Eman Hassan | Moore Blatch LLP
My journey to qualification has been somewhat unconventional and challenging having qualified in August 2018.
I graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2012 having unfortunately not obtained a 2.1. I remember the feeling of sheer disappointment and upset, thinking that potentially my aspiration to achieving my goal to become a Solicitor was impossible. I was resolved to succeed and decided to move to London from Preston to complete my LPC. Having moved to London, I secured a job at Moore Blatch Solicitors as a Facilities temp, photocopying bundles and various admin tasks. I took extra care to ensure that all jobs I completed were to a high level. I was pleased to progress to a Legal Secretary in 2013, then to a Paralegal at the same firm. I appreciated that my level of degree was not going to be helpful for me in terms of securing a training contract and having found my niche in 2016 within the newly established Major Trauma Service at Moore Blatch, I then opted to progress my qualification through the Paralegal Equivalent Means Route. I was the first at Moore Blatch to qualify by this route and whilst the thought was terrifying, I believed that with sheer determination and hard work, there was a chance that I would be successful and happily achieved this after 18 months of tirelessly building my portfolio to reflect the work and experience I had to be admitted as a Solicitor. I qualified in August 2018 and since have continued to work in the Major Trauma Service as a Solicitor, supporting my clients through their journey to recovery and have worked on high profile cases, such as the Croydon Tram Crash and the Westminster Terror Attack.
Sarah Mullin | Priory School
Sarah Mullin is a Deputy Headteacher and Doctor of Education student.
She is renowned for coaching and mentoring school leaders across the country and she presents at national education conferences and events for teachers. Sarah is the author of the Amazon number one best selling book 'What They Didn't Teach Me on My PGCE,' a collection of over two hundred narratives written by teachers, for teachers. Sarah recently received the 'Contribution to Education of the Year' award for her significant and sustained work in the field of education.
Rachael Ainsworth | University of Manchester
Dr. Rachael Ainsworth is the Research Software Community Manager for the Software Sustainability Institute and based in the eScience Lab of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester.
She manages the Institute's Fellowship Programme and Collaborations Workshop series, promoting better research through better software practices. She is passionate about openness, transparency, reproducibility, wellbeing and inclusion in research and STEM more broadly, and is a vocal and active Open Research Advocate.
She was previously a Research Associate at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and PhD Student at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and Undergraduate Student Intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She received her BSc in Physics from the University of Tennessee and her PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Her research involved observing jets from young stars with next-generation radio telescopes to investigate the physical processes that assemble stars like our Sun.
She is also a Software Sustainability Institute Fellow, FOSTER certified Open Science Trainer, Mozilla Open Leader, Founder and Organiser for the Manchester chapter of the women in data meetup group HER+Data MCR, member of the first cohort of Tech Future Female Leaders, and TEDx speaker.
Alisha Airey | University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)
My commitment to social justice, equality and supporting others started before my professional careers as I began as a peer mentor aged just 15, supporting young BME males a risk of exclusion.
This was my first experience of this type of work and sparked my interest in how I could support young people in innovative way to overcome challenges but also consider how education and curriculum can be adapted to be more engaging and accessible to young people with diverse needs and backgrounds. After becoming a young single mother my self at the age of 18 I experience a number of challenges personally and decided to volunteer to support those with unmet mental health needs with a local charity; using my own experiences of adversity to support other’s recovery. I then went on to work as a supervisor to student mentors at UWE. Within my current role as BAME officer for University of West of England I have had the opportunity to support and advocate for BAME students throughout their university experience whilst also challenging discrimination and inequality. I have used my role to build positive working relationships with community groups and professionals to widen the impact of my work and ensure students have a wide network of support. By delivering training and workshops to academics, staff and students I have been able to highlight the importance of cultural competence, accessible curriculums and unconscious bias, all key components in tackling structural inequality and addressing the attainment gap within between BAME students and their white counterparts in our university.
Eno Maycock | Coventry University
Dr Eno Maycock is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and a fellow of the World Business Institute.
She a senior lecturer and an Assistant Professor and teaches on the Coventry University’s MBA and MSc Programs. She was the CPD & External Programmes Co-ordinator (which helps SMM deliver its Enterprise & Commercial priorities and targets) within the School of Marketing and Management, Coventry University, UK. Eno has expertise in the area of consultancy, building collaborative partnerships and new business, Decision Making, leadership, Organisational Behaviour, Diversity, Cultural Competence, Performance and Reward Management and International reward practices.
She has delivered a number of leadership and management programmes and consulted for private and public sector clients which include the Bill and Malinda Gates foundation, The CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) China, SheCreatesAfrica, UK Civil Service (DWP), The Foreign and Commonwealth programmes in India and Ethiopia, The NHS, Scarborough Borough Council, Highways Agency, Bank of Ireland, West Midlands Police, The Nigerian Civil Service (MDG), The National University of Singapore, Scottish Police Authority, and National Trust for Scotland (Scottish Heritage).
