Celebrating Our 2024 Scholarship Recipients
This year the Harding Miller Education Foundation held awards ceremonies in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. We welcomed 229 new scholars to the scholarship program in 2024, marking our largest intake of scholars yet. This brings the total number of current scholars to 704 nationally. Our awards events were held between March and May with our Perth event to be held in July.
We began our awards season welcoming scholars from across Victoria at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 26 March. Then came the Brisbane awards ceremony where we welcomed scholars from Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory at the State Library of Queensland on 22 April. We held our Sydney awards event, welcoming scholars from across New South Wales, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory at the Sofitel Darling Harbour on 6 May.
Each of the events included an expo, where scholars learnt about each other and met HMEF alumnae, public speaking workshops, afternoon tea with coaches and a reception with families, school representatives, donors and supporters. Our scholars took part in fabulous public speaking workshops provided by Playwave in Sydney and Brisbane and NIDA in Melbourne. The day culminated in the evening awards ceremony where scholars were presented with their certificates.
We were so excited to have amazing keynote speakers in Summer Howarth, Nicola Hazell and Mariam Mohammed. We were also treated to wonderful performances by The Arts Unit and The Australian Girls Choir. This year we were delighted to have a HMEF alumna speak at each event. Makayla Witte, Hannah Daley and Gwen Rumbel gave inspiring alumna addresses in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney respectively. Many of our alumnae also volunteered at the awards events, helping throughout the day and evening.
HMEF Awards Nights are not simply events to celebrate the achievements of wonderful scholars from across Australia, but they are also an opportunity for scholars to gain insights and build networks with peers and people from different backgrounds.
We would love to see more girls being a part of this event and the scholarship program next year. HMEF scholarships are the most generous scholarships available to public school students in Australia and provide the tools and resources for scholars to reach their academic potential. Each scholarship is valued at $20,000 over four years from Year 9 to Year 12 and include a laptop, broadband, IT support, personal tutoring, prepaid card for school essentials, online homework help, a personal coach/mentor and extensive enrichment opportunities that build pathways to tertiary education and fulfilling careers.
Scholarship applications for 2025 will open on 15th July and close on 18th September 2024. Students must apply when they are in Year 8 as the scholarship starts when they commence Year 9. If you are interested in learning more, please contact 1300 103 896 or watch this video that briefly explains the application process.
Present with Power: 8 Essential Public Speaking Skills
Public speaking: two words that can evoke a sense of dread in even the most seasoned of professionals. But whether you’re pitching an idea to your team at a future workplace, presenting at school or university, or delivering a keynote speech at an assembly or event, your ability to speak well in public can significantly impact your personal growth and help you in your future career.
Let’s take a look at some essential public speaking tips that can transform your presentations from nerve-wracking to powerful and engaging.
1. Know Your Audience
IImagine explaining astrophysics to a group of kindergarten children versus presenting the same topic to a room full of astronomers—it would be quite different! Take the time to research your audience, and if possible, interact with them beforehand to gauge their interests and questions.
Pro tip: Be prepared to adjust your presentation based on the audience’s reactions. If a particular point sparks interest or confusion, be ready to dive deeper or clarify.
2. Master Your Material
Familiarity breeds confidence, and the more confident you are in your material, the more comfortable you’ll be delivering it. Know your material inside and out—not just what’s on your slides, but the underlying ideas and data that support your points. This deep knowledge allows you to speak more freely and adapt your presentation to the audience’s reactions without losing your train of thought.
Pro tip: Think of yourself as the ultimate authority on the subject—like a walking, talking guidebook!
3. Start Strong
The first few minutes of your presentation are crucial to capturing your audience’s attention. Hook your audience from the very beginning with a captivating anecdote, a surprising statistic, or even a question that prompts reflection.
Pro tip: Introducing something personal or humorous at the start of your presentation will help you break the ice and feel more comfortable with your audience.
4. Simplify Your Slides
Your slides and notes are there to support your message, not to be the message, so avoid overcrowding them with too much text or data. This is one of the best presentation tips because it’s easy to simply read from your notes instead of engaging with your audience. You should only use your slides to highlight key points, display impactful images, or illustrate concepts with simple graphs.
