Announcing the 2023 ADM Fellows

ADM is delighted to introduce our 7th cohort of Fellows, with five women appointed to complete major projects that engage our sceptical and hurting world with the gospel.

From a research project on the Reformation, to books on creation care, persecution and hospitality, to a YouTube channel to help women study the Bible, our 2023 Fellows have ambitious goals for the year, but their Fellowships will certainly give them all the support they need.

ADM Fellows are provided with office space and a bursary, as well as a tailored professional development program. Fellowships are completed over a 6- or 12-month period, with each Fellow designing their own unique project and working to reach their goals over the course of their Fellowship. Working in the ADM office in Sydney, Fellows benefit from the support of their cohort as well as other ADM staff.

ADM’s Interim CEO Maryanne Davis says, “I am thrilled by the diverse and creative projects our 2023 Fellows will be undertaking. It’s a privilege to get to support these godly women as they seek to deepen our understanding of God, show His love to the world, and transform our culture with the good news of Jesus.”

Since 2016, ADM has supported 30 Fellows across six annual cohorts, as well as a further 11 Fellows through Summer and Visiting Fellowship opportunities. ADM’s growing network of Fellows Alumni continue to publish, speak, work and minister across a wide array of settings, engaging our sceptical and hurting world with the gospel.

Introducing our 2023 ADM Fellows:

Rachel Ciano is a Lecturer in Christianity in History at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Rachel has been awarded an ADM Fellowship with funding matched by Sydney Missionary and Bible College to research and write on the radical nature of the gospel and its transformation of society within the Protestant Reformation. Rachel is “convinced that the gospel brings real change to people's lives, cultures, societies and communities”, and her research and writing seeks to highlight this.

Donna Toulmin is a writer and translation consultant, and a founding member of SIL International’s Creation Care Taskforce. Donna has been awarded an ADM Fellowship to write a book focusing on how ecological crises are an opportunity to engage our world with the Gospel. She is passionate about growing Christian engagement with ecological action, and growing awareness of the role that creation care can play in pointing others towards Jesus. Donna sees that “our small efforts to redeem and renew portions of creation now are significant because these actions can communicate gospel truths to others”.

Dr Ruth Sutcliffe is a Senior Lecturer at James Cook University, and holds a PhD from Christ College. Ruth has been awarded an ADM Fellowship to complete a book based on her PhD research, which will focus both on the New Testament’s teachings on persecution, and the theological reflections of the early church’s experiences of persecution. Ruth sees these teachings as equally relevant today, for “as the early Christians grappled with what it meant to confess this identity in their context of persecution, so we must continue to do so today, whether physically persecuted or not”.

Zoe Earnshaw is an experienced executive TV producer. She has worked for Princess Productions for Channel 4 in London, and founded and oversaw Clayton TV - an online Christian TV channel which has been broadcast in more than forty countries. Zoe will use her ADM Fellowship to develop a new Bible teaching video format informed by the communication techniques of YouTube, and launch a new YouTube channel for Christian women called ‘Real Life Bible’. Zoe is passionate about finding ways to “help others understand God and themselves better by opening the Bible up to them in an accessible and powerful way” and extending the reach of the gospel by creating content suited to wide-reaching digital platforms. 

Louisa Raggatt is a digital content creator specialising in earned media, content marketing and social media marketing. Louisa will use her ADM Fellowship to write a book providing a practical guide to hospitality, which will address many of the challenges people face when opening their homes to others. Louisa observes that “for several decades we have observed a declining sense of belonging and community in Western society. The covid pandemic further accelerated this condition. Yet throughout Jesus' ministry, we see a small group of people who shared their lives together. It is this kind of bond that people long for. Fundamentally, bringing people into a true community is a way of living the gospel.”

Find out more about the 2023 Fellows, and past Fellows, here.