Announcing Jennifer Kerr as our 2026 Outstanding Alumni Award recipient
Jennifer Kerr was announced as the recipient of Burgmann's 2026 Outstanding Alumni Award at our 55th Anniversary Back-to-Burg Gala Dinner on Saturday 19 September.
Burgmann alum Jennifer Kerr (2018–2020) is an economist, policy adviser, and strategist whose career has taken her from the Grattan Institute to the Office of the Prime Minister of Australia, all before the age of 25. Jennifer came to Burgmann on a C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship in 2018 and graduated from ANU in 2022 with a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (majoring in Economics and International Relations) with a GPA of 6.87 out of 7.00. 'At Burgmann, she continued our culture of respect, inclusivity and egalitarianism, and excelled both academically and socially,' her nomination read.
Jennifer's time at Burgmann was marked by academic achievement and community contribution. She received the Burgmann College Academic Leadership Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020, the Burgmann College Charities Award in 2020, the Chancellor's Commendation for Outstanding Academic Achievement in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and served as a Burgmann Academic Network Coordinator in 2020.
After graduating, Jennifer worked as a Summer Associate at Deloitte Access Economics, an Economist at the National Skills Commission, and a Winter Associate at the Grattan Institute, before joining the Office of the Prime Minister as an Adviser in the Prime Minister's Policy Team, drafting policy advice and conducting research on some of Australia's most complex national challenges. 'Working alongside her, I've been consistently impressed with her work ethic and insightfulness,' her nomination noted. 'It's incredibly impressive to be a member of the Prime Minister's Policy Team at such a young age, and it speaks to her determination.'
One significant piece of work Jennifer has contributed to is Australia's national housing reform, a cause she first began researching at the Grattan Institute at age 22.
'One of the most special things was getting to work on a national housing reform piece,' Jennifer reflected. 'Being able to come into a job like that where you get the chance to do national reform and see that we've just made the first nationally consistent set of Renters' Rights that Australia has ever had, it's just unbelievable. It meant that women escaping domestic violence could finally change the locks on their houses. Families with kids finally had security of tenure.'
We congratulate Jennifer on an outstanding, impactful, and truly inspirational early career.
