Professor Sharon Brownie (Strategic Leadership Programme, 2000) first arrived at Templeton College as the recipient of the New Zealand Management Public Service Development Fellowship. Seeking to expand her expertise as a public sector executive, she chose Templeton’s world-renowned Strategic Leadership Programme for its quality of teaching, expansive networking opportunities, and focus on critical thinking. Sharon continued her strong connection with what is now Green Templeton (GTC) for the next two decades—visiting college twice annually until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and taking a sabbatical in 2014.
During this time, she became an active member of the GTC/Oxford PRAXIS Forum, lead by Dr Marshall Young and Emeritus Fellow Dorothy Cooke. As a member of the PRAXIS Advisory Group, Sharon contributed to the Forum’s mission of bridging ideas between researchers and practitioners, and cites these meetings as times of ‘earnest thinking’ and great camaraderie.
Sharon also benefitted from a mentoring relationship with the late Professor Sir David Watson, then Principal of GTC. His guidance on senior leadership and higher education’s engagement with industry and community, together with his book The Engaged University, inspired and strengthened her leadership roles across the Middle East and East Africa.
Professional background
As a Senior Executive and Professor of Health Workforce Development, Sharon has built on her nursing and midwifery roots with a career trajectory that spans health education, clinical service delivery, economic development, and employment, with positions in New Zealand, the Middle East, Egypt, East Africa, and Australia. She is currently Director of Health Strategy and Partnerships at Swinburne University of Technology, supporting the School of Health Sciences with strategic direction and external partnerships for research and professional education.
Sharon’s primary interests include capacity building of healthcare services, workforce development, remote and rural healthcare, and ensuring equity of access. She has contributed to World Health Organization (WHO) and International Council of Nurses (ICN) reports on nursing workforce planning and utilisation.
In addition to her role at Swinburne, Sharon holds an adjunct Professorial position at Charles Sturt University of Rural Medicine, where she focuses on developments in virtual healthcare delivery (telemedicine). She recently led an initiative to establish a student-led interprofessional care clinic in New Zealand.
Life Beyond Work
Away from her professional pursuits, Sharon derives great joy from patchwork and quilting. She also takes pride in her ‘work family’ – the early to mid-career academics she mentors in Australia, New Zealand, East Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Canada, and the United States – as well as her immediate family, including two daughters and four grandchildren.
Reflections on GTC
Sharon credits Green Templeton College with honing her critical thinking skills and providing a vibrant community of peers and mentors. She describes the college’s style of education and networking as transformative, emphasising how it opened doors to further career development and meaningful collaborations.
Connect with Professor Sharon Brownie
Sharon is on the Oceania alumni group committee as events and New Zealand representative. To learn more about her work or to get in touch, connect on LinkedIn.
