Yanchen Zhao, a UWA Master of Information Technology student, has been named as a recipient of the McCusker Centre for Citizenship’s Outstanding Intern Award for his contribution to the Path of Hope Foundation’s Hope Report.
Through his internship he contributed 100 hours with the Foundation, a volunteer-operated Perth Rotary Project that aims to break intergenerational cycles of family violence, and was presented with the Award by McCusker Charitable Foundation Directors the Honourable Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC CitWA and Judge Denis Reynolds AM, and Professor Tim Colmer, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at a recent event at the University of Western Australia.
“The Hope Report is the synthesis of a large amount of data recorded by intern teams working with Path of Hope,” Yanchen said.
“I standardised the format of this data and made it possible to visualise in graphics; these graphics highlight a trend of an increasing number of countries acting to end corporal punishment of children through legislation.
“By sharing these findings, the report can educate people on these issues, and encourage people to keep efforts on track which aim to end domestic violence,” he said.
Yanchen was nominated for the Award by Perth Rotarian Rebecca Tolstoy AM, founder and Chairperson of the Path of Hope Foundation, who said Yanchen’s technical expertise, attention to detail and proactive approach significantly advanced the Hope Report.
“Yanchen’s data visualisations provided crucial insights, revealing significant patterns within four key legislative areas: home, out-of-home care, schools and penal institutions. Yanchen played an integral role in supporting and collaborating with our Law Research Interns, who were tasked with gathering and categorising data,” Ms Tolstoy said.
“Yanchen’s ability to present data in a clear, visual format significantly enhanced our delivery and communication of these global legislative trends, and his collaboration with team members created a productive, cohesive environment, allowing the Foundation to operate efficiently and effectively.”
Yanchen has volunteered with UWA’s UniMentor program and has volunteered tutoring primary and secondary school student in programming and robotics. After hearing about the McCusker Centre for Citizenship from past interns, he was eager to contribute his IT and data skills as an intern for a project that had a positive outcome for the community.
“I am very grateful for the support and recognition of my supervisor throughout the internship and in nominating me for the Outstanding Intern Award. Through this internship I learnt to work in a team with people from different fields. Previously I have only worked with fellow IT students, so collaborating with people with non-technical expertise on a meaningful project was a valuable experience.”
Yanchen was one of eight UWA students and recent graduates named as recipients of the Award and was selected from a strong field of 65 nominees who undertook internships from June 2023 to July 2024.
Image: UWA McCusker Chair of Citizenship Michelle Scott OAM, Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor UWA Professor Tim Colmer, Outstanding Intern Award recipient Yanchen Zhao, The Hounourable Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC CitWA and His Honour Judge Denis Reynolds at a McCusker Centre for Citizenship event on 10 October 2024 at the University of Western Australia.