2024 winners

Elena Cenedese (Photography BA, 2018)

Elena is the co-founder of SEBC, a photography and videography company based in London. Her journey in entrepreneurship began after graduating from the University of Westminster in 2018, when she decided to channel her passion for photography into creating her own business. She specialises in portraiture, food and lifestyle photography, and has showcased her work around London and in renowned magazines.

Elena volunteered on a What Comes Next? panel in February 2024 for recent graduates on Photography and Film courses. She was an exceptional speaker; her warm, compassionate, and honest approach and ability to craft her answers to cater for both Film and Photography students was exceptional. She inspired students by sharing her journey as an entrepreneur and freelancer, emphasising the importance of seizing opportunities, staying curious and embracing creativity.  

Speaking about the Award, Elena said: “Receiving the Alumni Volunteering Speaker of the Year Award at the University of Westminster is truly an honour, and I am sincerely grateful for it. It’s immensely rewarding to contribute to the community in meaningful ways, and this recognition further motivates me to continue making a positive impact.”

Janniah Evans (Real Estate Development MSc, 2022)

Janniah joined Grosvenor Property UK in their Development and Asset Management team after graduating in 2022. She has recently been appointed to the Board of The Land Collective CIC where she provides strategic advice to an organisation focused on widening access for young people who are interested in the Real Estate profession. 

Janniah has volunteered to speak to students on the Real Estate Management MSc course multiple times. This year, she also arranged for postgraduate students to visit Fivefields, a joint venture not-for-profit shared office space in Victoria. After a tour of the facilities, rather than just present an inspirational talk, Janniah produced an interactive session for the students, encouraging them to use skills from across their different modules.

Janniah has also attended our inaugural Employability Advisory Board, providing a useful perspective as a recent graduate.

Janniah is an excellent alumni guest speaker and role model for current students.

Speaking about winning the Award, Janniah said: “It is an honour to receive this recognition from the University of Westminster. I am grateful for the relationships formed with staff and peers during my studies, and the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience from Real Estate thus far.” 

Mark Sweeny (Business Studies BA, 1998)

Mark is a serial entrepreneur, currently Founder and Chief Executive of the award-winning Welsh technology business de Novo Solutions. A specialist in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology and one of the original pioneers of Oracle Cloud technology in the UK, he is recognised as a leading figure in the UK technology scene and a well-known vocal champion of UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. 

Mark has been supporting the Westminster Enterprise Network (WeNetwork)’s Elevate programme as a Volunteer Mentor for two years. He is passionate about giving back and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs.
In 2023, Mark mentored a graduate who founded a fashion business and even though they work in very different sectors (IT/tech vs fashion), Mark went above and beyond to support his mentee to develop a new revenue stream for the students’ business and travelled from Wales to have meetings in person.

Speaking about the award, Mark said: “I have been honoured to have been awarded many awards, but the University of Westminster Alumni Volunteer Awards 2024 will hold a special place, as it was the University that gave me an opportunity to learn and develop over 30 years ago, and now I have been recognised in being able to give back what I have learned to the next generation.”

Tim Burgess (Architecture, 2002)

Tim is a business leader, non-executive director and trustee. He currently leads the London Studio of TODD Architects, and is a Non-Executive Director at Board Level at EduEco+, sitting on the Startup Business Advisory Group. He has been an incredibly valuable volunteer by delivering two sessions for Westminster Working Cultures (WWC) UK and offering hands-on work experience to one of our WWC UK students studying Architecture. 

Tim began the University of Westminster relationship by offering a two-week work experience opportunity to one of our WWC UK students studying Architecture. The initial WWC trip to Belfast sparked this opportunity, where Tim provided a student with hands-on working experience, and the chance to get exposure to live projects, join site visits and shadow a few architects in the office.  

He continued to support our students as a speaker during the programme. His session left a lasting impression and set the tone for the rest of the week, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from the 30 students who took part.

What sets Tim apart is his commitment to continuous improvement. He actively sought feedback from our September cohort and incorporated their suggestions to enhance his networking workshop for his next WWC UK session.

Speaking about winning the Award, Tim said: “It means a lot to me to receive an award, and to feel that you helped make a difference to something you feel passionately about; empowering young people to make a positive contribution to the world. It’s a great programme, and I’m delighted to have been involved.” 

Momo Moussa (International Business BA, 2007)

Momo is an independent filmmaker and 2x Emmy®️Award Nominee. He has experience with the BBC, CNN and Warner Bros. Momo has regularly gone the extra mile (literally) to host Westminster students as part of the Westminster Working Cultures (WWC) programme.

Discovering Momo on LinkedIn and seeing that he was based in Hong Kong, the WWC team asked whether Momo would like to speak with the students on the Hong Kong trip in September 2023. Even though at the time Momo was busy working on a documentary in his editing studio in Malaysia, he made a special effort to fly to Hong Kong to meet with the WWC group on the final day of the programme (straight from the airport!). This was Momo’s first public speaking event, which ignited a newfound passion to share his experiences, life lessons and advice specifically with students from Westminster, in order to give back to the community.

Momo also has links with Cairo but was based in London when the WWC trip to Cairo was taking place in January 2024. Again, he made a special trip to Cairo from London to give a session to the students, along with other business and seeing family. During this session, he screened his Emmy-nominated documentary, talked about its production and his personal connection to it, as well as the process of submitting a nomination to the Emmy’s. 

