The Game Changers podcast celebrates true pioneers who inspire us to take the big step forward and up in education and beyond. In episode 205 (Part 1) of Game Changers, Phil Cummins joins in conversation with Dr Donnie Adams!

Dr Donnie Adams is based at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia. He obtained his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from University of Malaya under the Bright Sparks scholarship and was awarded the University of Malaya’s Excellence Award 2016: PhD Completion in Less than 3 Years.

His significant contributions to the field have been recognised with several awards, including the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (VIC) Fellowship Award 2025 and the Emerald Young Researcher Award 2021 from Emerald Publishing. Additionally, he was featured by Britishpedia as one of the 'Successful People in Malaysia' in Education. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Educational Research and Evaluation and is an editorial board member of several top-tier journals.

With a strong commitment to education reform, his work has shaped inclusive school leadership practices across the Asia-Pacific, driving meaningful and systemic change by empowering teachers and future leaders. He has engaged in professional consultation and research partnerships with leading institutions worldwide, including the Ministries of Education in Malaysia and the Maldives, the Department of Education in the Philippines, the British Council in Nepal, ETH Zürich in Switzerland, The HEAD Foundation in Singapore, UNICEF, Teach For Malaysia, and the Asian Universities Alliance.

The Game Changers podcast is produced by Evan Phillips supported by a School for tomorrow (aschoolfortomorrow.com), and powered by CIRCLE Education. The podcast is hosted on SoundCloud and distributed through Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe and tell your friends you like what you are hearing. You can contact us at gamechangers@circle.education, on Twitter and Instagram via @GameChangersPC, and you can also connect with Phil via LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Let’s go!