On Friday 1st March, students on the Global Officer Leadership Development (GOLD) programme took part in a conference organised by the Dean for Internationalisation and International Partnerships. The event took place in London at Europe House focusing on the theme ‘Leadership in a Global Context’ and was hosted by Sebastien Cadinot, Director for the Centre for English and World Languages. The conference offered the opportunity for students to hear from external speakers including Dr Nicholas Mithin, Policy Officer, from Universities UK International who spoke on Leadership in the 21st century, former Kent graduate, Megan Wells, now at Independent Higher Education, on her leadership journey and Andy Coxall from Common Purpose who led an interactive session developing the student’s own coaching skills. The day ended with a panel Q & A session which gave the students opportunity to ask the speakers about their past experiences as well as advice on how to approach the job market and other challenges.
Comments from the students that attended included;
- ‘speakers were very interesting in giving a wider perspective’
- ‘Q&A session at the end was really useful’
- ‘speakers were so encouraging. I feel more motivated and I feel I can change the world now’
- ‘interactive session was a good opportunity to put advice into practice’
- ‘I like hearing everyone’s story and the journey that got them to where they are now’
The GOLD programme, launched in 2017, is a co-curricular venture that provides a framework of activities for globally-minded undergraduate students at Kent to develop their leadership skills, Global Citizenship and cultural awareness.