IEAA Scholarships and Fellowships Forum 2024

James Armit is Director Future Students at UC, a senior leadership role with accountability for domestic and international student recruitment and admissions. A seasoned tertiary education leader, James draws on prior experience as a Faculty Manager, Student Services Lead, and Head of Student Admin, to bring a system-thinking approach to recruitment and admissions practices. Passionate about equity and access, he seeks to inspire colleagues to rethink conventional recruitment approaches, reducing barriers to participation and supporting student retention and success.

Dr Joanne Barker is an international education consultant and global mobility researcher. She has a PhD in public policy which examined evaluation in an Australian Government international scholarship program. Since 2018 Joanne has undertaken regular consulting work for the Australia Awards scholarship program. She has participated in the selection of long-term awardees from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. Joanne previously worked for 18 years as director of international student programs in two universities. During that time, she was an elected member of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) Board from 2012 to 2016 and was an invited member (representing Australasia) of the US-based TOEFL Board from 2014 to 2018. Joanne was the recipient of the IEAA Outstanding Postgraduate Thesis Award in 2023 and is an IEAA Senior Fellow.

Ana Cordova is a Visiting Fellow at ANU

Jo is a Research Fellow in the Tertiary and Professional Education program at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). She has over 25 years’ experience working in the tertiary sector and her research expertise includes international development scholarships and fellowships, and graduate outcomes. Jo is the former Deputy Facility Manager of the Australia Awards Global Tracer Facility (GTF), a research initiative which ran from 2016 to 2024, which investigated the long-term outcomes of the Australian Government’s investment in development scholarships and fellowships since the 1950’s. As part of the GTF’s qualitative research, Jo has collected countless insights into the impact of scholarships and fellowships on alumni, their organisations, and communities. She is particularly interested the effectiveness of fellowships as a mechanism to build rapid capacity of targeted groups within organisations or across sectors and has co-authored 4 GTF case studies focusing on the long-term impact of Australia Awards fellowships. Jo is a frequent contributor to the Scholarship and Fellowship Network and is an Associate Fellow of IEAA. She has contributed to several IEAA resources, including authoring the ‘2015 IEAA International Employability Guide for International Students’.

Professor Jessica Gallagher joined the University of Adelaide as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement) in November 2021. She is responsible for overseeing a diverse engagement portfolio with a focus is on contributing to the growth and sustainability of the University through leadership of strategic partnerships, recruitment, community outreach and internationalisation initiatives. She leads the strategy and delivery of the University’s key services in advancement, alumni and community relations, media, corporate relations and communications, marketing and student recruitment, as well as global engagement and partnerships. Prior to joining the University of Adelaide, Jessica held the position Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement & Entrepreneurship) at The University of Queensland (UQ) where she established and executed innovative global strategies that fostered high performing partnerships across sectors and geographies. She also led the development of the University’s first Entrepreneurship Strategy and oversee the establishment of a suite of collaborative programs within the UQ Ventures umbrella.

Trevor advises government, industry and education providers on the design of education and diplomacy initiatives. He is an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. Through a WHO appointment he built a learning abroad program receiving an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Award. Trevor is a Non-Executive Director of the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership and has a Masters in International Studies. Previously appointed to the DFAT New Colombo Plan Reference Group he continues to work with global scholarship providers. Trevor has served on the Board of the International Education Association of Australia and as a Principal Adviser with Asialink Business. His work elevates the impact of scholarship programs for individuals, funders and communities, with a focus on industry engagement across the Indo-Pacific.

Thanh Huyen Nguyen is a final year master’s student in International and Development Economics at the Australian National University, and a recipient of the Australia Awards Scholarship. Originally from Vietnam, Huyen is a dedicated researcher for a government economics institution under the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam where she acts as a policy consultant at both local level and national level. With a passion for economic development and a commitment to make significant contributions to her home country, Huyen has pursued advanced studies in Australia to enhance professional skills and knowledge in the field as well as to enrich the academic network from many countries. Throughout the international studying journey, Huyen believes that these experiences will be invaluable assets to promote international students’ career upon the return to their home country.

Dr Elly Kent is a lecturer in the School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia & the Pacific, at the Australian National University. Her recent publications include Artists and the People: Ideologies of Art in Indonesia (NUS Press, 2022) and the co-edited book Living Art: Indonesian Artists Engage Politics, Society and History (ANU Press, 2022). In 2012 Elly was awarded an Endeavour Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Postgraduate Award (outgoing) and spent 2 years living in Indonesia with her young family while conducting field work.

Jonathan serves as a Regional Director for IIE based in Bangkok, Thailand. In this role he is responsible for leading engagement with governments, corporations, universities, and nonprofits throughout Asia Pacific. This includes administering scholarships, English language initiatives, student mobility, partnership facilitation, and capacity building with stakeholders and institutions in their efforts to engage better globally. This work takes place in a diverse network of countries, including Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

Prior to commencing her current role as the Director of the Global Education and Scholarships Section in late 2022, Ms McPhee has had a career of more than 15 years working with Department on Pacific Islands foreign policy and development. She was most recently Director Micronesia, expanding Australia’s diplomatic network across the north Pacific (2019-2022) and coordinating Australia’s COVID-response across this network of six small island states. Prior to that, Ms McPhee was Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner for Tonga, where she headed up Australia’s development program (2017-2019). She also led DFAT’s portfolio of Pacific climate change work (2014-17). Prior to that she worked on bilateral relations between Australia and Melanesian partners – on forestry and climate change in Papua New Guinea, a posting at Australia’s diplomatic mission in Honiara Solomon Islands, law and justice and health partnerships in Vanuatu. Ms McPhee holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Science with Honours from The University of Queensland and a Master of Forestry from the Australian National University. She began her career as an environmental scientist working on water quality, river health, and marine environments and transitioned to the development sector by working as Australian volunteer with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), in the Federated States of Micronesia.