Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity welcomes 2023 cohort

Eighteen Fellows from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand with a background in Indigenous social change have been selected for the fifth cohort of Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) program, based at the University of Melbourne.

The new Fellows – 12 from Australia and six from Aotearoa New Zealand - come from a range of backgrounds and sectors, including community, healthcare, education, finance and the arts.

As the global community faces serious challenges including climate change, ecological collapse, and increasing geo-political and economic uncertainties, the AFSE program is an important avenue to mobilise Indigenous knowledges and experiences towards finding solutions.

The program focuses on Indigenous agency, self-determination, and capacity building, recognising the resilience and depth of Indigenous knowledges, cultures, and histories.

Fellows will soon commence their foundation year, where they develop a social change project and complete a postgraduate qualification in Social Change Leadership through the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

After graduation, they join a lifelong, global network of Atlantic Fellows which share a common purpose: to advance fairer, healthier, more inclusive societies. AFSE is one of seven Atlantic Fellows programs internationally, each of which focuses on improving equity in a particular area.

Professor Elizabeth McKinley, AFSE Executive Director and Professor of Indigenous Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, said the program builds capacity for Indigenous-led social change and leadership, and takes that leadership to the global community.

“The Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity are changing the narrative about Indigenous peoples, not just in Australia and Aotearoa, but right across the globe,’’ Professor McKinley said.

“We deserve a place at the decision-making table for our peoples and future. Many have had little say in affairs that affect us, yet we are best placed to make the changes needed for our communities after the disruption of colonisation.”

University of Melbourne Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) Professor Barry Judd, said: “AFSE offers an important point of confluence where Indigenous knowledge and experience meets the Western academy in ways that prompt and challenge the mainstream to do better and think outside the square.”

The 2023 cohort are passionate and intelligent social change makers with a track record of meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities in the Pacific region.

2023 Fellow Destiny Powell, a Gangulu woman from the Duaringa region of Central West Queensland, said: “The key to our healing lies within our own cultural practices and methodologies led and designed by us for us,’’

“Self-determination in the ways in which we heal from the past and ongoing traumas of colonisation is vital in addressing our health inequities our way.”

2023 Fellow Jade Hadfield, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara (Aotearoa/ New Zealand), said: “My dream is to live in a world where we privilege Indigenous ways of thinking, knowing, and doing. I'm seeking to build Indigenous capacity and utilise platforms to elevate Indigenous art and culture. In doing this, I want to recentre our place in the world and make systemic change.”

AFSE was established at the University of Melbourne in 2016 with funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies – a foundation established by philanthropist Chuck Feeney.

As part of the AFSE program, Fellows from Australia and Aotearoa complete a foundation year where they develop a social change project and complete a postgraduate qualification. Upon completion, Fellows graduate into the lifelong global Atlantic Fellows community. Over the course of 20 years, the program will drive Indigenous social equity by maximising the impact of hundreds of social change makers and connecting them with thousands of peers around the world.

For more information visit https://www.socialequity.atlanticfellows.org/.