She also developed, and designed the new organisational behaviour online course for the Coventry University online MBA program, designed & lead through the accreditation process the UNITE programme and was also a course Director for the BA Business &HRM programme. She designed and implemented a new reward scheme for Standard Guardian Group of companies, which operates in 4 countries in Africa.
She also designed and developed the MIDS, programme and 2 courses for the Ethiopian Foreign and Commonwealth Office Senior Leadership Programme which was taken through approval here at Coventry University between the year 2019 and 2020.
She also advices for a number for charity organisations within the Sub Saharan African Region enabling the the sub grantees to work collaboratively while building partnerships across West Africa. Eno has extensive experience lecturing in Human Resource Management with specific research interest in Public sector reforms, organisational behaviour and misbehaviour, Entrepreneurship, Diversity, cultural competence, Reward and Performance Management, Leadership, Gender and Women in public/private sector Leadership and International HRM and Culture. She also sits on the board of 3 organisations.
She also leads a social enterprise, called SheCreatesAfrica, to uplift women in eight African countries out of poverty by helping them build entrepreneurship skills, confidence and their financial literacy skills, giving them the expertise needed to run their own micro and small business enterprises. To date, SheCreatesAfrica has trained over 470 women entrepreneurs and have financially enabled 83 women with small loans to set up their own businesses. SheCreatesAfrica currently has just over 57 thriving and profitable female owned small businesses (within the agricultural, manufacturing, sales and educational sectors) that has emerged from the support, training and workshops that we have provided. In 2019 we teamed up and collaborated with a community bank to provide banking and financial services to women who are part of the SheCreatesAfrica network.
Katie Cotton | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP
I read Natural Sciences at Cambridge and then converted to law. I completed my training contract at Jones Day and moved to Orrick in 2008. I was promoted to Partner in the M&A and Private Equity team in January 2020.
The focus of my practice is acting for buyers and sellers of technology companies and for technology companies seeking an exit through an IPO on the public markets. I am a leading adviser for entrepreneurs and investors seeking to sell UK technology businesses to major international trade buyers. Recent transactions include acting for Michelin on its acquisition of the Masternaut Group; for App-DNA on its sale to Citrix; for Tails.com on its sale to Nestle Purina; for OneFlow Systems on its sale to HP, Inc.; for Cloudpipes on its sale to QuickBase; and on confidential sales of UK technology companies to some of the world's largest tech giants. Public company transactions include the IPO of Cerillion PLC and the acquisition by Amryt Pharma PLC of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. I have also advised the FIA on its interest in the Formula E series since its inception in 2013.
Alongside technology, Orrick's other key area of focus is the energy sector. I advised CDC Group on its $380m public offer in Zambia for Copperbelt Energy Corporation PLC; Infracapital on its investment in Bioenergy Infrastructure Group ; and Bioenergy Infrastructure Group on its subsequent investment in the first waste-to-energy plant to utilise the UK Government's contracts for difference regime.
Dharini Patel | Department for Education
Dharini has 12 years’ experience at the Department for Education, across a number of roles.
As a Senior Leader in the Education and Skills Funding Agency, she is responsible for handling complex casework with academies, particularly on financial viability and governance, within Lancashire and West Yorkshire.
Dharini has worked within a number of roles within the Department for Education. These include, the Greater Manchester Challenge Leadership Strategy raising standards across schools in the most deprived areas of the region and leading on teacher recruitment strategy delivery. Prior to joining the Department, Dharini worked with higher education; the Manchester Metropolitan University, within international recruitment.
Dharini is passionate about professional development and is the co-chair for the Learning and Development network at the Department’s Manchester site, ensuring that there is a programme of development outside of London. She likes to see people thrive in their career and often spends many hours coaching and mentoring individuals.
Dharini is passionate about driving gender and BAME equality and diversity within the Civil Service by pushing boundaries and encouraging others to do the same.
Charlotte Lakin | Global
From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. I don't think anything could have prepared me for how hard it was going to be.
I started my legal career in 2009, when I attended Brunel University to study law. My first paralegal role was for Dentons in 2015. Whilst at Dentons, I helped set up the firm's paralegal group, "ParaShoot".
I discovered my passion for in-house when I began my role at the John Lewis Partnership in 2017. Since then, I have worked for Live Nation and Global (the media and entertainment company).
Finding my career in-house hasn’t been easy. Until 2017, I hadn’t even considered a career in-house; this is because I wasn’t aware it was an option. I have since found that this is quite common, because universities often place a focus on private practice and sharing opportunities within law firms. It is this realisation, together with my struggles that I have faced over the years, that has led me to take action.
In 2019, after 10 years in law, I finally secured my training contract. I am the first Trainee Solicitor at Global. Having struggled for many years to get to this point, I am keen to support those in the early stages of their career.
