2021 winners

Caron Bradshaw OBE (Law LLB, 1993)

Caron is the Chief Executive of the CFG (Charity Finance Group), and recently received an OBE for her services to charity. Reaching out to congratulate her was the first contact the University had with Caron since she graduated, and since then she has been incredibly open and willing to support Westminster students.

This April, she volunteered as a speaker on our Westminster Working Cultures UK programme, and her openness and authentic telling of her professional journey resonated with every student on the programme. She delivered an honest session, speaking about the challenges she’s faced as the first person in her family to attend university, a female in a male dominated leadership position and her challenges with her mental health.
Giving feedback on the session, one student said:

“Caron Bradshaw’s talk about vulnerability and making more authentic human connections while maintaining professionalism resonated with me. As a spontaneous person, I often put on a tough persona at work and struggle to find the balance between being myself and being professional; Caron helped clarify this by explaining that it is about finding the right work culture.”

Caron’s talk only lasted for an hour, but the impact of her journey was seen in every student’s feedback, saying how much they appreciated her openness and identified with her experience.

Rogerio Simoes Silva (Social Media MA, 2015) 

Rogerio is an experienced journalist, career mentor and co-founder of Unnon, a chat-based social app.

He has played an invaluable role in providing exceptional support to our students and recent graduates through mentoring, as part of the University’s Career Mentoring Scheme. Through this scheme, mentees benefit from the expertise and insight of their mentors, allowing them to grow personally and professionally as a result of their mentor’s support over six months.

Throughout this last year, Rogerio has volunteered his time to support several students through mentoring, with one of his mentees reporting the following:

“Rogerio was an exceptional mentor and incredibly inspiring. It was a learning curve for both of us as he had no official creative writing experience but immediately, we both went about making it work. We talked about the writing industry as a whole, creative writing topics, and my degree.

“It did not stop there though. During our sessions, Rogerio began to write creatively, and we would exchange our pieces, giving each other feedback on our pieces and discussing books we loved and were inspired by. It is very likely that I would not have gotten the poetry job I now have if Rogerio did not discuss poetry with me. We have now ended our sessions on an extraordinary high and will try to keep in contact with him for a very long time. He could have very easily accepted that we were from different writing experiences and just spoke about writing as a whole. He chose to go above and beyond, and I think that should be recognised.”

Rogerio’s dedication to his mentees, continued commitment and passion for helping our students and recent graduates to realise their potential can truly be recognised as exceptional.

André Modenesi (Media Management MA, 2016)

André graduated in Journalism in 1999, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After 15 years in newsrooms, he took a sabbatical year and joined the Media Management MA at Westminster.  When returning to Brazil, he moved from Journalism to Entertainment and is now a writer for variety shows.

As a volunteer, André is the University’s Alumni Ambassador for Brazil, a speaker for our Westminster Working Cultures Professional programme, and has contributed to our first ever Alumni Ambassador Bulletin.
In addition to supporting Westminster students, André has gone above and beyond to support and nurture Westminster’s alumni community in Brazil. His continued commitment to volunteering this year has been particularly exceptional, given the current circumstances heavily affecting Brazil and the Latin American region.

As a speaker for the WWC Professional – Career Insights: Latin America event, André was engaging and passionate about helping Westminster’s Latin American students think of ways their future careers could unfold, and to appreciate the importance of ‘uncharted possibilities’.

André has also contributed to our first-ever International Alumni Ambassador Bulletin, relaying once again his experience as a Westminster ambassador with enthusiasm.

It is this combination of André’s eagerness to always stay in touch with the University (even in times of hardship), help future generations of Westminster students and alumni, and nurture the Westminster Brazilian chapter, which makes him very deserving of the award.

Jenny Garrett OBE (Business Administration BA, 2000)

Jenny Garrett OBE is an award-winning Career Coach and Leadership Trainer, with over 14 years’ experience of running a global business. Everything she does is aimed at advancing gender balance, creating inclusive workplaces or equipping young people.

Jenny has been a committed, long-serving volunteer and supporter of the Westminster Community. She has been a speaker three times in the ‘What it Takes’ alumni speaker series between 2017-19; twice a keynote speaker at ‘Women of Westminster’ events during 2020; and served as an Employer Advisory Board member throughout 2020 within Westminster Business School.

Jenny’s involvement in the ‘What it Takes’ series has been particularly noteworthy. Firstly, Jenny spoke at the first ever WIT event in October 2017 as a panellist in ‘What It Takes to be an Entrepreneur’. 125 students and recent graduates attended this landmark event. Next, she was a keynote speaker at ‘What it Takes to be a Confident Public Speaker’ in February 2018, which was attended by a then record number of 141 students and recent graduates. Lastly, Jenny came back a third time for another in-person keynote speaker event in November 2019: ‘What it Takes to Communicate with Confidence’, which was attended by a further 90 students and recent graduates.

In total, over 350 students and recent graduates attended these three events, all of which received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees. Jenny’s passion, interaction with the audience, high energy and attentiveness during both audience Q&As and subsequent networking sessions made her a standout speaker within the series. She has shown a progressive approach by tailoring her events to a student and recent graduate audience; Jenny usually gives paid public talks to executives and high-flyers, yet her energy and passion for communication has been so beneficial to our younger community.

In terms of compassion, Jenny’s work as a speaker at two key ‘Women of Westminster’ events during March and December 2020 really stands out. Although the audience and make-up of WOW is mainly Westminster colleagues, some students and alumni are included – and the very nature of having Jenny speak on issues of gender, race and diversity within these important, progressive events demonstrates her inclusive, supportive commitment to the wider Westminster community.

Jenny has also shown real responsibility and commitment to employability in her Employer Advisory Board roles. She has supported the WBS Organisations, Economy and Society School EABs throughout 2020 as a member, giving up yet more of her time to support the enhancement of employability and links to industry for our WBS students.

Signature Recruitment 

Signature Recruitment has played an invaluable role in providing exceptional support to our students and recent graduates through mentoring during the pandemic. Students benefited from gaining industry insights and practical knowledge from mentors.

During the last year, five members of the Signature Recruitment team have joined our community of mentors and have taken part in the University of Westminster Career Mentoring Scheme.

Mentors from Signature Recruitment have been able to share their experiences and help guide their mentees as they break out into the working world. It is clear that these mentoring relationships have flourished with one mentee saying the following about their mentor who works at Signature Recruitment:
“What I loved about my mentor, is she has given me a boost of confidence, and we built a relationship of trust over the few months we have been interacting.”

In addition, Signature Recruitment has hosted CV skills workshops which they have been happy to share with our mentees on the Scheme, giving them the opportunity to gain practical skills, industry insights, and the chance to learn how to stand out from the crowd.