The What it Takes series hosted its eighth and ninth events of the 2023-24 series on 12 and 21 March titled What it Takes to Ignite Social Change and What it Takes to Impress in a New Job.
What it Takes events feature exciting and innovative alumni speakers who share their experience and advice on a range of topics from employability to personal and professional development. For these the two final events of the season, students and recent graduates had the opportunity to listen to alumni panels discuss social change and how to impress in a new job. The sessions were organised by the Alumni Relations Office and attended by 58 Westminster colleagues, students and recent graduates.
What it Takes to Ignite Social Change was organised in partnership with the Westminster Enterprise Network. The online panel took place on 12 March and discussed what social change means, as well as ways to develop effective strategies to raise awareness about and mobilise support for social change.
Panellists included Nuria Revuelta, 2021 alumna of the Fashion Business Management MA and Founder of The Dyás, a London-based sustainable fashion company; Carmen Marleen Schiesser, a 2022 alumna of the Study Abroad Semester, Founder of the business startup consultancy 720Impact and Community Impact Manager at Tooting Works; and Nicole Henworth, a 2016 alumna of the International Business and Management MSc course.
Following the talk, a question-and-answer session was held led by panel chair Zsofia Kunvari, Enterprise Education Officer at the University of Westminster.
What it Takes to Impress in a New Job took place at Portland Hall on 21 March. A panel of recent graduates discussed how to make an impression in the first 90 days at a new workplace.
Panellists were Gabi Villa, a Marketing Executive at Procter and Gamble and a 2023 Marketing Management BA Honours alumna; Software Engineer Carmen-Michelle Ienachi, a 2022 Computer Games Development BSc Honours graduate; and Software Support Analys Rajan Borkhataria, a 2022 alumnus of the Computer Science BSc Honours course. Mohammed Mijan Uz-Zaman, a Digital Performance Executive and 2022 Business Management BA Honours alumnus; and Favour Ekengwu, a Graduate Quality Engineer at Cognizant and 2023 graduate of the Business Information Systems BSc Honours course were also panellists. The panel chair for the evening was Jennifer Omadoye, a Global Trial Director for Novartis Pharma AG and a University mentor for the Future Ready Mentoring programme.
James Huke and David Brooks, Alumni Relations Officers who lead on the organisation of the What it Takes series, said: “It’s been another amazing What it Takes series covering a wide range of topics. We want to say a huge thank you to all our alumni speakers, our hosts and the students and recent graduates who attended.”
Learn more about Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of Westminster.
