What does it mean to be a Meryl Williams Fellow? Dr Thi Hoa Pham from Vietnam reflects upon her experience in the ACIAR funded program and the valuable mentorship she has received throughout the fellowship with insight from her mentor, anthropologist Dr Nozomi Kawarazuka.
Delivered by the University of New England’s International Development team and launched in 2020, the Meryl Williams Fellowship supports women in agriculture science across the Indo Pacific to build their leadership capacity and address issues such as food security, gender equity and poverty reduction.
In addition to providing executive leadership training and professional development opportunities to the individual women, the Meryl Williams Fellowship program supports the institutions that they work in to identify and address systemic barriers to women’s advancement. A critical component of the Meryl Williams Fellowships is a mentoring support program, where every Fellow is paired with an experienced mentor in her home country to provide support and guidance as they build management, leadership and professional skills.