The ONLP Course will facilitate participants to:
ONLP is for early- and mid-career individuals working in nutrition related fields within Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands) who aspire to make a difference in the field of nutrition.
Application is through a competitive process and participant selection is made by an independent selection committee. We wish to attract a diverse group of participants in each course; representing different roles (national and international authorities, industry, NGOs, academia, research institutes), geographical regions, career level (early- and mid-career), gender identities, sexual orientations, and religions to enhance network building and the growth and development of individuals.
ONLP will enrol up to 30 participants per course. At least 2 positions will be guaranteed for eligible candidates identifying as Pacific. At least 2 positions will be guaranteed for eligible candidates identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. At least 1 position will be guaranteed for eligible candidates identifying as Māori.
1) Candidates must be currently working or intending to work in Oceanic countries, which include Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands (comprising Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia).
2) Candidates should be early- or mid-career professionals, and
• Hold a postgraduate degree (such as a Graduate Diploma, Masters, or PhD) in nutrition or a related field, and/or
• Possess professional experience in nutrition or a related field, including being new to practicing in a field of nutrition and in roles demonstrating leadership potential in nutrition or a related area.
3) Candidates must be proficient in English.
Applications will close on the 18th of October 2024.
Candidates will be informed of the decision of the selection committee by the 18th of December 2024.
**AUD 5,000. Includes leadership training, course materials and full board and lodging. A 10% deposit ($500) is required when successful applicants accept their offer.
Financial assistance is available.
Candidates can apply for financial assistance for travel
and/or course fee costs through the online application process.
A feature of the ONLP course is the experiential learning opportunities, case-studies and real life experiences shared by established nutrition leaders in Oceania. Group exercises, discussion and self-reflection allow for participants to establish their leadership style.
Built upon a leadership model used successfully by ENLP for more than 20 years and adopted by the other leadership programs, ONLP aims to establish an environment that promote leadership development and growth. ONLP fosters relationships, networking and provides opportunity to apply leadership skills through activities in which participants work in teams to carry out tasks and meet deadlines amidst the ongoing training program. Through this teamwork participants fulfil different roles and functions, are exposed to new experiences and sometimes conflicting demands that all contribute to their growth, development and a greater self-awareness. These activities provide opportunity for self-reflection and peer feedback, which is also critical for growth and development.
Throughout the course participants will be exposed to modern information technology platforms that will enhance their ability to connect with the ONLP network beyond the ONLP course.
Successful applicants are expected to attend and stay at the course venue for the full 6 days of the course.
The Program Outline for ONLP 2025 is to be announced. The program will include workshops covering leadership, communication, influencing policy, social responsibility and food systems. The following workshop information provides an example of topics covered at the 2023 ONLP course.
Leading with Insight: ONLP course participants will learn how to lead with insight. The course will review transformational, management, technical, and adaptive styles of leadership so that participants can identify the type of leadership required in their context. Participants will learn how to adapt their leadership style to the needs of their team/stakeholders. Participants will also become self-aware of their strengths and development areas, their blind spots and unconscious biases.
Leading with Influence: ONLP course participants will learn how to lead and influence with the brain in mind to create a safe socio-emotive environment to enable paradigm shift, change, collaboration and innovation. Participants will learn how to lead high performing teams and collaborative endeavours through harnessing a coaching mindset and tools. Participants will also garner a better understanding of their social style preferences and how to adapt to those of others.
Leading with Intent: ONLP course participants will develop their leadership purpose, ‘brand’ and presence through action planning and establishing their leadership commitments.
ONLP course participants will engage in fun team building activities in a relaxed and supportive environment to gain an understanding and appreciation of the different roles individuals play within a team. Participants will build relationships between team members, identify challenges faced by the team, conduct self-assessments, reflections and receive and provide constructive peer feedback.
ONLP course participants will leave with a greater awareness of the social responsibility associated with nutrition leadership and the relevant dilemmas faced by nutrition leaders.
ONLP course participants will develop the ability to communicate on the basis of self-concept, to use creative and visual communication to inform, to reflect, and to encourage others, as well as interpret and communicate complex data for public audiences in different media channels. Participants will learn how to contribute expertise effectively to policy development, to assess competing priorities and negotiate skilfully to achieve successful outcomes, and to provide, receive and reflect on feedback constructively.
ONLP course participants will have a better understanding of the nutrition policy landscape in order to influence policy changes and mobilise diverse stakeholders to action.
ONLP course participants will be using systems based thinking approaches to gain insights into the multiple objectives of global food systems. They will also reflect on the potential synergies and trade-offs in the transformation of food systems. Participants will develop a greater awareness and understanding of the integrative roles different sectors play in shaping sustainable food environments. Realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of food and nutrition security for all will require new paradigms of leadership; participants will learn how to apply new sets of leadership skills to tackle these complex challenges.
