EXTENT HERITAGE announces GO FOUNDATION scholarship
Extent Heritage has a long history of working with indigenous heritage and communities in Australia, the Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea. A major part of our business involves indigenous heritage, be it cultural values assessments, archaeological work, interpretation or community liaison and capacity building.
We have worked with indigenous groups all across Australia and have current and past indigenous employees from Australia and PNG. As an organisation, we support the notion that indigenous people should be the primary determiners of how their heritage is managed, and want to positively support this into the future.
Extent is pleased to announce the start of a four year partnership with the GO Foundation, an educational social purpose organisation which provides scholarships for indigenous children in conjunction with its partners. Extent has committed $15,000 per year for the next four years to provide a university level scholarship for an indigenous young adult to study a heritage-related discipline. This may include study in history, archaeology, architecture, planning, urban design, heritage studies or another field which helps indigenous people be better positioned to manage their heritage.
With the GO Foundation, we’re aiming to have the scholarship in place for the 2020 academic year, and will provide paid internships for the successful student within the company during university breaks and holidays. This program is part of Extent’s Reconciliation Action Plan, and goes partway to meeting the company’s goals of returning practical outcomes in heritage to the indigenous community. We look forward to our association with the GO Foundation, and can’t wait to meet the successful student!
About the Go Foundation
Integrity. Equality. Opportunity. Strength in culture.
The GO Foundation was founded by Sydney Swans Legends, Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. As proud Aboriginal men, their names are synonymous with integrity, equality and opportunity. Although Australia is a land of abundant wealth, many Indigenous Australians face a lack of opportunity and access. The GO Foundation provides scholarships to Indigenous students from kindergarten through to university, in public and independent schools, to students who live with family, in community and on country.
Through a GO scholarship, our students access the resources and support they need to ensure their journey through school is as rewarding as possible. With their scholarship funds, our students can cover their educational needs, including lap tops, wi- fi access at home, sporting equipment, musical instruments, excursions and school trips, and food at the canteen. The GO scholarship is the entry point to the GO Ecosystem, a model of collaborative impact where our partners work with us to open door and provide GO students with a broad range of opportunities.
Our Ecosystem partners, including CareerTrackers and AIME, work together to broaden our students’ perspectives and provide access to many opportunities including cultural mentoring, homework support, leadership training, STEM training, exposure to a broad range of career options, work experience and paid internships.
Once a GO student, Always a GO student, so this mentoring and support continues long after the GO scholarship has ended. At the heart of the GO Ecosystem is a burning desire to strengthen our students’ cultural identity - to connect them in a meaningful way to their history, culture and heritage. In addition, by sharing our students’ perspective and their culture with our Ecosystem partners, we hope to create workplaces that are truly inclusive and welcoming of all Australians. We do this so that we can all share in the oldest living culture in the world.