Indigenous leadership is key to social change

The Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) supports the next generation of Indigenous leaders to inspire, collaborate and facilitate change in communities across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific.
 
Based at the University of Melbourne, a unique inter-cultural fellowship for social equity, the program works towards Indigenous-led solutions that make a real impact in communities, and advocates for Indigenous leadership and ways of knowing as the foundation for social change.

During the foundation year, Fellows complete a post-graduate qualification in Social Change Leadership and develop a social change project for implementation. An undergraduate degree is not needed to apply, and the course is fully funded with program participation supported through a stipend. 
 
A key part of the Fellowship is to refine and develop a social change project drawing on the most current Indigenous scholarship from Australia, Aotearoa and around the world.

Upon completion, participants can access opportunities and resources for collaboration with Lifelong Fellows from seven other international Atlantic programs that sustain and grow their initiatives. AFSE is the only Indigenous-led Fellowship program with intake targeted to First Nations communities across Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Nations.
 
Jonathon Captain-Webb (2022 cohort) a Gomeroi and Dunghutti man from Gomeroi and Dunghutti Countries, is the manager of Culture and Heritage at the NSW Aboriginal Land Council based in Western Sydney. There, he is working with 120 Local Aboriginal Land Councils across NSW to promote, protect and celebrate Aboriginal cultural heritage in all its forms. 
 
Captain-Webb said the foundation year of the program completely changed how he viewed Aboriginal affairs and policy.
 
“Coming into this space I thought I knew everything about best practice for achieving outcomes for my community,” Captain-Webb said.
 
“This has been the best study I have ever done; the content and delivery have been amazing, the subject matter experts that we have in the room is second to none, and the readings we engaged with have been designed and tailored specifically for us as Indigenous people.”
 
2023 Fellow Alicia Veasey is a Torres Strait Islander woman providing state-wide advice on broader system issues and barriers to achieving health equity for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People in Queensland. She is also an Obstetrics and Gynaecology doctor and Co-Chair of Queensland Health’s state-wide Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Clinical Network.
 
Veasey said the program has been deeply transformational. 
 
“After spending decades within colonial institutions of health and education, this program has provided me the space, support and tools to decolonise my mind,” Veasey said.
 
“I’ve been able to work towards changing systems to not just 'close-the-gap' but to change structures of power and systems so that we can have true health sovereignty for our communities.”

Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity have demonstrated experience working with Indigenous communities on projects and making real impact on the ground. They come from a broad range of creative, professional, advocacy and educational backgrounds. Cohorts across programs include lawyers, artists, advocates, business professionals, health practitioners, government officials, academics and researchers.
 
The 2024 cohort will be the sixth cohort since the program started, and this year AFSE is accepting applications from applicants in the Pacific Island Nations to join the program.
 
AFSE is one of the seven global and interconnected Atlantic Fellows programs to which the foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, has committed more than $US660 million worldwide.