The 2024 Australia Awards Africa masters cohort convened in Nairobi, Kenya, for a two-day Re-entry Workshop from 20-21 April 2026. Thirty scholars who successfully completed postgraduate studies at Australian universities attended the workshop, marking the final stage of a three-part, in-person engagement series that forms part of the scholarship journey.
The first of these engagements was the 2023 Pre-Departure Briefing, held prior to scholars leaving for Australia. This was followed by the Reintegration and Career Planning Workshop in Sydney in 2025, as scholars prepared for their return home. The Nairobi workshop brought this journey full circle.
Day one of the workshop focused on leadership, particularly the complexities of leading people and navigating human relationships to drive meaningful change. The alumni demonstrated strong potential to lead across a range of professional and managerial contexts. Through guided discussions, they explored essential leadership qualities, including self-awareness, integrity, communication, resilience, and collaboration. The Australia Awards team led an engaging session that encouraged scholars to reflect on how best to channel these traits as they begin implementing their Reintegration Action Plans (RAPs).
As part of this process, scholars completed personality assessments to understand better their strengths and areas for growth, and how these can be applied in diverse professional environments. Australia Awards alumni are expected to implement their RAPs within 18-24 months of returning home. A RAP serves as a practical roadmap, outlining how each alumnus will contribute to development in their respective sectors and communities. These plans place a strong emphasis on gender-sensitive approaches and are designed using SMART principles: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to ensure clarity, focus, and impact.
Alumni also participated in a simulation exercise, taking on hypothetical ministerial advisory roles to address pressing development challenges across the continent. These exercises reflected Australia’s key priority areas in Africa, including agriculture, mining, renewable energy, foreign policy, international security, and gender and disability inclusion.
On day two, Australia Awards alumna Nancy Mokera, who completed a Master of Health Administration, Policy and Leadership at Murdoch University in 2021, spoke candidly about the importance of managing expectations when transitioning back home. Drawing from her experience as Section Head of Radiotherapy Services at Kenyatta National Hospital and Vice Chair of the Kenya Australia Alumni Association (KAAA), she encouraged scholars to remain ambitious while staying grounded. Beyond her professional role, she is also active in civil society as Girls Empowerment Director at INUKA Cultural Centre. Ms Mokera urged alumni to strike a balance by remaining realistic about reintegration challenges while still pushing boundaries and influencing policy and reform in their respective sectors.
After two years of rigorous and demanding postgraduate study at some of the world’s leading universities, the alumni now return home ready to apply their knowledge and skills.
“I am truly grateful for the re-entry workshop. It was rich in practical leadership skills and provided a valuable platform for sharing experiences. Listening to fellow scholars and understanding the challenges they face in their different countries helped me feel connected and encouraged. This experience has strengthened my resolve to press on and work towards achieving the objectives that will bring about the change we long for,” said Kennedy Otieno Tom from Kenya, who completed a Master of Geoscience at Curtin University.
“The last two days were a great opportunity to revisit our intended development contributions. We gained the skills during our time at Australian universities; now we need to harness our competencies, networks, and leadership to make a difference. Knowing that you have peers who can serve as advisors and sounding boards, people who are equally driven, is incredibly encouraging. We have Australia Awards to thank for bringing us together,” said Martha Mamombe from Zimbabwe, who completed a Master of International Relations at The University of Queensland.
“The workshop taught me to be courageous in upholding the vision to contribute meaningfully towards the protection and respect for human rights in my country,” said Demba Senghore from The Gambia, who completed a Master of International Security and International Law at The University of Sydney.
These completing scholars now join the Australia Awards Global Alumni Network, a growing community of change-makers strengthening people-to-people connections between Australia and African countries. Female alumni also join the Women in Leadership Network, which has chapters across the continent. For over two decades, Australia has invested in bridging Africa’s education and skills gap through the Australia Awards. By offering short courses and scholarships, the initiative continues to support emerging African leaders working across key sectors, including agriculture, mining, climate change, foreign policy, international security, disability inclusion, and public policy.
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