2023 volunteer of the month winners

1. What is your current role?

I am the Global Head of Privacy with Prudential where I lead a global team to supervise and advise the company on privacy compliance activities in Asia, Africa, and Europe. I am also concurrently an adjunct Associate Professor and Law Lecturer teaching data protection and privacy law with National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University respectively. Finally, I am also an Honorary Consul appointed by Bulgaria to Singapore.

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

As an alumnus of Birmingham Law School and a lawyer who had been through four very distinct career paths. Namely, being a practitioner, in-house counsel, civil servant and academic. I hope to share my experience with current students and graduates of Birmingham Law School, which I believe will be useful for them while contemplating their own career progression. In particular, the pros and cons in each career track and what it takes to succeed in them.

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

I always wanted to give back to my alma mater and the University has always held a special place in my heart. Indeed, I had volunteered as a student guide for the Law School during my three-year LLB programme, and as a student coordinator for the International Office during the International Welcome Week. It brings me a lot of satisfaction and joy when my advice or guidance can benefit the young students, and some do come back to thank me for it. This is especially meaningful to me as I did not have a mentor to provide the same advice and guidance to me when I graduated from the Law School and felt very lost when I first became a practitioner.

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

It might take some time of your busy schedule, but you will feel the joy in volunteering, especially when people appreciate your effort and the hearts of people you touch along the way.

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I wish the best for all the current students and graduates of the University of Birmingham. You are talented and an amazing group of people. I believe Birmingham graduates will continue to shine in whichever career they pursue.

1. What is your current role?

Vice President - Enterprise Solutions.

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at Kagool, besides my day-to-day business development & customer relationship management activities I do have responsibility for managing partnerships & alliances with other organizations & institutions. I have been managing the Kagool - UoB MBA business school relationship since 2019 and working closely with module leaders, employer liaison officers, and alumni relationship managers. As an alumni of UoB Business School, I have a very good understanding of MBA Programme structure and modules. Therefore, I work with module leaders at business school and shape the Developing Leadership module based on the impact of macroeconomic changes to businesses. Additionally, offering post MBA internships to students who are keen to pursue their career in technology consulting industry.

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

University of Birmingham Business School is recruiting talented & experienced individuals for MBA from varied industry sectors from all parts of the world. Kagool is a niche technology consulting company expanding globally and employing serving customers across the regions. As part of MBA it is vital for the students to stay connected to contemporary challenges that businesses are dealing with and conduct a structured assessment through the application of management theories & tools to analyse the problem statement presented by Kagool and playback their findings / recommendations. For Kagool it is an external view of how macroeconomic changes impact business and provides a different perspective. During this engagement Kagool management can identify suitable profiles for internships and potential employees for future. On the other hand, MBA students will have more insights about Kagool and bid for a suitable job. In summary, I strongly believe that both parties are benefiting from the above exercise!

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

Volunteering at UoB has been a fantastic journey because it offers a different experience from my day-to-day job and some value addition to students and the business school. Moreover, every year we have an opportunity to work with different sets of students with wide-ranging skills. Overall it's a wonderful experience!

1. What is your current role?

My current role is an account manager within the sales department at Bloomberg, covering buy-side clients in Finland.

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

I worked with the alumni and recruitment team at Bloomberg to organise an office tour of Bloomberg. After being on the Lloyds scholars programme and having the opportunity to take part in something similar this, I wanted to help enrich the students’ experiences of what it is like to work in a fintech company like Bloomberg.

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

I volunteered to organise this day because I know when I was as student how valuable something like this would have been. I was privileged to enough to have a similar experience through the university sponsoring myself and other students in the beginning of my final year to go to Silicon Valley on a company trek. This trip helped to shape where I am now and my journey after graduating so organising this trip helped me to give back to students in my position.

I enjoyed seeing how excited the student were and hearing all the positive feedback. You could see and feel how inspired and grateful they were to take part. The most fulfilling thing being able to make impact on the next generation of leaders.

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

Volunteering is probably one of the most fulfilling experiences that I thoroughly enjoy and try to do regularly. Any volunteering opportunity is a learning opportunity, to develop new skills, meet new people from a different range of backgrounds but most of all its an opportunity make impact outside your general day to day. My favourite saying from Maya Angelou is “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. You never know who you might meet or who’s life you can change, so go out and try to make a difference.

Nisha Kandola

1. What is your current role?

I am currently a Development Engineer at Net Zero Energy Development (part of PeakGen). I work on identifying project opportunities for low/net zero carbon projects and then manage the entire project, from concept through to delivery. Low and net zero carbon projects can span from renewable energy generation, to energy storage such as grid scale batteries. It is a rewarding role in a small organisation where I have a lot of autonomy and responsibility over my projects. I continue to learn something new every week!

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

As I was a part of the Chemical Engineering Girls Change the World Day, which was a fantastic day introducing the concept of chemical engineering to Year 9 female students via workshops and an alumni presentation and informal Q&A session. The highlight of the day was getting to sit and chat with a table of girls, where we discussed what chemical engineering is and the doors that studying engineering can open up. We also got to talk about GCSEs, school life and other avenues to finding a career other than university (such as apprenticeships). As only 1 of 2 girls from my school who went into engineering, I feel quite passionate that there is a lack of women in STEM. So an event like this was so wonderful to be a part of to ensure girls who like their STEM subjects are aware of the options they have and know that women can be engineers! I also was an attendee of the Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board. Myself and 11 other graduates from the last decade came to the university for a day to discuss the potential to mould the chemical engineering course at University of Birmingham to be most suited to life after graduation and the ‘real working world’.