Pro tip: If you’re pretty tech-savvy, feel free to use tools and apps like live polls or Q&A sessions to engage your audience.
5. Practise, Then Practise Some More
Although it might seem obvious, this is one of the most essential public speaking tips for a reason. Rehearsing your presentation multiple times helps you refine your delivery and timing. It’s a good idea to practise your speech out loud, in front of a mirror, or record yourself to evaluate your pacing, tone, and body language. Don’t just memorise your script—get comfortable with the material so you can deliver it naturally.
Pro tip: Nerves can make you speak faster, so try to consciously slow down your breathing and enunciate clearly to ensure your audience can follow along.
6. Embrace Pauses
Pauses are powerful. They give you a moment to collect your thoughts and give your audience time to absorb the information. Don’t be afraid of short silences as they can actually help you to emphasise key points and add a sense of gravitas to your delivery.
Pro tip: Try to end sections with a thought-provoking question or impactful statement so that a pause won’t seem out of place as you focus on the next point you want to make.
7. Become a Storyteller
Stories resonate with people on a personal level. Weaving a story into your presentation helps capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged. Think of your presentation as a journey, with your audience as the hero. What challenges will they face? How will your information help them overcome those challenges and emerge victorious?
Pro tip: It’ll make it a lot easier for you to present comfortably if the story is one of your own—pretend you’re telling it to a friend for maximum relatability.
8. Use Body Language Wisely
Being aware of your body language is one of the top tips for public speaking because your body language speaks volumes. Stand confidently, make eye contact, and use gestures that reinforce your message. Be mindful of nervous habits that can distract your audience, like fidgeting or swaying. Positive, open body language can enhance your connection with the audience and make your message more impactful.
Pro tip: Before your presentation, take a few minutes to stand tall with a strong posture and take some deep breaths. This simple act can significantly boost your confidence levels.
Public speaking may never leave you entirely free of nerves, but with these skills in your arsenal, you can present with confidence and power. Remember, every presentation is an opportunity to improve, learn, and connect with your audience on a meaningful level—and conquer your fear of public speaking!
This article is based on helpful public speaking resources that one of our key sponsors, WOW Recruitment, provides to their candidates regularly.
International Women’s Day 2024 Spotlight – Katira Ahmed, HMEF Coach
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we shine a spotlight on one of HMEF coaches, Katira Ahmed. Katira currently works for a charity organisation that offers disability services to the Brisbane community and co-authored a paper on the overt and covert racism in children’s picture books in Australia, which also explores how diverse family structures are represented in children’s picture books. Katira is passionate about education, particularly in the area of girls’ education, refugee education, race in education, history of education, international and comparative education. She finished her master’s degree in 2023 and now plans to pursue a PhD to conduct research in one of her interest areas. Her conviction is that education needs to be reformed to allow intersectionality of leaners such as people from diverse backgrounds.
Katira’s career in education, and her advocating journey to create opportunities for access to education for all, started after a teaching opportunity in China in 2018, when she took a career change from her bachelor’s degree in nursing. Her passion for education and reform also originated from her own experiences as a refugee child and not having access to formal education before diving head-on into schooling in a foreign country. As Katira emphasized how her experiences shaped the meaning of education for her, she said, “My story isn’t unique. Many experience issues of isolation, racism, discrimination, and bias when navigating the education systems of western countries like Australia. These experiences led me to becoming a lifelong learner and believer that education truly is the key to success and will impact individuals and their communities for generations.”
Katira, who has over five years of experience in teaching and education, is especially passionate about girls’ education because, historically, more girls lack access to school and education than boys. She raised an example of how in some countries, girls are threatened with violence and death if they attend school and yet, there are girls and women who risk their lives to be educated. Katira brought up other instances based on her own experiences, where she has seen children in China being discriminated from inner city schools due to their residential status and due to political systems. She has also witnessed girls being deterred from entering university due to their gender and the cultural expectations that women don’t require nor need higher education. Katira asserted that these systems of gender discrimination and bias exist across the globe and in various educational settings, and they must be dismantled to uphold the rights of all to accessing quality education.
