Enabling bright girls from disadvantage to shine through education support

Harding Miller Education Foundation

Supported beneficiary groups within Women & Girls

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people | Migrants, refugees or asylum seekers | People at risk of homelessness/ people experiencing homelessness | People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background | People in rural/regional/remote communities

Age Demographic

Youth - 15 to under 25

Project Focus

Education

Project Area

Australia

ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC

Rural/Regional

Project Description

The HMEF Scholarship program highlights the role education plays in solving intergenerational disadvantage for high potential girls across Australia who are educated in government high schools and who come from low socio-economic circumstances.
Each year from July through to September the program identifies the successful applicants – girls who entering Year 9 the following year from across the Australian public-school system, and provides them with a multi-layered support program for four years through to Year 12 and graduation.
This includes laptop and technical support, high speed broadband internet, tutoring, dedicated coaching, unlimited online homework assistance, and financial support for uniforms and excursions.
We also have a growing enrichment program for the scholars that involves introducing them to a range of career experiences to broaden their horizons about what is on offer with tertiary education. Some of our partners include Google, NAB, 3M, Mastercard, USYD, UNSW and the University of New England.
These interventions improve the girls’ ability to complete their schooling and give them the same opportunity to succeed through key educational transition points as their peers who live without disadvantage. This will lead to the girls realizing their education potential and charting their path to tertiary education and meaningful employment, thus giving them a greater chance at providing better opportunities for themselves and their future families.

Expected Outcomes

The main expected outcome of the program is for scholars to graduate having achieved their academic potential and to build a pathway to tertiary education, meaningful careers and financially successful lives . We work with the girls to reach their potential firstly by providing them with the tools and resources they need but to also support them and help to grow their confidence and self-belief that they can break the cycle of poverty that they have come from and build better lives with more opportunity for themselves and their future families. We aim to build the next generation of female leaders of Australia - women with the education, insight and understanding of what a future Australia needs to be fair and equitable for all.
We already know we are achieving these outcomes with over 162 girls having graduated since 2019 with university pathways, and many with early entry and additional tertiary education scholarships.

Project Data & Lessons

Scholarship Program–5 years

•634 academic scholarships have been delivered nationally, which has seen girls identify a future that is different to what their parents have experienced. In 2019 19% of these girls were First Nations.

•162 girls have graduated from the program with over 80% pursuing tertiary education across both non-traditional and traditional careers.

Enrichment Program–3 years

•In 2020 the program has delivered over 1189 hours of enrichment opportunities for 261 scholars with 20+ partners.

•Reduced socioeconomic isolation has empowered them to make choices that will lead to financial independence and the ability to make valuable contributions to society. Every year we collect data on the usage of the tools and resources in the program. We know that we have delivered $1M worth of tutoring and homework help, $450K worth of uniforms, textbooks, and fees, $1.1 M in technology. At the end of 2019, we had delivered 18,932 hours of tutoring through over 30 different tutors across the country, all of these elements enabling inclusion, a level playing field and the chance for these girls to make the most of their education.

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Project Dates

Funding Details

$20,000
Funding Needed

$0
Current Funding

$20,000
Total Project Costs

Approved Deductible Gift Recipient

Approved Tax Concession Charity

Other Funding Sources
The HMEF Founders pay for all operating costs including staff salaries enabling 100% of every donation to go to the scholars on the program. $20,000 is for one scholarship across four years.

Other Support Opportunities
Impact investment, In-kind contributions, Pro bono services

Organisation Details

Harding Miller Education Foundation

ABN: 51607194641

ACNC Registration Link

Contact Details

Melinda Zanello

email: [email protected]

phone: 1300103896

About Harding Miller Education Foundation

The Harding Miller Education Foundation is an Australian charity that supports high potential but socio-economically disadvantaged girls across Australia through a $20,000 scholarship over 4 years of high school. Our program gives these girls the tools and resources they need to not only complete high school but to reach their potential and build direct pathways to tertiary education. We have awarded 600+ scholarships since 2016 across 320+ schools in every state and territory of Australia. The scholarship includes a high-quality laptop (Toshiba Dynabook) in the first year as well as four years of;•IT support•High speed internet•$2500 worth of online of face to face tutoring•Online homework help (www.studiosity.com)•Expense cards for essential school needs such as uniforms, textbooks, and school excursionsEach scholar is also allocated a personal coach who supports and guides them through the four years of the program. We have over 80 volunteer coaches working with us, many who have educational backgrounds and all with a deep passion to help the girls excel.

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I raise up my voice— not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.

Malala Yousafzai

Also known as Australian Women Donors Network (ABN: 28 141 197 471), Australians Investing in Women is a registered charity endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient (DGR1) under a special listing, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.