Insights and Guidance for Young Professionals Entering the Aid & Development Sector
The Australian aid and development sector has a long history of engaging young people as volunteers, employees, and activists within organisations working both locally and globally.
Many young people are keen to find roles that help the poorest and most marginalised people around the world; however, this is a small and competitive sector, which creates challenges for those passionate about securing a role and advancing their early-stage career.
Adding barriers to employment, the sector is changing rapidly as aid budgets shrink, donor expectations change, and jobs change with more roles filled by local, well-educated and supported staff who know their communities' needs best of all.
Join us as we hear from young professionals who are negotiating these challenges, gain insight into different organisations and the jobs available to progress your career.
Women in Aid & development Online event Tuesday, July 15 from 6.30- 7.45 pm
Make sure to register today and include a speaker question. We would also love to hear where you are on your aid & development career journey, so we can tailor the session to you.
Cost: FREE for WIAD Members, and $5 ONLINE. Link to be shared after registration.
*Members will be sent a discount code for free access. Please check your emails (including spam/junk mail)
*Once purchased, tickets are non-refundable.
Speakers
Georgia Kane
Georgia is an early-career professional with experience in international development, public health, and humanitarian work across Australia and the Pacific.
Based in Fiji, she currently works for Save the Children Australia in International Programs, Policy & Advocacy and has supported regional advocacy with the Pacific Sexual and Gender Diversity Network (PSGDN).
Georgia is passionate about gender equality, LGBTQI rights, inclusive community-led development, and meaningful youth engagement — especially in decision-making, advocacy, and leadership.
She holds a Bachelor of International Development Studies from Australian Catholic University, with majors in Politics and International Relations and Public Health, and has completed postgraduate studies in Gender, Peace & Security and Human Rights at the University of the South Pacific. Georgia aspires to contribute to advancing gender justice, feminist foreign policy, and locally-led humanitarian responses.
Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis
Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis is a social and health researcher, policy practitioner, and advocate with over a decade of experience in rights-based advocacy, youth and health policy, community development, and research. Her work is grounded in addressing the impacts of social inequality on communities and in leadership. She manages initiatives such as the Future Healthy Countdown 2030, Australia’s national framework for tracking children and young people’s health and wellbeing and driving evidence-based policy change for future generations. Angelica is also an Investigator on global and national place-based research initiatives and served as the 2022 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations.
She is the Vice Chair of African Women Australia and an advisor to organisations including the UNESCO Chair in Global Health and Education, the Centre for Global Adolescent Health and the Sydney Women’s Fund. A passionate voice for community, she regularly appears on the ABC and has been spotlighted by SBS News and The Guardian. She received the NSW Premier’s Youth Medal (2021) and was named one of the United Nations’ 23 Young People Leading Resilient Recovery.