Katira went on to describe that her final research project for her master’s degree at the University of Melbourne highlighted how girls and women often face issues such as sexism, harassment and inappropriate behaviours. Based on this research on how gender negatively impacted female academics career progression to senior academic positions in Australian universities, Katira revealed, “Female academics experienced issues such as pressure to return quickly after maternity leave, lack of funding for their research, comments on their bodies, derogatory statements and not being told of important meetings. These issues were only being experienced by women in these positions while their male counterparts were encouraged and given benefits that were denied for women in these spaces.”
In the spirit of this year’s International Women’s Day theme, which is Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress, Katira believes increased investment is one way of addressing these issues that face girls, women and minority groups. Investment of finances, time and effort will positively impact how and when girls receive education. For Katira, investment ranges as widely from donating used school supplies and offering meals in schools to changing societal and cultural views of girls and ultimately turning the tide in favour of girls and women internationally.
When we asked Katira to share some examples of initiatives that promote equal access to educational resources and opportunities for women from diverse backgrounds, she named the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which actively promotes girls and refugee education from grassroots community participation, the Malala Fund which advocates for the secondary education for girls globally, the Women’s Refugee Commission which advocates for girls, women, children and others experiencing displacement and crisis as refugees and the Right to Education Initiative which aims to build systems that empower the right to education for all. Katira also specifically mentioned that there are many smaller community organisations which support the education of girls and refugee children across the world, such as RefuSHE, an organisation that has supported 3,000 refugee girls, women and children in East Africa since 2008. Katira pointed out that this organisation was started by refugee girls, which makes it very special.
HMEF is proud to have Katira as one of our coaches. Her dedication to education is a valuable support for us. Just like Katira, HMEF believes in the power of education and is committed to ensuring young girls across Australia have equal opportunity to access education. We hope Katira’s story inspires you as much as it did us!
Cara Varian selected as finalist of NSW Premier’s Women of the Year
In the spirit of International Women’s Day, the Harding Miller Education Foundation would like to proudly celebrate the achievement of Cara Varian, our founding Managing Director and leader for 9 years, who has been selected as one of 5 finalists in the NSW Women of the Year Awards. Cara is now serving as the Executive Chairperson of the Harding Miller Education Foundation and has started her new position as CEO of NSW Council of Social Service.
Cara has led the Harding Miller Education Foundation with passion, integrity, innovation, and fierce intelligence. Her exceptional leadership and steadfast commitment to empowering women have left an enduring impact on numerous lives. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, honouring the achievements and contributions of Australian women, Cara’s leadership stands out as she inspires those around her to achieve greatness and tirelessly challenges inequity.
As a finalist for the NSW Premier’s Women of Excellence award, Cara’s recognition is a testament to her tireless efforts to effect change. We are proud to highlight Cara’s significant role in shaping a narrative of empowerment and progress for young women across Australia.
The NSW Women of the Year Awards recipients will be revealed at a ceremony on Thursday 7 March, and we are sending our sincere best wishes to Cara.
2023 HSC & VCE High Achieving Scholars
The Harding Miller Education Foundation extends heartfelt congratulations to the entire Class of 2023 Harding Miller scholars for their outstanding results this year. We commend their hard work and resilience demonstrated throughout the year.
