Scholarship recipient announcement
Rachel Coghlan has been announced as the recipient of the 2022 Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership (Fulbright Scholarship). Rachel is an international public health researcher, advocate and board member of Palliative Care Australia. She is currently completing a PhD at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Deakin University.
The Fulbright Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership supports emerging leaders in the not-for-profit
(NFP) sector to undertake research in the United States for three to four months. It is funded by
Perpetual and supported by the Australian Scholarships Foundation.
“The Fulbright Scholarship is an invaluable opportunity for NFP sector emerging leaders to pursue
research and learning goals that benefit society. Perpetual is extremely proud to support and advance
capability building to advance these leaders,” says Jane Magor, National Manager, Philanthropy and
Non Profit Services at Perpetual.
“Supporting NFP leaders through the Fulbright Scholarship over the last ten years has unearthed
many outstanding recipients. In a pandemic environment providing an extraordinary sector leader like
Rachel the opportunity to build on research in public health is a timely societal contribution,” notes
Samantha Sayers, CEO of Australian Scholarships Foundation.
COVID-19 has magnified existing challenges in public health and palliative care, especially for
countries embroiled in war or disaster. Rachel has over twenty years of experience in clinical practice
and undertaking policy, research and advocacy for international development and humanitarian
NGOs. As the 2022 Fulbright Scholar, she will work with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for
Humanitarian Health to build the foundation for future research on palliative care in humanitarian
emergencies. She will also work on ways to engage and advocate to a wider humanitarian audience
on the importance of palliative care.
Professor James Arvanitakis, Executive Director, Australian-American Fulbright Commission
reiterates, “Palliative care is a crucial, yet desperately under-researched aspect of humanitarian crisis
response. We are extremely proud to announce Rachel Coghlan, international public health
researcher, as the 2022 Fulbright Scholar in Non-Profit Leadership. Her project at the Center for
Humanitarian Leadership, Johns Hopkins University, will open up new discussions and generate
bilateral collaborations on palliative care with leading humanitarian health researchers and
practitioners in both countries.”
“I am so honoured to be the recipient of the 2022 Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit
Leadership,” said Rachel. “Both palliative care and humanitarian response are founded on virtues of
empathy and compassion – now listening, learning and leadership are needed to create the path
where they go hand in hand in practice, and humanitarians understand the art of caring in illness,
dying and death. I can’t wait to deliberate ideas on the future of palliative care in crisis with some of
the best thinkers in humanitarian health research and practice.”
The Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership is valued up to $30,000. Applications
are now open for the 12th year and will close on 6 July 2022. Australian Fulbright Scholarship
candidates are interviewed and selected by panels of experts from academia, government, not-forprofit and professional organisations, and the U.S. Embassy.
Read the full press release here.
The Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership is now open, applications close 6 July 2022. Apply now to be the 2023 winner.
