a decision about working for an organisation.

Links:

• About Us
• Celebrating 10 Years of the ABCN Foundation