Special recognition goes to the scholars acknowledged on the 2023 New South Wales HSC honour list. Out of 55 Harding Miller scholars who sat their HSC this year, 20 scholars, accounting for 36%, have been named Distinguished Achievers. Distinguished Achievers are awarded to students who achieved results in the highest band for one or more courses. Our warmest congratulations go out to these scholars who earned a place on the 2023 list:
| Scholar Name | School | Subject |
| Aminah Elmasri | Wiley Park Girls High School | Legal Studies |
| Angelina Quach | Cabramatta High School | English Advanced Mathematics Advanced |
| Annada Suryantoko | Bankstown Girls High School | Visual Arts |
| Aurora Beale | Bellingen High School | Mathematics Standard 2 Music 1 Japanese Continuers |
| Belinda Ngo | Sydney Girls High School | English Extension 2 Mathematics Extension 1 Latin Extension |
| Brenda Chang | Fairvale High School | Visual Arts |
| Chantelle Bourne | Sydney Girls High School | English Advanced English Extension 1 Legal Studies |
| Cona Xu | North Sydney Girls High School | Chemistry Mathematics Extension 1 Mathematics Extension 2 |
| Crystal Jin | James Ruse Agricultural High School | Mathematics Extension 1 Mathematics Extension 2 Physics |
| Ellie-May Lang | Great Lakes College Senior Campus | Society And Culture |
| Gwenneth Rumbel | Dungog High School | Business Studies English Extension 1 Modern History |
| Janice Nguyen | Canley Vale High School | Business Studies English Advanced Mathematics Advanced Science Extension |
| Kelly Tran | Cabramatta High School | Economics English Advanced |
| Natalie Siev | Prairiewood High School | Legal Studies Society And Culture |
| Sapphire Truong | Canley Vale High School | English Advanced Personal Development Health And Physical Education |
| Sophie Condell | Prairiewood High School | English Extension 1 |
| Sumedha Deo | North Sydney Girls High School | Mathematics Extension 1 Mathematics Extension 2 |
| Nhi Tran | Penrith High School | Mathematics Advanced (Nhi is in Year 11 and sat her HSC maths exams a year early) |
In addition, Janice Nguyen has also been recognised as a Top Achiever for achieving one of the highest places in a course in the state and also achieved a result in the highest band. Congratulations to Janice for ranking third in the state in Business Studies.
We also want to take this moment to recognize the two Victorian scholars who have earned a place on the 2023 VCE Honour Roll. These two individuals are among the seven Harding Miller scholars in Victoria who completed their VCE this year. Students on the VCE Honour Roll are those who received a score of 40 or above and are in the top 9 per cent of a subject’s cohort. We congratulate Evalyn and Kelly for their remarkable results.
| Scholar Name | School | Subject |
| Evalyn Bui | Nossal High School | English Language Visual Communication Design |
| Kelly Yung | Nossal High School | Chemistry English Health and Human Development Mathematical Methods |
This accomplishment not only underscores the scholars’ commitment but also reflects the invaluable support and guidance provided by their families/carers, teachers, coaches, and public high schools during their academic journey. As these scholars transition into the next phase of their academic pursuits, we extend our best wishes. The foundation is honoured to have contributed to their educational journey and eagerly anticipates witnessing their ongoing success and contributions to society.
HMEF Scholar receives the 2024 Queensland Premier’s Anzac Prize
The Harding Miller Education Foundation is thrilled to share the news that one of our Queensland scholars, Sophie Robertson, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Premier’s Anzac Prize. Currently in Grade 10 at Ayr State High School, Sophie is one of the 8 Queensland high school students who received this fully funded prize and the first student from Burdekin to do so. The winners were announced in the Queensland Parliament by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the end of last month.
The Premier’s Anzac Prize is a highly enriching initiative tailored for young individuals passionate about history. Those who receive the prize will engage in activities that contribute to developing their understanding of the Anzac spirit and its contemporary significance, both in Australia and globally. As part of the program, Sophie will set off for Brisbane to participate in a two-day young historians workshop hosted by the State Library of Queensland in January next year. This workshop is a prelude to a 16-day tour through Belgium, France, and the UK, where she will explore important memorial sites from World War I and II. As a particular highlight of this tour, Sophie will represent the Queensland Department of Education during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France.
Before the tour, Sophie will also engage in research on two Anzac veterans, whom she will deliver eulogies on during the European tour. In addition, Sophie will be fundraising for Mates4Mates, an organization supporting Australian veterans and their families who have sustained injuries due to their military service.
Sophie states that she is honoured to have this opportunity as learning about Australia’s military history has always been close to her heart.
Congratulations Sophie! We are proud of you and wish you a rewarding and enjoyable experience throughout the program.
