Our Women in Leadership event connected over 200 bright young women with inspirational female leaders from top firms. The calibre of attendees was incredible, with these students picking up awards for their achievements. Read on to find out more.
Bank of England Excellence & Resilience Award
Winner: Tiegan Bingham-Roberts
Tiegan has faced barriers from a young age and yet, determined not to let these factors act as mitigating circumstances, has continued to excel academically. Alongside studying for her Law degree, she acts as a tutor and mentor to students and participates in societies such as Women in Business at university.
Berenberg Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
Winner: Aysha Hussain
Aysha has demonstrated a can-do attitude in her experience organising and managing a series of events and businesses in a truly entrepreneurial fashion. She enjoys overcoming challenges to improve company moral and to achieve higher profits. Not only has she proved herself commercially, but she has also channelled her efforts into helping charities, fundraising for UNICEF and Barnardo’s and donating company profits to the Malala Yousafzai Appeal.
Chartered Insurance Institute Global Citizen Award
Winner: Eilish Jones
As well as undertaking a range of internships in the City to develop her own soft skills and careers prospects, Eilish took time to volunteer in Ghana to help others develop their skills. She became extremely involved in the community, delivering sessions in schools on Communication and Leadership, Sexual Health and Young Empowerment.
Deloitte Energy and Enthusiasm Award
Winner: Iaya Al-khafaji
Iaya has had a job since the age of sixteen and has been constantly pushing herself to learn something from all the people she has met along the way. As part of the Engineering Society, she works closely with the team to devise new ways of seeking sponsorship and ensure all projects are run with efficiency, energy and enthusiasm.
EY Leadership Award
Winner: Charlotte Hurst
Charlotte has taken on many leadership roles, including Team Leader in a coursework simulation for which the team were awarded 80% and 75% in the related modules. Since starting at the University of Nottingham, she has become involved in Enactus as the Commercial Ventures Director which involves managing two business contacts who help to fund the social enterprises run by the organisation.
Fidelity International Inspiration Award
Winner: Zixuan Wang
Zixuan had to overcome many challenges from a young age to secure her place at Imperial College London. Recognising that some earlier difficulties would not put her in the best position to secure an internship, she used her initiative and managed to turn an overheard conversation in Starbucks into an Internship with a start-up company. At university, Zixuan transformed a society which was £3,000 in debt into an incredible success by tripling the previous year’s sponsorship.
HSBC Impact Award
Winner: Rosanna Pidgeon
When she became aware that the mental health services at her university were underutilised, Rosanna came up with an effective way of communicating these to students to ensure everyone received the support they needed. She also started an awareness campaign about the dangers of the river in her area to help prevent accidents. In her spare time, Rosanna also volunteers for Nightline.
Insight Investment Innovation Award
Winner: Bisman Deu
At just fifteen years old, Bisman invented a low-cost building materials called ‘Green Wood’ which is made of rice waste and can be used to build affordable housing. She was invited by UNICEF to the launch of their flagship publication, ‘SOWC 2015’, to which she contributed an essay. At the event, she was a keynote speaker and also a panellist. Recently, she was awarded a place on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia List – Class of 2017.
J.P. Morgan Personal Development Award
Winner: Catherine Jackson
Catherine has a strong interest in both the legal and financial professions and has therefore attended multiple open days and events. She has juggled becoming a brand ambassador for Baker McKenzie with her online sales work for a small DIY store. She is also a member of sports clubs and societies and is constantly striving to develop.
M&G Investments Embracing Culture Award
Winner: Olivia Goodey
Olivia has demonstrated fantastic drive in stepping out of her comfort zone and embracing different cultures and ways of working. Through her current volunteering role in Ghana she has shown great motivation and commitment to supporting local enterprises, helping them to grow sustainably.
Schroders Outstanding Achievement Award
Winner: Lucia Slater
Lucia combines her studies with extra-curricular activities and still find times for significant volunteer work. She founded a society to help the homeless in her first year at university which has grown to over 200 members and fundraised over £3,000. Lucia has also done voluntary work for Anthony Nolan, Action for Children and a Community Challenge programme in Panama.
Silicon Valley Bank Teamwork Award
Winner: Georgina Lane
Georgina has demonstrated excellent teamwork skills in many roles, including Young Enterprise, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, volunteering positions and group projects. For the last six years, she was been part of a Lacrosse team and used the communication skills she learnt in post-match analysis to help navigate Snowdonia in a group of eight as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. She was also part of a team which raised over £3,000 to support a trip to volunteer in Asia, driving her young enterprise team to regional victory.
T. Rowe Price Community Champion Award
Winner: Harriet Green
This year, Harriet has been using her weekends to teach primary school children the importance of STEM education. As a successful applicant to the Lloyds Scholars Scheme, Harriet is expected to complete over 100 hours of volunteer work per academic year and yet has already surpassed this target, achieving over 145 since last September.
Willis Towers Watson Dedication Award
Winner: Anais Pezzana
During her first year at university, Anais was involved in many community projects. She not only volunteers for a children’s charity, but also with her local church where she is a leader of the drama group. This involves writing and directing the plays whilst also organising weekly meeting to rehearse the scripts. Additionally, she is the Vice-President of a local student group and contributed to the organisation of society events and fundraising.
Well done to everyone who won awards.