Alumna Named Anne Wexler Scholar
SOCIAL enterprise solutions to long-term poverty and research into malnutrition among indigenous people are the two topics that will be the focus of the inaugural Anne Wexler scholarship recipients.
The Anne Wexler Australian-American Studies Scholarships in Public Policy is part of the Australian Government's Australia Awards program. Each year one scholar from Australia and one from the United States are chosen for this prestigious the award, valued at $140.000(AUS) each.
The Australian Government announced the establishment of this prestigious annual scholarship program last year to recognise the many contributions by Mrs Anne Wexler in fostering Australian-American relations.
Alumna Caroline Adler (BA(Hons) 2003, LLB(Hons) 2003), a Master's student in public policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the inaugural Australian winner. Ms Adler will use her scholarship to fund the second year of her Master's of Public Policy.
Ms Adler's research explores innovative workforce development policy interventions. Her goal is to develop social enterprise solutions to help Australians experiencing long-term poverty gain work skills and achieve increased economic opportunities.
'I believe it is critical to find proactive solutions that assist individuals who experience entrenched disadvantage and poverty to gain skills, opportunities and incentives to re-enter and remain in the social and economic mainstream. I am convinced that social enterprise is an important vehicle to achieve this goal.' said Ms Adler.
'This is a long-term project and one in which I hope to have significant impact in Australia as a social enterprise leader.'
Ms Katherine Thurber, a student in Social/Cognitive Neuroscience and Global Health/Health Policy at Harvard University is the inaugural U.S. winner of the award.
Katherine will use her Anne Wexler Scholarship to undertake a Master's of Philosophy at the ANU Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, studying malnutrition among Indigenous Australians.
'Malnutrition is a critical issue facing Indigenous people in many countries, and further research in this area could lead to vast improvements in health outcomes,' Katherine said.
Katherine gained experience with the issue over the summer in 2010, where she worked with fellow Harvard students to establish a malnutrition treatment program at a rural hospital in Rukungiri, Uganda.
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Image: Alumna Caroline Adler is the Australian winner of the prestigious Anne Wexler Australian-American Studies Scholarship in Public Policy.