The Andrew Thirsk scholarship, established in 2003, recognises our top performers and promotes the development of responsible leadership skills through participation in a demanding community program. This year, Anthony Klein of our Melbourne office won the scholarship, giving him the opportunity to join PwC partners from around the world on the firm’s global leadership program, Ulysses.
After a week-long leadership intensive in June, Anthony headed to China to work with Save the Children on an eight-week international aid project to improve education outcomes for poor ethnic minority children in remote areas of Yunnan Province. The project’s focus areas are teacher training, inclusive education, nutrition, hygiene, community participation in education and income generation.
The PwC team is looking at how income can best be generated to provide scholarships to poor children to help them access and continue basic education. This involves identifying and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the current strategy and making recommendations about future development of this component of the program.
Depending on the team’s recommendations, the assignment may also include the development of tools, models and methodologies to assess the validity of any proposed school or community-based income-generating projects and to monitor their impact. This is a great example of PwC’s commitment to responsible leadership. The value of this model stretches far beyond the communities where the immediate benefit is felt, delivering a greater sense of value and purpose within our leaders and our firm.
Anthony is delighted to be a part of the program. “I feel both excited and extremely privileged to have been selected to represent the Australian firm. I am intrigued about what lies ahead in this journey and what it will teach me about myself and the wider world in which we live. I am committed to bringing my learnings back to the Australian practice and to share the experience with all staff and partners across the country."
| "By giving our people the skills to lead responsibly, PwC is able to help effect change and deliver sustainable outcomes for diverse communities." |