ONLP course participants will develop strategies to form a strong foundation for ongoing networking and collaboration beyond the ONLP course for all participants.
University of Wollongong
Dr Kate Bowles is an experienced university academic, researcher, curriculum developer, educational design unit manager and public writer. She is skilled in using narrative practices in research and professional development in education and healthcare settings. She is a specialist in online education, and the use of social media for professional networking and community building.
I am known as an insightful and adaptive leadership development facilitator and executive coach. I find it very rewarding to help individuals gain self-insight and make meaning of their world so that they can fulfil their true purpose and potential. I have a special interest in evaluating the impact of leadership development on individual, team and organisational performance.
My strengths are my creative, yet strategic approach to learning design and facilitation coupled with empathy, flexibility and loads of energy and drive. My experience in facilitating strategy at senior and executive level has infused my facilitation with a pragmatic style.
I have been privileged to work with teams and leaders up to executive and Board level and gained an in-depth insight into the challenges of leading in the complex, highly competitive and ever changing world of science, technology, academia and applied research for clients such as CSIRO, the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne, the Robinson Research Institute, the University of South Australia, etc. I have gained a deep insight into the challenges that individuals in ’high-knowledge’ environments face with regards to influencing, navigating change and managing complexity and ambiguity as they endeavour to translate insights into impact to effect system-wide change through cross-sector, inter-disciplinary collaboration and innovation.
I have worked in the field of education, training and development for over twenty years and have had the privilege of working with corporate and not-for-profit organisations in Australia, The Pacific (for participants from Fiji, PNG, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Samoa, East Timor), South Africa, the UK and the Netherlands across a vast range of industries and sectors.
I have a Master’s Degree in Multicultural Education with a thesis in Multiculturally-sensitive Learning and Development and gained first-hand experience in managing highly talented individuals at a tertiary learning institution in South Africa before entering the world of organisational learning and development in 1999.
Dr Jessica Bogard is an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (AdvAPD) and Nutrition Systems Scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. As a dietitian and public health nutritionist, she is interested in understanding how agriculture and food systems can be leveraged to improve nutrition, particularly among vulnerable population groups including women and young children. Her work on promoting underutilised nutrient-rich local foods to improve nutrition has received international recognition through the APEC ASPIRE prize for innovation, research and education. Prior to joining CSIRO she worked for WorldFish, one of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres in South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific region. Her work focused on developing approaches to integrate nutrition considerations into food security research related to fisheries and aquaculture. She obtained her doctorate degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Queensland in 2017.
Donnell is a NZ Registered Dietitian and Senior Adviser in Food Claims at New Zealand Food Safety, part of the Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand. As a nutritionist working within government, Donnell is part of a large trans-Tasman team that contributes to the development, implementation and enforcement of Food Regulations. Having an understanding about how our regulatory policy process for food works is fundamental in understanding how to best advocate for effective nutrition policy. Having the skills to address key questions in the policy process and mobilise diverse stakeholders to effectively advocate for good nutrition policy is an important part of our nutrition leadership journey. While it is not often part of the nutrition curriculum to understand how our current food policy system works, working with it can bring about long term and far reaching evidence-based changes for our population’s health. While Donnell’s career has spanned many sectors including public health, government, academia, food industry and nutrition communications it has always focussed on the critical appraisal or delivery of nutrition research for evidence-based data to inform policy.
Welma is a Principal Research Scientist and Research Group leader within the Human Health Program at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) based in Adelaide, South Australia. Her research involves working with Industry and other research partners to develop and deliver scientifically validated products and technologies to support better health. Welma is President of the Nutrition Society of Australia and Immediate Past-Chair of the Oceanic Nutrition Leadership Platform (ONLP). In recognition of her outstanding contribution to nutritional science, she was presented with the Muriel Bell Award from the Nutrition Society of New Zealand in 2013. Welma is passionate about leadership development and most grateful and proud of the role she played in establishing the ONLP.
Elisiva is the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Adviser, Public Health Nutrition with the Public Health Division of SPC (Pacific Community), based in Suva, Fiji. Her background is human nutrition and dietetics. Part of her role with SPC is to take leadership in supporting the 22 countries and territories of the Pacific to build and strengthen capacity of the nutrition workforce through policy and guidelines, training and professional development, to improve diet and prevent and control NCDs in the region. Elisiva was a member of the first ONLP cohort in 2016 and has continued to be a member of the ONLP course working group and the leadership committee.