MBA scholarship open to not for profit industry leaders

Previous scholarship recipient Sharif Bagnulo
Scholarship recipient Sharif Bagnulo

Applications for the AGSM Alumni Community Leader Scholarship are now open for individuals working in the not for profit sector who are looking to undertake an MBA (Executive).

Applications are open until March 31 and classes begin on 26 May.

The Scholarship is a unique opportunity for managers and emerging leaders in the third sector to complete the world class Australian Graduate School of Management MBA (Executive) program tuition-free.

Established in 2004 by a group of graduates, the AGSM Alumni Community Leader Scholarship is designed to build capacity in community organisations by offering training and business education to talented management staff.

Fotini Cooper, Finance Manager at Catholic Community Services is the most recent recipient of the AGSM Alumni Community Leader Scholarship. Fotini says the skills she’s acquiring through the MBA (Executive) program is helping her to meet the challenges of significant reforms occurring in the aged, disability and community services sector.

“Catholic Community Services works with older people, people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, people with a disability, people with a mental illness and carers,” she says.

“Now more than ever there is a strong emphasis on solid financial and IT supporting systems and business processes. To succeed we need to be innovative and agile and the MBA has provided me with tools that I practise daily to better lead my team”.

Fellow Scholarship recipient, Sharif Bagnulo is the Outreach Programs Manager at the NSW Rural Doctors Network. Sharif says he has developed life-long friendships on the program and has enjoyed the opportunity to work with classmates on projects and assignments.

“Sharing the challenges and achievements has been especially rewarding”, he says.

“The majority of course concepts directly translate to my current role. From developing strategies to market health services to assessing audited financial reports, I’ve been able to apply much of the knowledge I’ve gained to managing rural health services in a non-for-profit environment. I’m confident other successful scholarship applicants would find this program equally rewarding.”

Ben Ready
Ben Ready founded MBA News in 2014 and is the Managing Editor. He is a former business and finance journalist with Australian Associated Press (AAP) and Dow Jones Newswires in London. Ben completed his MBA in 2012 and was awarded the QUT GMAA Entrepreneurship Prize. He is also the founder and Managing Director of RGC Media & Mktng (rgcmm.com.au).