MDC is made up of a diverse team of professional volunteers who bring skills and knowledge from their international and local experience to build a community of development professionals.

Ellie is part of the MDC team as the convenor for our Game Changer events and organises engaging Ellie is passionate about equality committed to creating innovation within the NFP sector. Through her role as Purpose and Impact Coordinator at The Funding Network, Ellie supports non-profits to build their capacity and provide new opportunities for growth whilst increasing collective giving and connection between sectors. Ellie has a background working within non-profits in a variety of capacities, focusing on social areas such as education, poverty, people seeking asylum, and people with disabilities.  

We had a chat with Ellie to learn about her and how she became involved with the development sector. 

Hi Ellie, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I moved to Melbourne 4 years ago from the beautiful Coffs Harbour to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in International Development Studies, and to challenge myself in a whole new city which I had only visited once before. I have 3 siblings and a very cute 7 month old nephew, but unfortunately have never had any pets, although I recently got a worm farm with 1000 worms, so I am not sure if that counts! I am absolutely obsessed with learning new things and often try my hand at a number of hobbies (although usually not so successfully)! I am passionate about both community and international development particularly in the space of social impact and education.

What inspired you to embark on this development journey?
I am inspired or more accurately frustrated at the great inequality that exists and I feel a sense of urgency to work to redress this.

How did you come to join MDC and what has your experience been?
I absolutely love talking about all things development and to be able to discuss big challenges with people who care. I often find myself talking about these big issues with people who only respond with, “Oh that sucks.” This is why I wanted to join MDC so I could meet more people who care, to have more inspiring conversations and be part of a community that is passionate about development. My experience has been great so far, although I can’t wait to meet everyone in person and get to experience the ‘real-deal’.

Can you share any insights or revelations that you have learnt from your experience in the development sector?
I work within the Non-profit sector in Australia and I have learnt the importance of bringing corporates and the general public more into the non-profit space instead of working in silos. I think there needs to be a reframing of ‘charities’, instead of begging for money, non-profits need to improve upon their value proposition to show people their importance and what they can bring.

Here is an article I wrote with more reflections on this topic.

Do you have a personal theory of change?
My personal theory of change is based on a two prong approach to international and community development. The first is a focus on the redistribution of wealth to support the important work of charities. My other key focus is on increasing global educational outcomes as education is key to a prosperous global future.

Lastly, what are a few development resources you’d recommend?
A few I recommend are:

• Podcasts – ‘Good Will Hunters‘ and ‘Declarations: The Human Rights‘
• Newsletters – the Social Impact Hub and SVA
• Books – ‘Bandaid for a Broken Leg‘, ‘Little Green Book of Economics‘ and ‘Dead Aid‘.

(Share your thoughts or favourite resources on our Facebook page)

Thank you Ellie for sharing your development journey!

Join Ellie and meet other MDC members at our upcoming Game Changer event “Solving Development Challenges in a Digital Age” – register here!

MDC is made up of a diverse team of professional volunteers who bring skills and knowledge from their international and local experience to build a community of development professionals.

Sanjna is part of the MDC team as the convenor for Community Building and organises the monthly Meet-Ups. She brings experience in communications and community development in a South Asia context. She recently completed her Master of Environment and Sustainability at Monash University, and with an economics background, she intends to continue working internationally in sustainable community development in order to apply her MDC learnings.

We had a chat with Sanjna to learn about her and how she became involved with the development sector. 

Hi Sanjna, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello everyone, I was born and brought up in Bangalore, India. My parents and sister are still back there. I speak 4 languages! I moved here in 2018 to begin my Masters of Environment and Sustainability at Monash Uni. I have just finished my course this July. It’s been great to be here and learn so many things!

What inspired you to embark on this development journey?
While doing my Bachelors degree, we were talking about environmental economics. Within that subject, we spoke about the impact poor people had on the environment, especially in countries with lower incomes. That was disheartening because there was research that spoke about how they had an impact, which is so untrue. Subsequently, there was a Masters class I had to do a presentation for, and their views on India’s contribution to global warming being abysmal was so heartbreaking. I started interning at a sustainability firm where I subsequently got a job. The work was in low carbon community development, and that is where my journey began.

You completed your Masters of Environment and Sustainability at Monash University last year – congratulations! Can you share some insights you have learnt through your studies?
I had stopped studying Science in Year 10, so I undertook a specialisation that focused more on the scientific aspects of Climate Change under this Masters. It was revealing how interconnected the issues were. The saying that butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe has never been truer. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information I consumed, both in Uni and from the news around sustainability. Something I learned was that you have to focus on one theme, that you have a personal drive for, and then go on from there.

Thank you Sanjna for sharing your development journey!

Join Sanjna and meet other MDC members at our upcoming Meet Up – Wednesday 7 July 7:30-8:45pm – Sign up here!

The Cricket Academy is empowering local communities in Malawi through sport and education.

Within 5 – 10 years you will see Malawi competing on the world stage against other associate cricket nations in both Men’s and Women’s competitions.

Malawi has some of the most talented cricketers and some of the most intelligent young thinkers. They just haven’t been given the chance to thrive.

Established in 2011, The Cricket Academy aims to develop talented cricketers as well as educated young men and women. We do this through our grassroots cricket programs in Malawi. These grassroots programs are focused mainly in schools and low-income areas.

Through these grass roots programs we have identified a number of talented cricketers who have gone on to represent Malawi. Many of these young people have also been awarded scholarships to complete their high school diplomas and continue with tertiary studies. They have also been absorbed into our management structure and are now responsible for many of the programs we run.

This campaign is primarily to raise funds for our education scholarships. We are looking to expand our scholarship program to involve more women and girls.