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

I have very fond memories of my time studying at Birmingham and the School of Chemical Engineering specifically has a family-feel that provided an excellent support network via lecturers, staff and other students. So any opportunity for me to give back to the university is something I will always want to be a part of as the university did so much for me. I specifically enjoy meeting with current students and being able to provide a little bit of advice as someone who has been in their exact position. It’s also great to see members of staff and catch up!

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

It is extremely rewarding – just do it! Sparing a small amount of your time to give back to the university which ultimately helps current and prospective students, is a great feeling. Plus, an added bonus is being able to come back to campus and see what’s changed!

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

The University of Birmingham is a fantastic institution and you really do realise this after you leave and look back on everything you learnt, and the support provided. I can’t recommend volunteering enough as it’s a great opportunity to reflect on how far you’ve come since graduating and subsequently what you can give back to the university.

Yasmin Bobie

1. What is your current role?

I'm a data engineer at Kubrick Group.

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

I helped out at the Girls Change the world outreach session with the school of chemical engineering. This event was host for girls in year 9 from schools around Birmingham and was to show them what STEM looks like in higher education and to show them that they can do it too!

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

I've always been an advocate for showing underrepresented groups that they are more than capable of going into a career in STEM. So when I was contacted to take part at this event it was a no brainer. It was also a nice break from work!

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

It’s so easy and the epitome of low energy, great rewards. It's also a good way to inspire the next generation of higher education students. It's also an amazing way to network! I met alumni from course that I had never spoken to before and it was great to hear where the degree took them.

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Get volunteering! You won't regret it.

Yusra Gulzar

1. What is your current role?

I am a Graduate Process Engineer at Engenda Group. I joined in October 2022 after I graduated from the University of Birmingham in Chemical Engineering in July 2022. Engenda is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction firm; I have had the opportunity to be actively involved in various projects and fulfil the requirements of clients and their desires in chemical manufacturing operations.

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

This month I volunteered to participate in 'Girls, Change the World' outreach day organised by the Chemical Engineering department. This was mainly targeted towards Year 9 girls to encourage them to pursue STEM subjects. Being part of the Alumni team, we had the opportunity to deliver a presentation to showcase the importance of Women in STEM and our experiences in this profession.

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

Having studied at the University the last 3 years, I missed the lovely campus and all the good memories that I had made along the way. As well as taking a trip down memory lane, I chose to volunteer because I understand how important it is to strengthen an interest in girls to take on board subjects in STEM because growing up I also had female role models that I looked up to. I enjoyed getting positive feedback from the girls about the overall day, this made me feel a sense of satisfaction to know that my contribution may have made a difference and sparked an interest.

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

Take the opportunity, volunteering helps both sides of the party; not only does it aid your personal development but it can also make a real difference to the lives of people. Even helping out with the smallest of tasks can do wonders.

1. What is your current role?

I am the head of department at JCU Language School, James Cook University Singapore. JCU is an Australian university with a campus in Singapore. I take care of the students who need to improve their English language skills before they go on to study at the Bachelor’s or Master’s level. We have a lot of teachers in the language school and a large number of students. I work on the operational side and also the academic side. When I have time I conduct academic research and teach into courses as well. Prior to this, I worked at a UK university in Vietnam, in a similar role. I also have an interest in teaching other subjects like sociology; there are a lot of links with linguistics and English language there

2. In what capacity have you volunteered for the University?

As one of the first graduates of the BA English Language program, I was always keen to support others who have a passion for studying languages and linguistics. For that reason I have worked with the EDACS school to help volunteer my experience for the students studying in this field. My goal is to show students the range of opportunities available for those who study English language. I have given workshops and sharing experiences to students to explain not only my professional path, but also others in my network who have chosen this field of study and gone on to interesting and rewarding careers. It is a great time to be a linguist, and there is a need for highly qualified language experts to work in emerging areas, particularly artificial intelligence and tech. I also like to encourage anyone interested in the academic side of things to explore that further. I give some of the advice that I wish I’d had when I started out in teaching!

3. Why did you volunteer for the University and what did you enjoy most?

I have really fond memories of my time as a student (as most people do!) and I am grateful for my time at UoB. I remember having some interesting opportunities, like observing an English lesson for international students as part of my course. I thought that professional insight was really valuable, so I wanted to do what I can to share my experience with current students and pay it forward. I enjoy talking to current students and getting a sense of how they feel about the subject of English language and linguistics, and where they see it taking them.

4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering?

There’s not a huge amount of advice I can give other than to say that it’s a great experience! I have found the enthusiasm, support, and professionalism of the coordinating staff really helpful. That’s important as it makes it much easier to know what you’re doing and feel comfortable. If you’re curious or considering it, I’d say definitely talk to the staff and find out.

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am looking forward to a long future of volunteering at UoB. I am hoping to come back and visit the campus a few times (for the nostalgia factor!) and I hope to meet more students not only in English language but in other disciplines too. You don’t have to cut ties with a university when you graduate – it is really worth maintaining those networks and staying in touch. I am still in touch with many of my former teachers and lecturers even now.