Media Release by BOC and Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound today announced a new scholarship supported by BOC that will provide one woman with a background in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Medicine) the opportunity to participate in the ground-breaking Homeward Bound leadership initiative.
The full scholarship is open to women across the South Pacific region including Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, New Zealand or Australia – to participate in a 12-month virtual leadership program and life-changing voyage to Antarctica.
BOC South Pacific Managing Director John Evans said the Homeward Bound program is an important leadership initiative that supports the next generation of talent working in STEMM industries.
“BOC is committed to embracing diversity and inclusion to attract, develop and retain the best talent and build high-performance teams,” Mr Evans says.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Homeward Bound to provide the opportunity for one woman in STEMM to develop leadership skills and be part of a growing network of professionals working to solve critical challenges across the South Pacific region.
“BOC encourages applicants particularly those in PNG and Solomon Islands to take advantage of this life-changing scholarship opportunity.”
Homeward Bound founder Fabian Dattner says important and generous donations such as BOC’s can make a huge impact.
“Scholarships for Homeward Bound participants are an effective and direct way to make a big contribution to addressing challenges facing the South Pacific region including climate change and the need for more diverse leadership,” Ms Dattner says.
“BOC’s commitment to funding a scholarship will change the life of a woman in one of these countries.”
Homeward Bound’s vision is to support and engage a 10,000-strong global collaboration of women with a STEMM background to lead, influence and contribute to decision-making as it informs the future of the planet by 2036.
Every year around 100 successful applicants – who will all be in, or thinking of taking up, leadership roles with a deep personal commitment to the greater good – commit to a 12-month virtual leadership program.
The leadership program is designed to enhance the leadership, strategic and visibility skills of participants, as well as an understanding of and connection to science and collaboration, including science communication skills. At the end of the online program, the women all voyage to Antarctica.
Homeward Bound CEO Pamela Sutton-Legaud says the scholarship will help increase diversity and inclusion in the global women in STEMM leadership program.
“We need to support women with a background in STEMM to help solve the world’s most urgent problems,” Ms Sutton-Legaud says.
“If there was ever a time in human history when we need the best and brightest at the table, it is now.
“We need to see leadership happen at all levels of the government and industry – local, state and federal – to be vocal about the need to raise the visibility of women in leadership, particularly women with a background in STEMM.”
The inaugural Homeward Bound voyage took place in 2016 and almost 600 women, representing over 50 nationalities, have so far completed the program.
Applications for the eighth year of the program open on October 11, 2022, when an additional 100 women with a STEMM background will be selected to take part.
For more information, go to www.homewardboundprojects.com.au.
