William Ah Ket Leadership Program

Empowering the next generation of Chinese-Australian leaders: Applications open

We are pleased to announce that following the successful delivery of the inaugural William Ah Ket Leadership Program in 2023, applications are now open for the first of two Programs in 2025.

With nearly 1.4 million Australian residents identified as having Chinese ancestry and heritage, Chinese-Australians have and continue to make a significant contribution to the history and prosperity of Australia.

However, in today’s rapidly shifting political and economic landscape, especially when it comes to Australia’s relationship with China, Chinese-Australians are facing unique barriers and obstacles to political and social participation and positions of influence and leadership. It is more crucial than ever for emerging Chinese-Australian leaders to have their voices heard and amplified, and their leadership journeys nurtured and supported.

Named after the first Australian barrister of Chinese and Asian heritage the late William Ah Ket, the William Ah Ket Leadership Program aims to equip the next generation of emerging Chinese-Australian leaders with the skills and expertise to contribute to Australian public debate, and become more effective leaders in their field

The William Ah Ket Leadership Program is an initiative of the ANU Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL) and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A key pillar of the Foundation’s work is engaging Chinese-Australian communities, strengthening their voice and agency.

What's in the program?

The program will include a comprehensive academic and practical approach to focus on effective training and upskilling for emerging Chinese-Australian leaders on the following topics and more: 

• The Australia-China bilateral relationship: risks and opportunities
• Power, influence, communication and storytelling
• Succeeding and setting the agenda as Chinese-Australian leaders 
• Personal and professional brand building, and finding your authentic voice
• Strategies to drive change and impact within workplaces and society to advance Asian-Australian representation and cultural diversity leadership 

The program and its modules will be delivered in a personalised, socialised and contextualised way led by combination of academic staff and practitioners on topics and issues unique and tailored to Chinese-Australians. Participants will also take part in reflective and diverse modes of learning from peer discussions and interactive workshops. 

Upon completion of the Program, participants are expected to produce and present a 2,000-word paper on a public policy area that relates to the topics and themes from the program. Select papers will be considered for publication across various ANU platforms. 

Who should apply?

The program is open and eligible to applicants between the ages of 30 to 45 who self-identify as Chinese-Australian and/or an Australian of Chinese heritage. Participants will be selected through an open competitive application process with successful participants to be determined by a selection panel.

The application process 

To apply, participants will need to provide a curriculum vitae and a covering letter (between 800 to 1,000 words) addressing the following questions:

1. Why do you want to participate in the William Ah Ket Leadership Program? Why now at this point in time in your professional career?
2. What do you see are the qualities and attributes Chinese-Australians can bring to leadership, not just in working across the Australia-China bilateral relationship but across Australia more widely?
3. What do you see are the challenges and opportunities facing the Australia-China relationship?
4. Should you be successful in being selected to participate in the Program, how do you plan to build the learnings into your professional career and leadership journey? 

The application deadline is Saturday 30 November at 11:59pm AEST. Applications can be sent to caal@anu.edu.au  

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