In an ongoing commitment to promoting Women in Leadership, Oceania Rugby invites applications from across the region for the 2021 World Rugby’s Women’s Leadership Development Scholarship.
This exciting opportunity offers two scholarships of up to £10,000 that can be used to support a combination of leadership development opportunities ranging from formal or informal education, conferences, forums, mentoring and best practice study tours. Each scholarship is tailored to meet the development needs and leadership aspirations of the successful candidate.
One of the first ever recipients of the World Rugby Women Leadership Scholarships in Oceania was Fiji Rugby Union Women’s Development Manager, Adi Vela Naucukidi.
Naucukidi who undertook a course on Women in Leadership at the Cornell University in 2018 said the learnings from the exposure proved beneficial to her role as the Women’s Development Manager in Fiji.
“The most important learning for me was not really the classroom lecture sessions and assignments but the sharing of experiences from women leaders in a male dominated space,” Naucukidi said.
“I was in a class that is so full of experiences (US female army officers, female pilots, CEO’s and managers of international brands) for them to share real life experiences in their respective spaces was huge and I wouldn’t get that anywhere else,” she added.
The scholarships are open to women from the Oceania region who are:
· Are currently involved in rugby at the governance level as a board member*
· Are currently involved in rugby at a senior management level*
· Have the potential for either of the above within 2 years.
*This does not have to be in the national union but may be in a provincial union.
Oceania Rugby Sports for Development Manager and Women in Rugby Lead Erin Hatton said Oceania Rugby is very excited about the continued partnership we have with World Rugby in accelerating the global development of women’s rugby through the women’s leadership scholarship.
“Having more women represented in key leadership roles is critical to the prosperity of women’s rugby. But, with research showing that diverse teams are more innovative and higher performing, we also look forward to seeing the benefits that greater diversity in rugby’s leadership generally will bring,” Hatton said.
There is no limit to the number of applications that can be submitted.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Erin.Hatton@oceaniarugby.com.
More information and an application form can be located here.