How to craft humanistic international student centric communications amidst the pandemic

Div Pillay

CEO MindTribes

Study locations around Australia and their student support professionals, especially marketing and communications staff have had to transform their messages during the pandemic to both international students onshore and offshore. The content of the messages changed dramatically in an uncertain time of borders closed and interrupted study with resultant impacts on mental health, work exploitation, financial insecurity, racism experiences, families distanced, struggling with covid or suffering loss. This complexity required a humanistic ongoing touchpoint and often was or is the only touchpoint for many students. Learn best practice methods to craft these kinds of messages, as we continue with uncertain times both personally and professionally during the pandemic.

Div Pillay has supported and advised Austrade, International Education and various Study locations across Australia across 2020 and continuing into 2021 to transform messaging to be culturally responsive and humanistic, with the ultimate aim of caring for students well-being. Div draws on her behavioural psychology, economics background, cross cultural intelligence expertise and over 25 years of qualitative research leveraging lived experience from a diversity and inclusion perspective. She is one of the 100 Women of Influence, named by the Australian Financial Review in 2018 and was recognised as one of two Australians in a list of 25 Global Influencers, by AACSB, the world’s largest business education alliance. Div is the CEO of MindTribes, Co-Founder of Culturally Diverse Women (both award winning D&I firms), she is Chair of the D&I committee at the American Chamber of Commerce and is a Board Director at VicHealth.