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ACCELERATE applications now open by Ben Starick 1 June 2014
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pplications are now open for ACCELERATE, the British Council’s leadership programme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ACCELERATE is designed to provide participants with the skills, networks and confidence to drive their own careers, and take up leadership positions within their community and cultural organisations. Past recipients of ACCELERATE have represented a wide range of artistic professions, from visual arts to design, museum work and curating, to theatre direction and writing. The ACCELERATE programme includes: - A three-day Leadership Intensive, where participants will gain practical leadership skills to help them outline sustainable and ambitious career pathways and identify personal and professional obstacles to achieving them. - Sessions will be delivered by visiting UK expert Mark Wright of People Create. - A fully funded trip to the UK, where they will spend time with high-profile individuals and organisations in their artistic field. This year, the final four participants, selected from around the country, will also be carefully paired with a UK mentor, whom they will meet while in the UK and stay in regular contact with for the year after they return home. This extended support will ensure that recipients will receive the ongoing benefits of their ACCELERATE and UK
2013 ACCELERATE participants Andrea James Performing Arts, Solomon Booth, Michael Cook, Kimberley Moulton and Ron Bradfield Jnr
experience. British Council Director Nick Marchand says, “What we have seen in previous years is that ACCELERATE participants return home with their minds full of possibility, and what we hope this extended support will do is to help them to process their UK experience more quickly, and to allow them to hit the ground running, to find a way of turning this possibility into practical change and action.” Now in its fifth year, the ACCELERATE programme has built a reputation in Australia and has invigorated ongoing collaborations with UK artists and organisations. 2013 participant Kimberley Moulton says, “There is so much opportunity to learn, engage and share knowledge between Australia and the UK.
Having an open dialogue and building trusted professional relationships is important in creating new ways of communicating old stories. It’s important to understand that we do share in our histories, good and bad, and collaboration and working together is the next step in our journey.” ACCELERATE is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from across Australia with at least five years’ experience in the creative industries, who have a bold vision for where they want to take their career and their community. Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend the information sessions which will be held across the country in June. Further information at www. accelerate.org.au
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