Changes to programming in 2020
As the Advance.org team and I watch with sadness the impact COVID-19 continues to have on innocents around the world, we are encouraged by the stories of resilience and kindness shared by our community of global Australians.
We recognise how difficult it is for many of you who are separated from family and friends at this time. There is a great deal of uncertainty and we are all confronting unprecedented challenges.
The Advance Awards are a pillar of our mission to celebrate high-achieving Australians, and we will be announcing the winners in July 2020.
However, we have taken the decision to cancel the Advance Awards Gala Dinner on 22 September 2020, in light of the restrictions on travel and large gatherings to limit the spread of COVID-19.
We are instead planning multiple events online throughout the year to recognise, congratulate and celebrate the Advance Award winners, including the Advance Global Summit 2020.
We will take our program online and:
- Connect Australian innovators with global opportunities to support the COVID-19 response
- Advocate for proactive responses to secure Australia’s economic prosperity in the recovery
- Organise digital roundtables and virtual town hall gatherings to maintain global discussion of important issues
- Communicate relevant updates via our social channels on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
- Promote stories of resilience and kindness shared by our community of global Australians
- Review the high volume of outstanding nominations for the annual Advance Awards 2020.
I would like to thank The Star and all our Awards partners, and you, our global Australian diaspora, for your ongoing support of the work of Advance.org.
Maria MacNamara, CEO, Advance.org