DT Global was thrilled to launch the second Emerging Leaders in International Development (ELID) program at Parliament House in Canberra on 7 December 2023.
The event was attended by 18 ELIDs from seven countries in the Asia Pacific region, along with members of parliament, DFAT staff, ETMP - leadership training, and DT Global staff including CEO Torge Gerlach.
Colin Adams, Managing Director of DT Global Asia Pacific, opened the event, sharing that the ELID program started in 2022 and was designed to recognise, support and elevate, local talent across the Asia Pacific.
“Continuing to run this program after last year's pilot program is DT Global's commitment towards ensuring ongoing locally led development in our programs…We want to invest in our local leaders.
“The learnings we get from the Emerging Leaders who work all through the Asia Pacific region is invaluable. The feedback about locally led leadership, how it fits into our strategies, and how can we do better is so important. This ELID program is one of our pathways to achieving locally led development,” he said.
Emerging Leader and CPP Grants Manager, Serah Letuan, from the Building Community Engagement in Papua New Guinea (BCEP) Program, spoke on behalf of the Emerging Leaders, saying they looked forward to contributing to DT Global’s locally led development strategy.
“We believe that we can be instrumental in the development of that locally led strategy.”
“The ELID program is really beneficial for every one of us as Emerging Leaders. We see the experiences and the skills that we can contribute, but also what we will gain and give back to each other over the coming months of the program,” she said.
After the second cohort for the ELID Program was officially launched, guests enjoyed a celebratory reception at Parliament House.
The launch event also coincided with a week-long intensive workshop where the emerging leaders learned about adaptive leadership principles, took part in group coaching sessions, and attended the Australasian AID Conference.
Our new Emerging Leaders are a diverse and amazing wealth of talent. They are a group of ten women and eight men, from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, and Fiji. All are specialists in their fields including law and justice, infrastructure, gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI), health, finance, grants operations and economics.
Each leader believes that locally led development is fundamental to successful and sustainable development and that by taking part in the Emerging Leaders Program, they will strengthen their ability to grow their leadership skills so they can contribute to positive development in their home countries.
The ELID program will see participants take part in an intensive 12-month, mostly online learning journey, to strengthen their potential as future leaders within the development sector.
This includes working with one of our key partners, ETM Perspectives (ETMP), a 100 percent Indigenous-owned and run company specialising in transformational and adaptive leadership.
ETMP supplies specialist training, runs workshops and provides individual and group coaching sessions, to support the ELIDs to strengthen their leadership journey, problem-solving, and self-development capabilities.
Participants are also sponsored to attend a week-long professional development retreat in Canberra to attend the Australasian AID Conference, network with peers and members from DFAT, and take part in intensive training from ETMP and International Development specialist Anna Gibert from DT Global.
We look forward to sharing their leadership journey.
