Delivered on behalf the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Meryl Williams Fellowship supports female agricultural researchers across the Indo-Pacific to improve their leadership and management skills. The Fellowship contributes to more secure food systems by providing women in agricultural science with greater access to resources and decision making, building collaborative networks, supporting career advancement and driving institutional progress towards gender equity.
Since 2020, a total of forty-two women have graduated from the fellowship. Fellows join the program from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Nepal, Myanmar, Mongolia, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands.
A critical component of the Meryl Williams Fellowships is the mentoring support program, through which every Fellow is paired with an experienced mentor in her home country to provide support and guidance as they build management, leadership and professional skills.
In addition to providing executive leadership training and professional development opportunities to the individual women, the Meryl Williams Fellowship program supports the institutions that they work within to identify and address systemic barriers to women’s advancement.
Delivered on behalf the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the John Dillion Fellowship was established in 2002 in recognition of Professor John L Dillon’s life-long commitment to agricultural research. The program aims to develop the leadership and management skills of mid-career professionals, particularly scientists, researchers and economists working for more effective agricultural research for development outcomes.
In response to the 2020 global pandemic our team swiftly pivoted and we’re proud to have introduced a newly designed John Dillon Fellowship that builds upon the program’s past success. The program is delivered in individual country cohorts of up to 15 participants with a strong focus on organisational capability to manage and lead efficient, effective and sustainable research for development. The program is adaptive to the differing needs and requirements of partner organisations and the agriculture sector in each region.
Recent recipients of this Fellowship include partners from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Pacific Nations.
By the end of the program, it is expected that participants will have increased capability and confidence to lead and influence effective agricultural research in their organisations, particularly in the domains of Values-based Leadership; Collaboration and communication; Project management; and Gender equity and social inclusion.
Alumni Research Support Facility
Delivered on behalf the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Alumni Research Support Facility (ARSF) was launched by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in April 2020 as a swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ARSF enables research projects that build resilience and respond to the pandemic’s challenges to agriculture systems in ACIAR partner countries.
Each ARSF project is matched with an Australian mentor or collaborator who works with the ACIAR Alumni to build the research team’s capacity and provide mentorship and guidance.
In 2019 the first cohort of John Allwright Fellows started to undertake the Executive Leadership Program (JAFel), which aims to bridge the gap between study and the next stages of our Fellows's career development. In the program, JAFel covers leadership, people and communication skills, finance and project management topics.
The fellows undertake a 10-day intensive workshop followed by a 15-month program of online learning. The online program takes around 6 hours a month, complementing the fellows’ postgraduate studies. The program concludes with a 4-day workshop. On completion each fellow is set up to manage the challenges of undertaking their research journey as well as setting themselves up with the leadership skills to achieve in the next stage of their careers.
This program is delivered on behalf the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
John Allwright Fellowship Support Facility
The John Allwright Fellowship Support Facility provides tailored support to JAFs throughout their scholarship journey such as additional pastoral care.
This facility is designed to offer targeted support and additional opportunities for participants to make the most of their research scholarship journey.
Gender Mainstream in the Public Sector
The Gender Mainstream in the Public Sector short course is delivered in partnership with the Laos Australian Institute. Delivered over three workshops is designed to educate government decision makers on gender dynamics in the workplace and to facilitate training to use gender mainstreaming approaches to deliver inclusive and sustainable human resource development within their organisations.
Central to the course, participants develop institutional projects that implement gender-responsive policies and programs in their home institutions.
Learn more about our work
In our journal we showcase more of our work, the impact of the facilitation we deliver and the positive outcomes our program participants have experienced.