UEL hosts inaugural Diversity Drives Innovation Summit

To showcase our innovative work in diversifying the talent pipeline within careers and enterprise, the University of East London (UEL) hosted a Diversity Drives Innovation Summit at the Docklands campus on 31 May 2023.  

The three complementary events in the summit celebrated our well-established industry relationships, including honouring those who have supported our students with social mobility initiatives, career-enhancing opportunities and by adopting alternative recruitment practices such as hackathon-style events. 

Female Founders Demo Day 

The first event of the summit, the Female Founders Demo Day, featured six female entrepreneurs pitch their business venture ideas to an esteemed judging panel, each hopeful to be awarded some of the £10,000 funding pot. The grants were awarded to the top three entries - composed of a generous support package from venture capital firm Ankh Impact Ventures, and UEL who partnered on the awards. 

Ashlea Cromby - a professional doctorate in education student, was awarded the top prize of £5,000 for her Mansimble Tea and Estate venture. Ashlea describes her business as an ethical tea company, producing tea from the Kangra region of India. The business partners with the family-owned tea estates and its hand-filled cotton tea bags are currently selling to high-end hotels. 

Nicole Ihemadu - BSc Computing for Business student, awarded £2,500 for her Uzuri Tribe venture. Nicole describes her business as a hair and beauty platform that uses AI to create a bespoke selection of products based on customer selection. The primary customer group is black women who are underrepresented in this industry. 

Kiri Scamp - BSc Business Management student awarded £2,500 for her Millér venture. Kiri describes her business as a beauty brand that provides multi-purpose, recyclable and sustainable make-up kits, as well as vegan and ethical makeup. 

Rebecca Moodie, UEL’s Head of Coaching, Mentoring, and Enterprise said

At UEL, we believe that diversity drives innovation, and we are committed to supporting all our students and graduates in their entrepreneurial endeavours. We also recognise that the careers of the future will increasingly involve students running their own businesses and ventures. This competition provides an excellent opportunity for female founders to showcase their ideas and take the first step towards realising their dreams."

Pierre N Rosin, Founder and CEO of Ankh Impact Ventures was a driving force behind the event, and a judge on the panel. He said, "Diversity is the key to innovation, and creating an ecosystem that supports and encourages diverse entrepreneurs is essential to developing impactful ideas. In 2021, female entrepreneurs received only 1% of venture capital investment in Europe, even though research shows that female founders perform better than men on many dimensions. AIV is proud to focus our investments on women-led businesses to leverage the proven strengths of female founders while addressing the gender investment gap.

Diversity of Thought Roundtable 

As the second event of the summit UEL held a roundtable event to launch the Diversity Drives Innovations Report and Employer Handbook, in partnership with the Institute of Student Employers. In attendance were employer partners including representatives from ITV, VMLY&R, and Siemens, as well as Stephen Isherwood from the Institute of Student Employers, and Professor Emma Davis, UEL Senior Lecturer.  

The report summarises key results of the Diversity of Thought Programme, which was conceptualised as a vehicle for driving aspiration and social mobility. Through consultation with students, staff, and industry we were able to identify the common challenges our students faced in accessing graduate level roles within aspirational companies and implemented methods to improve the outcomes.  

Cherise Basslian, Director of Careers and Student Enterprise said, "We are thrilled to share the inaugural Diversity of Thought report which showcases our incredible partnership work on this programme, including the 16 committed partners we work with. During the launch at the roundtable event we heard from employers including WPP and ITV, who shared their experience of sourcing talent through the programme."

Michael Ludlow, Talent Acquisition Director at VMLY&R said, "Many companies have the desire to change, but it can take a long time. UEL’s Diversity of Thought Programme has been an amazing advocate for making changes in the world of EDI. I’m proud to say that VMLY&R and I are as passionate about making changes – they take time, but they are happening. The standard we’ve hired from the programme has been exceptional."

Mina a computer science student and participant of the programme said, "Being introduced to the CEO of Dataminr was brilliant! I got to spend time living ‘a day in the life’ and realised the true value of what my culture and four spoken languages bring."

Dr Emma Davies also presented Supporting Early Talent to Flourish, an Employer Handbook which aims to help employers retain a more diverse pool of early talent, both by encouraging them to examine how adverse experiences impact relationships and how trauma-informed principles can be used to construct an enabling workplace culture.  

Employer Partner Celebration Event 

The Diversity Drives Innovation Summit closed with a celebratory event to thank UEL’s employer partners. The event was opened by Professor Amanda Broderick Vice-Chancellor and President, followed by a keynote speech from Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, London Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice.  

Two students, Eda Eren and Shazia Noreen, who had participated in the Diversity of Thought programme, also shared their experiences. Shazia said, "The Diversity of Thought Programme has been life-changing. It's given me the confidence I needed, and I have connections for life."

The evening concluded with Professor Paul Marshall, UEL Pro-Vice Chancellor Careers & Enterprise, presenting employee partners Reilly-O’Donnell from Siemens Plc, Linda Young from ITV, and Michael Ludlow from VMLY&R with awards of recognition for their participation in the Diversity of Thought Programme.