An InspirED evening celebrating our UWA Fogarty Scholars
The UWA Fogarty Scholars and Alumni enjoyed an evening of canapés and music on Thursday, as they celebrated another inspiring year of learning, leadership and collective accomplishment. InspirED is the final event of the year for the Leadership and Enterprise program where UWA executive and staff, past speakers and friends of the Scholarship Program are invited to see and celebrate the achievement s of the Scholars.
Here to Help – Perth’s Charity Band, founded by UWA Fogarty Scholar Michael Hooper, provided a warm welcome to guests including past and present Fogarty Scholars, Professor Amit Chakma, Vice Chancellor of UWA, Annie Fogarty, Executive Chairperson of the Fogarty Foundation and special guests.
Professor Amit Chakma spoke about the significance of the scholarship program and congratulated the Scholars and Alumni for their committed commitment to education, excellence and achieving wonderful things all over the world.
Fogarty Scholars Ellen Smith and Josh Peckover shared anecdotes about their recent adventures co-convening the Fogarty Futures Leadership Conference, while Luke Thomas shared his experiences working for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra. Guests were also inspired by the leadership efforts of Michael Hooper for creating Here to Help – Perth’s Charity Band, and Rachel Tantular as she spoke about her upcoming charity Indo-Pacific Traditional Music Concert.
Alexander van Hoek was announced as the 2021 recipient of the Jeremy Cheang Award. This award is presented to a Scholars to acknowledge their contribution to their chosen profession, the University and/or the wider community and to support them in their initiative. Alex received the award for his creation of Systematic, an aspiring not-for-profit initiative to help children foster a passion for STEM topics and skills.
Thank you to everyone who attended this InspirED event. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear from UWA Fogarty Scholars who are working towards and/or acting as leaders in our community and beyond.
The UWA Fogarty Scholars hosted the 2021 Fogarty Futures Leadership Conference earlier this month. Forty-five impressive and motivated young West Australian’s were invited to join the Scholars for a four-day conference at the Bickley Outdoor Recreation Camp, where they were inspired to explore leadership and entrepreneurial opportunities in their schools and local communities.
Participants took part in a variety of workshops including Purposeful with Liz Knight, Interview Skills with Connor McLaughlin, Dr Yes and Man Up. Conference facilitators (UWA Fogarty Scholars and Alumni) mentored the group as they spoke about the importance of having cultural awareness in leadership; acted as member states of the United Nations, using problem solving, diplomacy and communication skills to respond to an international crisis; and spoke with current Scholars about leadership, university and raising their educational aspirations.
At the Politicians Panel, three levels of government were represented by an impressive line-up of guest speakers. Georgie Carey – Town of Mosman Park Councillor, Shane Love MLA, David Scaife MLA, Senator Dean Smith, Dr Katrina Stratton MLA and Rhys Williams – Mandurah Mayor, spoke to the group about various societal challenges, being a leader in the community and how they, even as young students, can have a positive and wide-reaching impact.
“Our UWA Fogarty Scholars are an outstanding group of young people and the Fogarty Futures Conference highlights how exceptional they are –, organising speakers and workshop leads running a four-day conference, when they have only just started university themselves.”
Annie Fogarty AM, Executive Chairperson of the Fogarty Foundation.
“The Scholars have highlighted that when provided the opportunity, their strong leadership qualities truly shine, empowering them to make a difference to the lives of others. This really is the ripple effect in action” she said.
The Fogarty Futures Leadership Conference was initiated by the Fogarty Scholars’ Association in 2013 and has been convened by first year Fogarty Scholars every year since.
You can find out more about Fogarty Foundation and the UWA Fogarty Scholars by visiting https://fogartyfoundation.org.au/.
Fogarty Futures Leadership Conference empowers years 10 and 11 students with leadership skills for the future. Based in Western Australia, we seek to encourage students to develop a passion for social justice and benefit their local communities. Soft skills such as leadership, communication and interpersonal skills are not taught frequently enough in schools, despite being vital to living in a modern globalised world; Futures aims to address this gap. Every year since 2013 Futures has run this leadership camp for 50 promising young leaders to help them achieve their potential.
Students will hear from a variety of expert speakers throughout the course of the conference; challenging them to think more about social issues and what global leadership truly means. Attendees will connect with like minded young people to get a head start on developing networks, forming lifelong friendships in the process.
In 2019 the Futures Conference will run for four days from the 27th to 30th of September at Camp Wattle Grove. A number of scholarships are available for conference attendees, particularly for students from rural/regional areas or low SES schools. Applications are open between the 7th of July and will close on the 12th of August. Any questions can be addressed to convenors@fogartyfutures.org or our website fogartyfutures.org