Winner
Ayanna Deane
Global Public Health Nutrition MSc, 2019
Ayanna completed her thesis in Zambia and was selected to present her research at the World Public Health Nutrition (WPHN) Congress. She then secured a role as Project Officer at a charity called School Food Matters, which exists to improve children’s access to healthy, sustainable food during their time at school.
During COVID-19 she used her role to implement, coordinate and manage the day-to-day logistics of the Healthy Breakfast Boxes Project, responding to food insecurity amongst families with children. With a £1m budget she delivered more than one million breakfasts to children severely impacted by the pandemic, exposing the scale of food insecurity and the knock-on impact on children’s health. The project was recognised at the Stevie Awards and Third Sector Awards, and in September 2021 the programme received the APPG Excellence in School Food Award.
Finalists
Max Boender
Computer Network Security BSc, 2021
Max has always been curious about how products are made, the route they take to get to us and the environmental impact of this process. He used his spare time and the early COVID-19 lockdowns to develop an integrated hardware and software-based solution that makes it easy for businesses to track the flow of goods into and out of their business on the blockchain.
The solution can also be used to monitor, record and compensate for the emissions generated within the lifecycle of a product, enabling businesses to become net-zero instantaneously, while remaining incentivised to reduce actual carbon emissions as they can now prove this decrease to their shareholders. Since starting Myneral Labs at Westminster with another student, he has raised two rounds of funding valuing the business at £750,000 and now employs four full-time employees.
Jan Dybus
TV Production BA, 2020
Jan always wanted to be a director, which others criticised as irrational. After graduating from high school he studied economics, but later dropped out to pursue his dream. After graduating from Westminster during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jan got a position at his dream company Papaya Films, and after many tries convinced its owner Kacper Sawicki to invest the company's money and produce his TV mini-series. They managed to get top Polish actors to play main roles and they sold it to major streaming platform Canal+.
Jan was also recently signed as the youngest director on Papaya’s roster which represents talented directors in the Polish and international markets. The entertainment industry is his calling on both the creative and business side, thus he’s writing his Master’s thesis at Warsaw School of Economics on the streaming industry and changes in consumers' behaviours.
Monique Noel Brown
Spanish and Global Communication BA, 2021
After graduating, Monique scored an internship with BT Enterprise as an Internal Communications intern. Monique created the BT-wide slogan #WeAreDifferentTogether which is used to promote all diversity and inclusion activity and agendas across BT. She also volunteered her time to educate 14,000 Enterprise colleagues on the concept of Colourism through their Black History Month podcast, which increased the level of belonging and inclusion colleagues felt as part of BT Enterprise. Monique has since been offered a new PR position with Amazon Web Services in London, where she is setting up a DEI Interns Committee.
She has spoken on University panels for Humanities and Westminster Working Cultures, while joining other D&I podcasts based on inclusion in the communications sector. Monique also has been running an informal careers advice and CV service for recent graduates.