Rachael McDonald is a researcher and advocate from the Northern Rivers, NSW. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Politics and International Studies from the University of Melbourne, where she was awarded the School of Social and Political Sciences’ Honours Thesis Prize and First Class Honours. Her research comparing Indigenous economic policy in Australia, the United States and New Zealand, has been published in Pursuit and accepted as a paper by the Australian Journal of Political Science. During her studies, Rachael chaired the Arts Student Forum and contributed to research at the Grattan Institute and the Victorian Parliament. She also studied languages and is fluent in French and Spanish. After graduating, she led communications at First Nations Not-for-profit organisation Children’s Ground. With her Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarship, Rachael will study the MPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) at Oxford, exploring how innovative policy across advanced democracies can build more inclusive institutions. In the future, Rachael aspires to be a practitioner-academic who strengthens Australia’s democratic foundations through public advocacy and evidence-based policy.