RURAL girls, quick smart, get your applications in for the Future Women Rural Scholarship Program.

Applications are open to women living in remote, rural and regional NSW aged 18-39 years old and close on 28 January 2022.

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Recipients will be announced on 14 February 2022.

Successful applicants receive a place in the Future Women Platinum+ Program worth $5,500, where they will take part in networking, mentoring and digital learning opportunities.

Recipients are invited to attend the Future Women Leadership Summit on 7 and 8 March 2022, celebrating International Women’s Day offering learning and networking opportunities.

A scholarship winner in 2021, Alice Williams, a ‘Farm-Her’ at New Life Farm in Sapphire Beach told News Of The Area about her experiences last year.

“I saw the scholarship program circulating online for rural women and I was thrilled there was some support to be involved in.

“We often miss out on the types of professional development opportunities that are available to those in the cities when we choose to live in regional and rural areas.

“The Future Women Program sounded exciting and being involved in the management of two successful businesses here in Coffs (Axis IQ and New Life Farm) seemed like a great opportunity to broaden my skills and better equip me for my future career.

“Sometimes these programs are expensive and require travel and even further costs.

“The scholarship was a great help.

“I’m a strong believer in continual learning and development to be able to continue to bring value to everything you do.

“The opportunity to be involved in group mentoring was fantastic.

“It’s often lonely to be a business leader and it was great to have people from outside of my context who could listen and bounce back ideas.

“The actual conference itself was a buzz.

“Such incredibly intelligent, passionate, impressive women presented over two days.

“There were little ‘penny drop’ moments the whole way through.

“I also am a big fan of Andrea Clarke, founder and CEO of Future Fit, so to be able to take part in Future Proof course work led by her was fantastic.

“The world is changing, and I think with the impacts of Covid that rate of change is accelerating.

“The course work and conference couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Alice says the course has given her confidence in the way she approaches leadership, which was a big focus in the program.

“I am always striving to be the best leader I can be, I want to be a great leader, and it’s something I think you work on forever.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from some fantastic (as well as some not so fantastic) leaders in my time and along with programs like Future Women, it all adds to my toolbox of skills so that I can bring value to my team, my clients, and enjoy satisfaction that I’ve given it my best.”

By Andrea FERRARI