The University of Sydney Business School will welcome two new go-getting women into its MBA program after both of them were awarded the UN Women National Committee Australia Scholarship.
Northern New South Wales business leader Amelia Franklin and ACT Lawyer Angela Lauman were both identified as women who have achieved much in their lives so far, and both a passion for gender equality and a desire to equip themselves with the skills needed to “make a difference”.
The scholarships, awarded by UN Women National Committee (NC) Australia in partnership with Sydney Business School and worth over $60,000, will allow the two to study an education program of their choosing – Ms Lauman will pursue a part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) while Ms Franklin will join the Business School’s Global Executive MBA program.
Ms Lauman was selected for the scholarship thanks to her fight for justice for women and girls, for more than a decade, in the corridors of world power and on the streets of the national capital.
As a lawyer for Legal Aid ACT and the ACT Women’s Legal Centre, Ms Lauman has driven a “respectful relationships” program in schools, joined an ACT Ministerial Advisory Council, worked to address financial abuse, represented Australian women at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women and sat on numerous committees.
“I am committed to building my business and management skills, and ultimately my goal is to run and manage a community sector organisation,” she said.
“I see an opportunity such as completing the MBA as a key piece in the puzzle of achieving this goal.”
Ms Franklin’s path has been very different but no less impactful. As the Director of Amelia Franklin Coffee Roasters and President of the Australian Chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, Ms Franklin was determined suitable for the scholarship because of her pledge to never allow the fledgling business to impact negatively on other people and quickly became an advocate for women in the coffee industry.
In 2018, Ms Franklin began the company’s transition to People of Coffee, an Australian not-for-profit to better reflect its community values.
“I have been advocating for women in coffee since the day I started roasting and inspiring more women to be involved in the coffee industry,” she said.
“Specifically, I have been working to empower women by giving them access to markets through my commercial coffee roastery and introducing their coffee to other coffee buyers.”
Ms Franklin is also leading an effort to disrupt the traditional coffee industry, which allocates nothing to research and development.
“Using blockchain technology we are able to track coffee from ‘seed to cup’, in a way that provides sustainable livelihoods for primary producers while mitigating climate change impacts,” she said.
Ms Franklin believes that the Global Executive MBA program will allow her to “continue to achieve meaningful outcomes for all women in coffee”.
“Women will be the leaders in the face of climate change in the coffee industry as they do over 70 percent of the work and are left on the land while the men look for work elsewhere,” she said.
Founded in the belief that “when women are empowered, whole communities benefit”, UN Women is working to improve the lives of women and girls in more than a hundred countries worldwide.
Applications for the UN Women NC Australia MBA Scholarship for semester 2, 2019 open on Friday 8 March 2019. Register your interest today.
