Melanie Kilby is a foreign policy specialist, most recently Executive Officer to Australia’s Director-General of National Intelligence. She has advised Government, on international political and strategic matters in several roles, including the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Secretary, and directed the National Australia-Indonesia Language Awards. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations (Indonesian major) with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland. Melanie is passionate about increasing Australia’s understanding of Southeast Asia and its shifting geopolitical landscape. With her World Universities Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarship, Melanie will study a Master of Arts in Asian Studies at Georgetown University, looking at political systems, the struggle for Western liberal democratic values, and the threat to the liberal international order – with a focus on Southeast Asia. In the future Melanie plans to lead work across sectors on enhancing Australia’s and the United States’ diplomatic, political, and economic engagement with Southeast Asia and continue volunteer work to increase Asian language literacy in Australia.