Wings of Hope Speed Mentoring celebrates its 11th Anniversary
On Saturday 22nd April 2023, Earth Day, WOHAA in collaboration with London Business School (LBS) Volunteering Society hosted Wings of Hope Speed Mentoring 2023 at Nuffield Hall, in Regent’s Park, on the LBS campus.
26 mentors representing over 35 industries spoke to 13 – 20 year olds about the world of work and shared stories of their journeys to their current careers.
Unlike other careers events, WOHAA Speed Mentoring aims to give an honest, and broad view to students about the often-circuitous route to jobs. There is often much anxiety for young people around exams, grades, applications for university or apprenticeships or work experience or jobs. However, as young professionals who have gone through a variety of experiences, the WOHAA speed mentors are there to reassure students that the world of work, and the routes into it, are not linear.
What was your favourite of the day?
When we surveyed the student attendees about the event – the overall rating of the event was 9 out of 10.
We asked the students what was the favourite part of their day, here’s what they had to say:
“I liked everything, everyone was friendly and informative”
“I learnt lots of new things, and met lots of people”
“When I heard Myles’ words on not sitting around waiting for things to come to you”
“Learning about how design can link to technology and engineering”
“Meeting mentors and learning about careers I wouldn’t have originally found interesting”
“Discovering the unique career pathways there are in the world”
Why we run speed mentoring?
Wings of Hope and the Achievement Award were designed to provide the best opportunities and life skills to students in secondary school, and early university years. Alumni from the WOHAA programme, and current WOHAA students, and friends from a wider network are invited for our annual speed mentoring. “Students need to have better, more honest advice about the world of work. It can often seem intimidating and really what our mentors bring, is an empathetic and informed view of various journeys into working lives. At WOHAA we encourage a balanced, ambitious and global outlook to everything we do, and this transmits beautifully into this event” Rajni Sriram – Co-Founder of The Wings of Hope
Students, teachers and parents came from all over the country to attend –London, the South East, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Oxford.
Meet the mentors.
“It is always an ambitious task to get as many mentors as possible in one room who represent a broad range of careers – this year we were delighted to host wonderful mentors from a variety of backgrounds. The below “industry” names don’t do enough justice to the breadth and depth of experiences these mentors have. For example, over half of the mentors either grew up, or studied outside of the UK – from Columbia, to El Salvador, Germany, to India, the USA, to Ireland, Russia, to Oman. Many have taken gap years, switched degrees, or not had any degrees at all,” says Smruti Sriram, organiser of the event. “And that’s perfectly fine! Life and the world of work is not straightforward, and it is important to recognise all aspects of work that enrich you – that improve your mind, body, our planet, and our general wellbeing -it’s not all about your pay slip at the end of the month.”
Some of the companies that the mentors have worked for include (but are not directly represented) Amazon, Rothschild, McKinsey, Bags of Ethics, ITV, atai Lifesciences, BBC, Frieze Arts, Brodie Cashmere, London Fashion Week, Latham & Watkins, Wedlake Bell, Dropbox, BCG, the NHS, Big Brains Tuition, and Jeffries. Many of the mentors shared their passions outside work, or their pursuits outside studies which have helped them in their careers today including professional tennis, robotics, travel, cooking, customizing clothes, re-selling sneakers, property development and sailing.
| Mentor name | Industry |
|---|---|
| Smruti Sriram | Sustainability & Business/ Philosophy & Politics |
| Joey Blunt | Doctor |
| Lana Rush | Marketing & Communications |
| Ameerah Nehor | Mechanical Engineering |
| Millie Graham | Fashion & Creative Sector |
| Sheena Amin | TV, Media & Business |
| Rupal Ragha | Education & Teaching/ Wellbeing |
| Ekta Ragha | Pharmacist |
| Mandy Prabhakar | Doctor |
| Matt Brunsdon Tully | Law: Barrister |
| Amber Tope | Law: Solicitor |
| Olga Shoraka | Technology & Aerospace |
| Katherine Brittain | Technology & Marketing/ Studying in the USA |
| Arvind Tewari | Digital Health Care & Business |
| Camilla Dolan | Business & Venture Capital |
| Vicente Miranda Garcia | Engineering |
| Harry Johnson | Finance |
| Eileen Rasslenberg | International Business & Sustainability |
| Cathal O'Shea | Data & Technology |
| Michael Houlder | Law: Solicitor |
| Guillermo Roque Viaud | Economics & Finance |
| Sanjay Sareen | Dentistry |
| Sunny Sareen | Dentistry |
| Sumanth Mahesh | Finance |
| Myles Barclay | Entrepreneurship |
| Juan Montoya | Consulting |
Earth Day and Sustainability
Sustainability in all careers is something we wanted to advocate strongly – as guardians and future guardians of our planet, this was critical to address at this address. Damon Clark, our keynote speaker, spoke to the students about the 3Ps in running successful and sustainable organisations: People, Planet and Profits.
We would like to thank all mentors, students, parents and teachers for promoting the event and attending with great curiosity, enthusiasm, and positivity.
We are eternally grateful to our supporters at London Business School for allowing us to use the facilities. Finally, this event would not have been possible without the volunteers who helped prepare and run the event smoothly.
If you would like Wings of Hope Achievement Award to be offered at your school, or would like to support future events please email [email protected]