In early 2019, I founded inlaw, a website which gives those with an interest in working in-house, the information and tools to get them started. I set this up to help law students and junior lawyers alike. To this end, I also run a YouTube channel on training in-house as a part of my ambition to share more about in-house opportunities.
I have a history of getting involved to help the legal community. I am a former executive committee member of the Junior Lawyers Division. A role in which I represented the student section of the JLD membership and was responsible for organising the LPC forum in 2018.
As a mixed woman, I also understand the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion within the workplace. I recently set up Global's first BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) group to celebrate diversity and to raise awareness of the issues affecting the BAME community.
Nina Pindham | No5 Chambers
Nina’s practice as a barrister specialises in planning and environmental law.
She regularly prosecutes and defends claims involving breaches of environmental law and has acted in some of the leading strategic planning and environmental law cases of the past few years, including the complaint to the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee extending the Aarhus costs regime to claims against the decisions of planning inspectors, Fish Legal’s claim that energy companies are “public authorities”, and Friends of the Earth’s claim that national planning policy ought to have undergone strategic environmental assessment. She advises and represents the development industry and decision-makers and she has substantial experience in the fields of housing, heritage, protected species, EIA, SEA and minerals development.
She is ranked as a Tier 1 Planning/Environmental Junior in the Legal 500 (“a rising star”), as one of the country’s top rated juniors by Planning Magazine, and has been ranked as a leading junior by Chambers and Partners every year since 2016 (two years after her first full year in practise). Comments include: “She is only a junior barrister but her ability to crack intellectually challenging issues is unbelievable. If you think of it as chess, she is always three or four moves ahead of the opposition”, “Very sharp, very intelligent and has a tremendous capacity to take in a great deal of information and get straight to the point.”
She is editor of the Trees Chapter in Butterworth’s Planning Law Encyclopedia and a legal editor of the ENDS Report. She also serves as a Council Member of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association; is a member of the advisory legal panel of the Broadway Initiative (representing the business sector on the development of environmental law post-Brexit); and volunteers on projects to promote women’s rights in India, particularly in Nagaland. She came to the Bar after working as a published research scientist in Canada (specialising in the water quality of freshwater ecosystems) and living in India, Lebanon, and Italy. She speaks French, Italian, Levantine Arabic, Estonian, and Modern Standard Arabic to varying degrees of proficiency and is working very hard to revive her Hindi.
Rachel Newman | Open Awards
At school I lingered behind in Maths and Science but excelled in English due to my love of reading. I got by with good GCSEs and was lucky enough to achieve A-level results that got me into my first-choice university - Liverpool John Moore's.
From 2003 -2006 I enjoyed every minute of studying my degree and of course, revelled in the fact that the majority of the work I had on my to do list was read novels!
Whilst studying for my degree in English Literature, I worked as a Customer Service Advisor at Littlewoods Crosby branch. My time at Littlewoods built up my confidence and developed my rapport building skills. Once I had graduated in 2006, I was lucky enough to secure a position at Arvato, working on the 'Microsoft' contract at the prestigious Cunard Building (one of the 'Three Graces') in Liverpool City Centre. My initial role was that of Customer Service Advisor and I was quickly promoted to Quality Manager working for the Training and Development team. The skills and experiences shared during this role were so valuable to me. I frequently liaised with our US management team and the responsibility of being chosen to represent Microsoft UK at that level encouraged me to build upon my skills and gave me the confidence to apply for my next role as 'Fan Experience Coordinator' at Liverpool Football Club (LFC).
I worked at LFC for over 9 years. Within my time at the Club I supported with the coordination of a new main stand, the addition of a Family Park and introduced initiatives to enhance the overall match day. I worked closely to bring departments together, address quality issues and continuously improve the Fan Experience which resulted in the club achieving the prestigious 'Visit Football Club of the Year' award. During my time at LFC, I also had two children and after my second child was born in 2017, I made the tough decision to not return.
In 2018, fresh from maternity leave (two children under four!) and with a passion to return back to 'the working life', I applied for an Officer role at Open Awards. The world of Education was new to me but it soon became apparent that my transferable skills from previous roles would support me in making my role and place in this sector a success. Having worked on Open Awards 'Access to HE' provision for just over a year, I was promoted to 'Business Development Manager (Access to HE). This new role gives me the freedom to explore how we can work with existing providers and expand their offering whilst looking to engage with new centres who are looking to deliver the Access diploma. Recently I have worked with online providers and SEND schools to see how we can enhance their learners’ lives with this qualification.
My positive outlook on life helps me to work well with providers, Higher Education Institutions, tutors, quality moderators and folk from all over the world of education in order to enhance our offering at Open Awards and continue to change lives through learning. I'm extremely lucky to be able to work with our colleges and schools and see first-hand how our qualifications can change the direction of a learner. This is the most rewarding element of my role and I am currently working on a mini internal project which encourages our members of staff to get out there and meet the learners, so they too, can see how they play a part in changing someone's life.