His sessions were the highlight of both trips, with 38 students positively impacted by his dedication to the programme.

Speaking about the Award, Momo said: “The WWC programme gave me a new lease of life and opened the door to endless possibilities in public speaking, with the objective of guiding students to make the right decisions for themselves and to not be afraid to venture out into the unknown. I cannot wait for the opportunity to work more with the University of Westminster and I am deeply humbled and honoured to receive the Going the Extra Mile Award.”

Panagiotis Zmpigknief “Pazbi” Zavatzki (Computer Games Development BSc, 2012)

Pazbi is the founder of Kickass Online, a digital marketing firm that helps SMEs grow. Since graduating in 2012, he has supported Westminster students in a number of ways through giving talks, mentoring and via his Employability Advisory Board membership. 

Pazbi has spoken at a range of events including departmental panel events, What it Takes, and Ask a Mentor group sessions. In 2020, he was a panellist on the “What it Takes to Level Up Your Digital Skills for Your Career”, and most recently, in February 2024, he delivered a talk titled “What it Takes to Thrive in a Neurodiverse World.” Pazbi has a relatable and honest style, and this recent talk on neurodiversity showed a real alignment with Westminster values. 

Pazbi volunteers across our Future Ready Mentoring programmes, supporting students on Software Engineering and Entrepreneurial courses. He has also been a member of the School of Media and Communications Employer Advisory Board for the past five years.

Pazbi is generous with his time and is always happy to help Westminster students and graduates when he can.
Speaking about the Award, Pazbi said: “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award. Giving back to the University community has been incredibly rewarding, and I am grateful for the opportunity to make a difference.” 

Simbo Nuga (Professional Graduate Certificate in Education, 2016)

Simbo is an accomplished professional in the field of business management, academia, coaching and leadership. She was the Managing Director of The Voice Group, publishers of the Voice Newspaper and Pride Magazine. She has also been involved in major transformational systems related projects at British Telecoms and Spar UK.  

Simbo joined the Future Ready Mentoring programme in 2021 and has supported multiple Group Mentoring programmes. With Group Mentoring taking place on campus during time-tabled teaching, Simbo has generously given her time to come in and facilitate over eight hours of mentoring. She has worked with 17 students, sharing invaluable industry knowledge, particularly on the topics of understanding strengths and weaknesses, overcoming challenges, and how to effectively practice self-leadership.

Simbo also supported two MBA group mentoring programmes, facilitating in-class mentoring sessions which helped students to brainstorm ideas for their business proposals and practicing a Dragons Den-style pitch for investors. 

Simbo has always been extremely reliable as a mentor and has advocated our programmes to others. She has shared her mentoring experience within her network and recommended experienced professionals to join our mentoring community.  This was particularly helpful when there were unexpected cancellations from mentors, and Simbo was always happy to see if any of her connections would be able to step in and support. 
Simbo is an excellent example of a mentor whose efforts are impactful and rewarding.

Speaking about the Award, Simbo said: “It is a privilege to be recognised for simply being available to share my experience and empower the students. It is also very humbling and encouraging when a mentee informs you that the words shared with them will stay with them forever.”

Netcompany 

Netcompany is a leading pan-European IT services company. Founded in 2000 in Copenhagen, Netcompany helps public and private sector customers accelerate delivery of ambitious, complex digital transformation journeys.   

The team at Netcompany are passionate about supporting early talent and fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. They have partnered with Westminster for the last three years, through initiatives such as the funding of awards to third-year Computer Science students and the sponsorship of merit-based scholarships for postgraduate students. Netcompany also supports students through an Industrial Placement and the Future Ready Mentoring programme.

Over the last three years, Netcompany has played an integral role in the success the School of Computer Science and Engineering’s final year projects showcase. They provided prizes for students whose project work demonstrated exceptional quality and also actively participated in the showcase. They have generously allocated resources, sending a team of employees to evaluate the nominated student projects and provide valuable feedback.

In the last academic year, Netcompany also offered a live project in one of the work-based learning modules consisting of approximately 250 students, hosting them on their site and providing them with valuable exposure to technical roles within the company. During these visits, students had the opportunity to network with Netcompany employees and gain insights into their career journeys and experiences, broadening their understanding of potential career paths in the industry. 

Furthermore, they are a key partner in supporting our Future Ready Mentoring programme. The four colleagues who initially signed up to the programme promoted and advocated for it within the company, organising an internal session to share their experience and inspire others to register as mentors. Thanks to this, we now have 14 mentors registered from Netcompany who have been assisting students and recent graduates in navigating the ever-changing job market. The mentees have highly appreciated building professional relationships with these experienced mentors.

Netcompany’s scholarship recipient has also benefitted from being part of the mentoring programmes and shared fantastic feedback about their experience, as a keynote speaker at a recent Scholarships celebration event.

Throughout our collaboration, Netcompany has exemplified the spirit of partnership and support. They have been a wonderful partner and consistently gone beyond to provide support and unique opportunities for students. 

Speaking about the Award, Netcompany said: “We really value our collaboration with the University of Westminster. Early talent is such an important part of our organisation and we are absolutely thrilled working with the students on variety of programmes like mentoring support, 3rd year Computer Science Award, industrial placement and mentoring support. It is very humbling to be nominated and receiving the Volunteer Partner Award.”