Roberta Sykes and CEW Scholarship Recipients Announced

Aurora and Chief Executive Women (CEW) have announced the three recipients of the 2023 Roberta Sykes Scholarships for mid-career professionals:

• Nattlie Smith, Director for Aboriginal Outcomes, NSW Department of Customer Service
• Tammy O’Connor, Founder KingKira Group
• Christianna Cartwright, CEO, Real Futures.

Chief Executive Women, in partnership with Aurora, offers up to three scholarships to Harvard Kennedy School for rising and mid-career female leaders of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage annually. The scholarship empowers Indigenous women leaders to follow the trail blazed by Dr Roberta Sykes. Dr Sykes was a fierce advocate for Indigenous rights and for women’s rights, and deeply committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to study overseas.

The scholarship gives all three a place at the Harvard Kennedy School where Nattlie will study Artificial Intelligence and Policy, Tammy will study Negotiation Strategies and Christianna will study Women and Power.

Congratulations Nattlie, Tammy and Christianna!

Nattlie Smith

Nattlie is a proud Wiradjuri woman from Condobolin/Orange New South Wales and is committed to making a positive difference through culturally responsible policy design and development. She is a strong advocate for the importance of Aboriginal people having a voice in service design, program implementation and the evaluation process.

Tammy O’Connor

Tammy is a community leader, entrepreneur and proud Nyiyaparli/Paylku woman who is dedicated to supporting the Pilbara Aboriginal community. She is the founder of KingKira group, a leader in environmental and recycling services for the mining sector, which provides opportunities for the Aboriginal community through training, employment, and mentoring. She has also been actively involved in the negotiation of Indigenous land use agreements and sits on various native title boards.

Christianna Cartwright

Christianna is a proud Boorooberongal woman from the Darug Nation of Western Sydney and lives on beautiful Dunghutti country in Kemspey NSW. As a mother of three and grandmother of three, Christianna’s driving force is the advancement of First Nations’ People by creating change and empowering future generations to ensure they have opportunities and pathways to success. As CEO of Real Futures Christianna is a passionate advocate for gender equality and women in leadership.