By Victoria Bowring | Head of Foundation
The ABCN Scholarship Foundation Accelerate program has continued throughout 2024 to play a crucial role in empowering young girls to pursue their dream futures despite the inequalities they face. The success of the Leadership Summit in May and the strong interest in next year’s scholarships are a testament to the program’s positive impact.
Leadership Summit – Year 1 Scholars
This year’s summit marked the beginning of a life changing three-year journey for 22 high potential young girls with our inaugural Find Your Purpose workshop, developed in collaboration with independent charity, The Purpose Project. Founder of The Purpose Project, Ari Yeganeh, opened the workshop by sharing his personal experience in navigating school and future work choices and pathways.
During the workshop scholars explored their values, ambitions and passions to gain a better understanding of themselves and what’s important to them. Their mentors provided career insight and guidance to help the scholars identify potential careers and pathways that align with their values and utilise their strengths. The success of this new workshop was evident, with 41% of scholars saying it was the most relevant and helpful part of the two-day summit both in their learning and connecting with their mentor.
“I learnt resilience and about taking initiative. The guest speakers, mentors and scholars really inspired me to work harder and find my passions”
The celebration evening on Day of the Summit, hosted by KPMG in Sydney was a highlight for the scholars at which former NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, left a lasting impression as keynote speaker. Her lived experience as the daughter of Armenian migrant parents resonated with many of the scholars, and her journey as a female building a career in politics both captivated and inspired the young women in our Accelerate program. The confidence they showed in connecting and speaking with her was unlike that we have previously experienced in the scholars so early in the program.
2024 Scholar Spotlight – Mendy
Mendy lives in regional Australia with her mother and four siblings after her father passed away when she was just two years old. Her mother is unable to work as she cares full time for Mendy’s 19-year-old disabled brother, making it almost impossible for her mother to pay for Mendy’s education.
“Being awarded an ABCN Accelerate scholarship means a lot to me because it helps me pay for many things, including school costs and supplies.”
Alongside the Accelerate program, she participates in Be Bold Be Heard, which is about the voices of female students. As English is not her first language, Mendy’s mentor Georgia has been a great source of support in improving her English and increasing her confidence in communicating.
With Georgia’s guidance, Mendy is committed to planning her pathway to achieve her goals - “As a daughter, I always wanted to make my mother proud by becoming a successful person and work as a Dermatologist or Nurse”.
Scholarship Applications for 2025
2024 Accelerate Scholarship applications for students to begin the program next year have flooded in with 71% being female. Year on year the need to support high achieving young girls to access brighter futures is increasing. We are currently reviewing all 2024 applications and look forward to updating you on the scholarships awarded in our next report.
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