2026 Winner: Outstanding Alumnus Award, AEL (and overall winner)
Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, 1986
Marielle is a United Nations leader and international development specialist dedicated to advancing health, education and gender equality across the Global South. Drawing on a career spanning Central Asia, the Pacific and North Africa, Marielle combines storytelling, policy and partnerships to drive lasting social change for women and girls.
What inspired you to pursue your current career path?
My BA was in Society and Media. I did not fully understand at the time that my world view would be shaped by visual arts and storytelling. I had lived in many places as a child: Bahrain, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Australia, Sweden and was confronted by different worldviews from an early age that didn't always make sense to me. To understand them, I imagined different perspectives; I wanted to experience as many "lives" as possible, to see the world through different eyes. At Griffith, I discovered that film and storytelling could make this possible.
In the end, I was too eager to work on real-world problems, which is why I was drawn to international development. I wanted a better life for people and felt it was my responsibility to try. I got my break in Kyrgyzstan, where I was living at the time. I approached the United Nations (UN) there after learning that many Kyrgyz people were uncertain about what the UN actually did. I volunteered to develop a UN newsletter: to promote transparency, share information about projects making a difference in people's lives, and give people a chance to tell their own stories. Creating opportunities for people to share their own perspectives on their lived reality has been a constant in my professional life, wherever I have been. I worked as a UN Volunteer and learned about project management and development, what good governance is and how health and education are foundational to giving women, girls and marginalised communities a voice.
What challenges or obstacles shaped who you are?
I think working in contexts where the formal rules and the actual rules of power bear little relationship to each other is challenging, but that describes most of the places I have worked. The power vacuum and struggles in countries following the collapse of an existing order were hard to navigate. You learn quickly that those environments require a different kind of intelligence than the one that gets you through a structured system. You learn to build relationships and trust, which takes a long time, and to look for the person who actually makes the decision rather than being guided only by titles.
Can you share a valuable lesson you learned from a setback or failure in your career?
Early in my career, I believed that good evidence and genuine need were sufficient to move institutions. They are not. I learned this the hard way more than once. I remember well-designed programs stalling because the political moment was not right, the right people were not in the room, or the framing made decision-makers uncomfortable. The lesson I carry from those moments is that the quality of the work is necessary but never sufficient. You must make the effort to understand who holds the decision, what they fear, and what they need to say yes.
Why does your work matter?
What I do accelerates positive change for women, girls, and young people. It builds body literacy, confidence, and power for the underserved; we support work that reinforces trust in democratic institutions. When women have voice and agency, communities are healthier, economies are stronger, and the next generation starts from a better place.
What impact are you most proud of having?
Two things sit at the top.
In Cambodia, building the country's first government-led National Task Force on counter-trafficking; bringing together nine ministries, two agencies, hundreds of civil society organisations and international partners to agree on priorities and focus; and then watching it produce government ownership, real legislative change and improvements in how survivors were treated. That kind of institutional architecture outlasts any individual program or program manager.
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), redesigning our advocacy strategy around female storytelling, young people and cultural expression—which led to the Bilum Campaign, the documentary series Kalsa Blo Mi, and a Youth Parliament that has since expanded to the provinces. I am proud of the policy results, but what I am most proud of is that women in PNG had a platform to name their own experience in their own terms. As a result of these programs, younger generations started to relearn the meaning of cultural symbols, dances, markings, music—things at risk of being lost in time or (worse) misinterpreted or misappropriated.
Of course, the stories that were disappearing were largely women’s stories. Kalsa Blo Mi (produced by Pidgin Productions) changed that. We were even the first to translate the PNG constitution to Tok Pisin—so that people could read it in the most accessible language. We used that for Youth Parliament. That matters in a way that is harder to measure—I feel that we were able to give back a gift to modern Papua New Guineans—and it was a thank you from me for the experiences I had growing up in PNG as a child. It is a magnificent country.
How do you approach leadership in your work and community involvement?
I lead from curiosity rather than certainty. The most valuable thing I can bring into a room is usually a question that reframes what people thought they already understood about a problem, a population or an idea. I try to build teams that are better than the sum of their parts by being honest about what I do not know and creating space for people who do. I am not interested in being the smartest person in the room. I am interested in the room producing something smarter than any of us arrived with. In community terms, I believe in the multiplier effect of investing in women and girls—not as a justification for our work, but because it makes socioeconomic sense. A woman with information, agency, and access to health services does not just change her own life. She changes the life of everyone around her.
What advice would you give to a current Griffith student or recent graduate?
If you want to work in international development, take the posting no one else wants. Go to a place that seems unfamiliar and far from where you imagined yourself. Of course, that is easier for a man than a woman. We can’t ignore the many dangers that women face that are different from men. But if you do choose a destination off the beaten track, that is where you will learn faster and understand better. The non-linear path is not a detour; it is often the most direct route to getting to where you want to go.
Also: learn to write clearly and to speak to non-specialists about complex things. Study literature, study the humanities, learn to ask discerning questions (like a journalist). These skills will take you further than almost any technical credential. And read widely outside your field. The best insight I have ever brought to a development problem came from somewhere else entirely.
What’s a book you would read again and why?
The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. It’s about why/how good people do harmful things. We are all a work in progress, and we should not assume we would choose the right path when peer pressure or institutional culture pushes otherwise. This book makes a case for building moral character and courage as a daily practice, not something we can take for granted. Alongside it, Martin Seligman's Positive Psychology makes a similar argument but shows you how to actively build that moral strength. Together they are the most practically useful books I have read. It is really important to know what you stand for when you are confronted by conflicting value systems.
What does it mean to you to be recognised by Griffith?
It is an honour to be recognised for contributions to improving lives. The fact that someone with my background (interdisciplinary, non-linear, as far from a conventional development career as you can imagine) has been selected speaks to the value of exactly that kind of education. The ability to connect ideas across marketing, the creative industries, law, and international development is a distinct advantage in a rapidly changing world. It also validates those of us who have taken different paths before arriving at work that matters. I hope it encourages others to embrace unexpected opportunities and understand that you can make a difference wherever you are, whatever you do.
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