The program will celebrate Gender Month, which kicks off this week for Vietnam Women’s Day (20 October) and runs until the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November).
Funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and conducted by Social Good Outpost, the Speaker Series is run across selected locations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It also aims to honor the youth’s role and position as well as to cement long standing ties between nations.
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Australia ASEAN Emerging Leaders Program (A2ELP) held in Ho CHi Minh City in August |
Working closely with the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, the program will comprise many firsts – dynamic events with youths across Vietnam, plus international NGOs and local organisations all seeking to improve their society across the spheres of education, gender equality, violence prevention and inclusion. Two multi-award winning Australian youth social entrepreneurs will be leading the week’s activities.
Felicity Furey is recognised as a Superstar of STEM, one of the Financial Review BOSS Magazine’s Young Executives of the Year in 2016, and was named as one of Australia’s ‘100 Women of Influence’ at just 26 years old. Now working with Swinburne University in Melbourne, she is passionate about using the design principles she learnt as one of few female civil engineers in her cohort to engineer a better world.
Felicity will be delivering keynote talks and contributing to discussions around the importance of diversity and inclusion, and how to make change on a global scale, working with event partners RMIT Activator, Vietnam National University of Engineering and Technology and Vietnam National University of Languages and International Studies.
She will be joined by Speaker Series curator, Elise Stephenson, to run a series of thoughtprovoking and inspiring events designed to build collaborations and share expertise across Australia and Vietnam. Recently recognised as one of Boston Consulting Group’s 30 under 30 LGBTIQ+ Role Model’s and as one of only 25 Young Women to Watch in International Affairs, Elise brings a wealth of experience in women’s and community empowerment.
From her PhD research in women’s leadership, to her experience travelling over 60,000 kilometers around Australia to work with Australia’s most rural and isolated communities around social change, Elise will be leading sessions around communications and design for some of Vietnam’s leading NGOs – including CARE, iSEE, UNFPA, Vietnam Women’s Museum, and more.
“We are excited to bring this program to Vietnam to build on the long-standing ties between our two countries and demonstrate the leadership potential that youth hold to solving some of our nations’ most crucial challenges,” said Elise Stephenson, Curator of the program and Director of Social Good Outpost.
Reported by Binh Chau-Thu Nguyen