HMEF Scholars awarded at the 2023 NSW Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence
The Harding Miller Education Foundation has proudly celebrated the achievement of three outstanding Year 12 scholarship recipients. The HMEF scholars, Khawlah Albaf, C-K Crosbie, and Kiara Risnes, each received the prestigious Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement. The award ceremony celebrated the 2023 NSW Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence which was held at the Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday, 5 September 2023.
The Award ceremony was hosted by the NSW Public Education Foundation on behalf of the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning the Hon Prue Car MP, and the Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mr Murat Dizdar PSM. The awards are held each year and acknowledge the outstanding achievements of schools, students, teachers, employees, and parents in the NSW public education sector. The Excellence in Student Achievement award received by the three Harding Miller scholars recognises outstanding Year 12 students who have excelled in their secondary years across academic excellence, sports, cultural, community and leadership. There are approximately 67,000 students in Year 12 in NSW this year and only 40 students across New South Wales received one of these awards. For three HMEF scholars to receive one of these prestigious awards is a fantastic achievement and is a testament to the success of the HMEF scholarship program in providing high potential girls an opportunity to reach their goals and be successful. Congratulations to Khawlah, C-K and Kiara!
Khawlah Albaf – Young High School
Khawlah Albaf displays an outstanding degree of character and values, which she consistently demonstrates through her daily actions, serving as an inspirational role model. Her exceptional leadership and teamwork skills are exemplified by her ability to collaborate within a team, while consistently attaining remarkable levels of success academically and as a school leader. Khawlah’s active involvement in state and federal youth leadership teams shows her dedication and commitment to making a positive impact in her community.
C-K Crosbie – St Johns Park High School
C-K Crosbie is an inspiring young woman who is motivated to succeed. She has demonstrated a love of learning and a commitment to achieve, both personally and academically. C-K is well respected and displays resilience, empathy and honesty. She has maintained an extremely high academic standard throughout her high school years and strives to achieve her goals. Held in high esteem by both her peers and teachers, she has fulfilled her role as School Captain with dignity. C-K possesses all the qualities of an exemplary student who is recognised for her motivation to overcome barriers and attain academic excellence.
Kiara Risnes – Leumeah High School
Kiara Risnes is an exceptional student who, in spite of her blindness, has always demonstrated positive engagement, an incredible work ethic, commitment and dedication to her academic pursuits. Kiara consistently achieves academic results at the top of her cohort and is excelling in Music 2. She aspires to attend university and pursue a career in music. She is recognised by her peers and teachers as an outstanding role model in our school and the broader community. Kiara is an exemplary representation of Leumeah High School and the values of public education. She is a most worthy recipient of the Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement.
We are proud of our three scholars’ achievements and we wish them all the best in what lies ahead.
HMEF Team in City2Surf
On Sunday, 13 August 2023, the Harding Miller Education Foundation team had a fabulous day competing in the 2023 City2Surf. City2Surf spans across 14 kilometres from Sydney CBD to Bondi. This year marks the 51st year of this world’s largest fun run. Along the 14 kilometres we were treated to music and entertained by talented groups of musicians and dancers. A fun day was had by all!
A huge thank you to all our competitors – we had a team from HMEF and also a team from Rozelle Interchange. Thank you to everyone that competed and supported us on the day including our fabulous volunteers and our wonderful donors who helped us raised around $11,000. It was a successful fundraising event which will go towards funding more scholarships in 2024. All donations and support of the Foundation is greatly appreciated and is contributing to our goal of achieving education equality in Australia.
HMEF celebrates its scholars at awards events in four cities
On Monday, 26th June 2023, the Harding Miller Education Foundation held the Sydney Awards Night at the Sofitel Hotel Wentworth. It was the foundation’s biggest event this year, with over 300 people in attendance. On the day of the event, the scholars participated in a series of expos and workshops. For the Sydney event this year, HMEF invited Playwave and Ernst & Young to host a workshop about Public Speaking and Women in Leadership respectively. The scholars then had the opportunity to meet their coaches and donors during the evening reception. The day concluded with the awards ceremony during which 75 Year 9 scholars were presented with their certificates and 35 Year 12 scholars received gifts.
