Eliza Shields

Canberra, ACT

Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) Enabling Pathway: Open Foundation

Meeting a Holocaust survivor when she was 11 years old radically shifted Eliza’s outlook on kindness. After this meeting, the empathetic nature her parents encouraged her to nurture was bolstered with real world meaning. Eliza drew on this to when advocating for issues of inequality. In her first roles with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as an entry level IT officer, the lack of female technical officers was stark. Eliza created a video to attract more women into technical training programs featuring some of the few female technical officers in her work area. As her career progressed, she began working closely with aid-funded technology enterprises in developing countries. Eliza supported these, often small, organisations through funding discussions and advocated on their behalf to ensure they did not miss out funding due to differences in communication styles. Eliza completed Open Foundation in 2021 and will begin a Bachelor of Social Work in 2022. Eliza is excited to bring about further positive change in the world as a professional social worker, and through the focused initiatives and relationships of the Ma & Morley program.