We also need funds to purchase basic cricket equipment for the clinics we run in schools and proper equipment for our high performance programs.

$10 – buys a basic locally made cricket set for a primary school program

$50 – pays school fees for 1 term for one of our talented women’s or men’s cricketers

$800 – funds our primary school development program for 1 term

$1000 – funds new equipment for our high performance program

The secondary aim is publicity. There is so much potential for what we can achieve. We just haven’t made the right connections yet. We want to reach as many cricket clubs, fellow cricket tragics, possible supporters and community development projects as we can.  So please share this among your networks and like us on Facebook to keep up to date with our latest updates.

We need as many people as possible to know about the social changes we are making in Malawi through cricket and the opportunities we are giving young Malawian men and women to realise both their academic and sporting potential. + Read More

Free To Shine was established to empower through education to prevent sex trafficking. We keep girls most at risk in school by helping them achieve their five essential human rights. These are; freedom from slavery; access to education; access to safe drinking water; enough food to not be hungry; and adequate shelter. Equipped with their human rights, our girls have the opportunity to become leaders who create communities and ultimately countries free from sex-trafficking.
Sex trafficking is a 32 billion dollar (US$) industry that relies on the degradation and torture of human beings to generate profit. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 56% of the global total of trafficked persons. This is 3x higher than Africa (3.7 million persons) and 6x higher than Latin America (1.8 million persons).

With Free To Shine’s presence in Cambodia, Children are prevented from entering the sex trafficking industry. They are freed from the intergenerational cycle of poverty, and remain protected in school. With your help, Free To Shine can enrol more girls onto our sponsorship program. From as little as $35 a month you can ensure a girl remains in school, and not in the sex-trafficking industry.

Event 1 2016 – Melbourne Development Circle: Women in Development

This is a recap of Melbourne Development Circle’s first event for 2016: Women in Development which was held on April 15, 2016.

We had the pleasure of hearing from 3 brilliant panel speakers;

• Susanne Newton from the Women’s Melbourne Network
• Eleanor Meyer creator of the SustainMe App; and
• Kate Halstead from Global Vision International

Read on for some take away messages from the evening.

Susanne Newton spoke on a variety of topics from UN Women in Uganda to fighting the good gender fight back on her home turf. There’s much to be learned from Susanne’s time in Uganda, such as challenging the efficiencies of the UN as a tool for development.

• Uganda has more women politicians than Australia – because of quotas. Are quotas the best way to gender equality?
• Men and boys have a role to play in championing for gender equality– they must be part of the solution.
• Realisation – if we as Australians in a Western society don’t have gender equality ourselves, how can we instruct others in it?
• Key to gender equality – livelihood streams owned & managed by women.
• “Be the change” … we all can & should contribute to gender equality.

Eleanor Meyer spoke about combatting adversity as a young woman in tech start-up. Following an environmental sustainability passion, Eleanor has looked for market-based solutions to climate change. As a young woman, in start-up, in tech, it’s not been without challenges.

• Questioning the power of our job titles.
• Is small business supportive of gender equality? Is it an economic decision?
• That point of view is outdated & conservative. Disruption & technology is helping to change this.

Kate Halstead shared her stories & personal learnings from women’s education programs in Nepal. A moment that stood out was a drawing that Kate shared with us. The drawing was by Ganga, one of the women from the women’s empowerment classes that Kate was running during her time in Nepal. It was a picture of a women with many arms and each arm was holding a different object. It represented the many hats that women in their society wore and the responsibilities they were expected to carry.

• Nepal can by synonymous with the caste system – but what about Australia’s caste system? Our upper, middle & lower classes.
• Don’t fall into the trap of “poor women” – you run the risk of missing the individual triumph of women when discussing “development”
• These women are not victims and don’t see themselves as victims of their situation. They’re empowered already & just need opportunity.
• In short – they’re gutsy.

You can champion gender equality through social capital. Support each other. Like & share if you see someone going out of their way to lead or make positive change happen.

Pollinate Energy has opened applications for the next Young Professionals Program in April 2016. The programs will be held in their second and third cities, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Pollinate Energy is a social business lighting up the lives of families living in India’s city slums by helping them access clean energy technology – like solar lanterns. They recently took out the ‘one to watch’ award at the Australian Social Enterprise Awards as they continue to scale their impact across India.

The Young Professionals Program is a chance for you to be part of that growth. You will spend two weeks in India with this dynamic socially driven startup. Together with your team of international and local professionals, you will use your knowledge to help Pollinate Energy overcome their most pressing business challenges, while learning about the problems faced by local entrepreneurs and families who are living in the slums of India’s major cities. You will also attend training sessions equipping you with the skills you need to visualise career progression and to succeed in senior roles.

Are you the next agent for change? Applications close 31st October, for more information and to apply click here.

“The Pollinate Energy Young Professionals Program is a ‘must do’ for anyone even remotely curious about changing the world for the better. I learnt more about India, poverty, social business and myself during the 2 week program than I have in the last 2 years!”

– Holly Hyder, YPP 2013, Pollinate Energy Ambassador

IWC Masters students on a field trip to North Stradbroke Island

Full-tuition scholarships ($49,920) to study the Master of Integrated Water Management next year. Closing date: 1 October

The IWC Master of Integrated Water Management is designed to give participants the technical, managerial and leadership skills they need to tackle complex water management challenges in a more effective and integrated way. The degree is jointly delivered by leading industry practitioners and lecturers from IWC’s partner universities. Three specialisation streams are available including ‘International development’; ‘Urban water’ and ‘Water, land and people’. Continue reading →