The Rhodes Trust

Schmidt Science Fellows: Identifying and selecting top scientific talent from around the globe: Schmidt Science Fellows selected and onboarded its sixth cohort of Fellows. The 32 Fellows of the 2023 cohort represent 14 nationalities including the first from Brazil, Ecuador, Nigeria and North Macedonia. Fellows were nominated by 11 new universities including the first nominated successfully from Indian and Brazilian institutions. The full Fellowship community now includes 145 Fellows. Building a lifelong community of interdisciplinary scientists: SSF convened for the first time 5 cohorts of Schmidt Science Fellows alumni ("Senior Fellows') in its first-annual Senior Fellows Conference, held this year in Northern California. SSF also held a smaller regional conference in Washington DC, and launched the first-ever Catalyst grant scheme to encourage scientific collaboration among Senior Fellows. Training and developing science-leaders: SSF held three week-long Global Meetings where fellows received professional development training and built community with one another. As we emerged from the pandemic these events were held in-person and reflected programmatic innovation: For the first time we had a Global Meeting where two cohorts overlapped and engaged in joint programming. This was held in Northern California with the 2021 and 2022 Cohorts attending Programming together at UC Berkeley and Stanford. The 2022 Cohort also participated in the first-ever Global Meeting that was un-tethered to a university and presented with only internally-run programming by the Programme team. This Global Meeting was held in Scottsdale Arizona, USA. Finally, the 2022 Cohort attended our first-ever Asia-based Global Meeting held jointly between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technical University. Ensuring excellence in infrastructure: SSF expanded their programme team and academic council to support our expanded Fellowship community. The UK-based Programme Team moved back to the newly renovated Rhodes House and the US-based team has opened an office in McLean, Virginia, USA.

Rhodes Scholarship: This year's key objectives and achievements against those objectives, which further the legal purposes of the Trust are summarised below: Continued roll-out of an Operating Model (on a need-based basis) for National Secretariats. Building on the progress of last year, where a number of secretariat support posts were created and filled, recruitment of relevant support roles has taken place or is underway in a number of constituencies. The Rhodes Trust Outreach Ambassadors Programme has continued to expand, with the number of Ambassadors increasing to 46 in 2023 (from 8 in 2020). A grant of $200,000 from the Carnegie Foundation was secured to undertake in-person outreach in East and West Africa. 2022 saw the return of in-person selection to almost all constituencies. A new website was launched, with an improved application journey and a new eligibility checker for prospective applicants. The Personal Statement section of the application form was reframed. Work was also undertaken on Equity and Inclusion section of the application form, and for the first time, in consultation with Scholars in Residence from the Rhodes Disability Project, we have included a disability- affirmative question which allows applicants with a disability to request accommodations and supports throughout the selection process. National Secretaries Week took place in June 2023 for the first time since before the Covid pandemic, with all current National Secretaries joining for at least part of the week, and 8 former National Secretaries joining for some of the sessions. Topics included tackling unconscious bias, a deep-dive on interview best practice and 'pearls of wisdom' from former National Secretaries. Appointment of an inaugural National Secretary for Saudi Arabia and new National Secretaries for the US, Global, New Zealand, India and Germany. A number of Deputy, Regional and District Secretaries were also appointed. This past year saw a return to in-person programming for Scholars and, in the summer of 2023, a return to the refurbished Rhodes House. Whilst the Going Down Dinner for the class of 2020 was held at the Randolph Hotel in the summer of 2022, the summer of 2023 saw two Going Down Dinners hosted at Rhodes House, including one for Scholars who only experienced an online version during covid lockdown. This summer also saw the reinstatement of traditional Scholar events such as the Garden Party for Oxford supervisors. During this academic year, we had 301 Scholars engaged in full-time study across four years - 147 in the research degrees, 146 on taught courses - including six Scholars reading for 2.4 BA, and 8 on Rhodes Service Year. 2022/23 saw the final year of COVID-19 DPhil Stipend extensions, awarded to 37 Scholars across the academic year whose DPhil courses were delayed or protracted due to the pandemic. With the support of Maureen Freed, Rhodes Wellbeing & Mental Health Adviser, we continued to prioritise support for the wellbeing and mental health of the Scholar community, supporting 106 Scholars from 19 Rhodes constituencies with counselling support.

Atlantic Institute: This year the Institute organized 28 convenings including a number of in-person events in six countries across five continents, including its largest ever gathering (Annual Global Convening) in Phuket, Thailand, attended by 259 Fellows and 54 staff from seven Fellowship programs. This event facilitated vital connections among Fellows who had previously been unable to meet due to COVID-19 and helped forge many ongoing collaborations. One of the highlights was a thematic convening in Aotearoa, New Zealand, on Global Justice and Transformation. Rhodes Scholar and lawyer Ndjodi Ndeunyema attended the convening, as did Hon. Karen L. Stevenson (Maryland & DC & Magdalen 1979), former Trustee of the Rhodes Trust and now Chief Magistrate Judge, US District Court, Central District of California. The Institute awarded 124 grants totalling in excess of £600,000 that have led to improvements in the conditions of people in communities experiencing significant health and social inequalities. The Institute opened the XR Lab at Rhodes House, showcasing a VR film "Azibuye-The Occupation', by Atlantic Fellow Dylan Valley. Atlantic Fellows and Rhodes Scholars have since been able to experience GAWI, a VR film about the climate crisis by Atlantic Fellow Myriam Hernandez and Raramuri, an Indigenous community from Northern Mexico. Norham Gardens was acquired and a renovation programme completed (named "Kopanong' - a gathering place for diverse languages) as a home away from home for the Atlantic Fellows community and partners including Rhodes, Schmidt Science Fellows and RISE. It has already hosted a number of Global Fellow residencies including an event in partnership with the Said Business School.

During the year, The Rhodes Trust continued its partnership with The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF). MRF provides young leaders from across the continent with a one- to two-year scholarship to study at Universities in South Africa and to participate in a residential leadership development program. The Rhodes Trust also continued its collaboration with Harris Manchester College, Oxford to launch Oxford Next Horizons Programme (ONHP). OHNP is the first programme of its kind in Europe and aims to bring together a cohort of diverse individuals with rich life and professional experience in Oxford for a six month programme of academic and social activities. OHNP was launched in October 2022. Since the launch, the first cohort of 19 member has been selected and the inaugural programme will begin in January 2024. The Rhodes House LTD, a disregarded entity of the Rhodes Trust, opened a conference center June of 2023. During June, Rhodes House LTD hosted the Rhodes Trust 120th anniversary event where Rhodes Scholars, friends, family and supporters were welcomed to celebrate.