Gemma Sisia AM (Class of 1989) opened The School of St Jude in Arusha, Tanzania in 2002 with one teacher and a handful of sponsored students.
Today, St Jude’s provides free, quality education to 1,800 bright primary and secondary students who come from considerably poor backgrounds. The school also supports 100s of graduates with access to higher education and provides more than 15,000 government school students with volunteer teachers each year. 100% of St Jude’s students and scholars are on scholarships.
Located across three campuses, St Jude’s also provides boarding for all secondary students and employs over 300 Tanzanian staff across their Academic and Head Office teams, ensuring a sustainable and self-determining future for St Jude’s. In a country where 70% of secondary school-aged people are not enrolled in secondary school, the chance to receive a free, quality education is life-changing for the community’s most disadvantaged families.
If you would like to donate or sponsor the academic scholarship of a St Jude’s student and continue following Gemma's story, visit www.schoolofstjude.org or follow the school on Instagram and Facebook.
In 2007, Gemma’s achievements were honoured by a Member of the Order of Australia. Her story has been featured twice on the ABC TV documentary program Australian Story, first in 2005 and then a follow-up in 2009.

In 2012, Gemma was named one of The Australian Financial Review and Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence, nominated in the Global category, and was also a finalist for New South Wales Australian of the Year. In 2000 and 2019, Gemma was awarded a Sapphire Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International.

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