Earlier in the year, HMEF held awards nights in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. HMEF Awards Night are an annual event to welcome the new Year 9 scholars to the Harding Miller Scholarship Program and celebrate their achievements. In 2023, we celebrated 201 new scholars from all states and territories of Australia, which brings the total number of our current scholars to 608 nationally. In addition to the new Year 9 scholars, for the Awards Night this year, we invited Year 11 and 12 girls who did not get the chance to celebrate their achievement during the first year of the program due to the pandemic.
The first awards ceremony in Perth was held on the 3rd of April at the University Club of Western Australia, attended by 31 scholars from across Western Australia. We invited scholars from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory for the next awards night in Melbourne. On the 8th of April, 72 scholars attended the Melbourne event at the State Library Victoria. The celebration in Melbourne was followed by the Brisbane Awards Night on the 22nd of May, which brought together all Queensland-based scholars to the State Library of Queensland. Wrapping up the series of events was the Sydney Awards Night which was attended by a total of 110 scholars from New South Wales and 2 scholars from the Northern Territory.
HMEF Awards Nights are not simply events to celebrate the achievements of wonderful scholars from across Australia, but they are also an opportunity for scholars to gain insights and build networks with peers and people from different backgrounds.
We would love to see more girls being a part of this event and the scholarship program next year. HMEF scholarships are the most generous scholarships available to public school students in Australia and provide the tools and resources for scholars to reach their academic potential. Each scholarship is valued at $20,000 over four years from Year 9 to Year 12 and include a laptop, broadband, IT support, personal tutoring, prepaid card for school essentials, online homework help, a personal coach/mentor and extensive enrichment opportunities that build pathways to tertiary education and fulfilling careers.
Scholarship applications for 2024 will open on 13th July and close on 14th September 2023. Students must apply when they are in Year 8 as the scholarship starts when they commence Year 9. If you are interested in learning more, please contact 1300 103 896 or watch this video that briefly explains the application process.
Kim Harding awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
A huge congratulations to our co-founder, Kim Harding, newly minted OAM for service to the community through charitable organisations. Her work at the Harding Miller Education Foundation is phenomenal and sits amongst her other philanthropic interests including marine conservation, homelessness, the prevention of domestic violence and the arts.
At the Harding Miller Education Foundation big hearts and hard work are the uniform, and Kim leads by example. Her energy is endless. Her passion and her compassion are unrivalled. She aims big and loves large and the foundation’s achievements are due to this incredible combination of traits being drawn together with a great focus on the achievement of education equity for Australian girls. Her passion and leadership have inspired other donors to contribute and hundreds of volunteers to work with us.
This significant recognition through the award of Medal of the Order of Australia coincides with the Foundation awarding our thousandth scholarship. That means that we have distributed more than $20,000,000 of scholarships to high-potential Australian girls who don’t currently have the resources that they need to achieve their full potential.
Each scholarship is a multi-layered four-year support system that can be personalised to meet the individual needs of each recipient. The scholarship includes personal tutoring, a high-quality laptop, mobile data, remote IT helpdesk support, study skills training, online homework help, access to books and book vouchers, and a pre-paid expense card to cover education expenses. The scholarship recipients also have access to a range of online and in-person experience to broaden their view of their career prospects and give them the knowledge and confidence that they need to achieve those careers. We call this our enrichment program, and we partner with Australian universities, businesses, and inspiring individuals to deliver a broad and exciting range of options for the students each year. Every scholarship recipient is also partnered with a personal coach who assists them to navigate the scholarship opportunities and supports them to make the most of their educational opportunities in and out of school.
The long-term payoff of the investment of the founders as well as our other donors, volunteers and supporters is not yet visible but as the number of graduating classes grows so do the stories of the life-changing impact. A thousand scholarships means a thousand stories… so far.
Kim, with her co-founder Irene, have directly funded the administration and operational costs of the foundation since its inception in 2015. In addition, they have also personally supported more than 600 scholarships across the eight years.
Kim received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours List.
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Felicity Kean: Celebrating a decade of coaching young scholars
March 6, 2025
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