Nicole Chiesa

Nicole Chiesa, from Ingham in North Queensland, will use her Fellowship to expand the Agri Life Skills Program developed through social enterprise Link 2 Country, creating a repeatable model that can be delivered through agricultural shows, field days, careers expos and community events across rural and regional Australia.

Drawing on a career with experience across cattle stations, agricultural education, rural merchandise and her family’s sugarcane harvesting business, Nicole has seen first-hand the difficulties regional businesses can face attracting the next generation of workers.

The Agri Life Skills Program gives young people hands-on exposure to agriculture and other regional industries while connecting them directly with employers, education providers and training pathways. More than 1,000 young people have already participated in Link 2 Country initiatives, developing practical and employability skills while discovering careers they may otherwise never have considered.

Nicole will use the Fellowship to develop a digital platform supporting school registrations, compliance, resources and communication, together with a repeatable program model that communities can adapt to their own industries, workforce needs and opportunities.

Erin Smith

Associate Professor Erin Smith will use her Fellowship to develop Rural Ready: Preparing the Next Generation of Rural Health Professionals for Disasters, an innovative education project designed to better prepare paramedicine, nursing and allied health students to respond to disasters and major emergencies in rural and regional communities.

Head of the Department of Rural Allied Health at La Trobe University, Associate Professor Smith has more than 25 years’ experience across higher education, research, disaster health and rural workforce development. Her work has focused extensively on improving health, wellbeing and resilience in rural and regional communities.

Her project will expand an existing award-winning game-based, mass-casualty simulation into additional immersive rural disaster scenarios, including an industrial mass-casualty incident and a severe weather event affecting a rural hospital.

Students will be able to practice critical decision-making, communication, leadership, teamwork and disaster management in realistic but psychologically safe learning environments before they enter the workforce. The resources will be embedded within La Trobe Rural Health School programs and have the potential to be adapted and shared across other rural health education settings in Australia.

Annabelle Hudson | 2025

Annabelle, from Young, NSW, is passionate about helping rural and regional young people recognise their potential and trust their unique path. As a psychology tutor at the University of NSW and the University of Technology Sydney, and with experience in the youth suicide prevention research team at Black Dog Institute, she bridges research with real-world impact. With Fellowship support, Annabelle aims to co-design a tailored program for rural and regional students that helps them build self-knowledge and self-belief, recognise their strengths, and set meaningful goals.
By expanding their sense of possibility and equipping them with practical tools to navigate life’s challenges, she aims to empower rural young people to pursue futures that reflect who they are and what matters most to them.