This year two of our Old Wrekinians, Kaja and Olga are leading one of the biggest student-led conferences in the UK - UCL Leaders. The girls joined Wrekin in 2019 as full academic scholars and moved on to study at University College London in 2021. They both were school prefects and members of our chapel choir, and helped Mr Howard Brown revive The Wrekin International Group.

About Olga:

During her time at Wrekin, Olga completed Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Computer Science, Spanish, and Polish A levels as well as an EPQ focused on the biology of the human voice. As her academic choices show, she is passionate about interdisciplinarity and enjoys a good challenge. She is currently studying Data Science and completing her summer internship at a biotechnology company, Polpharma Biologics.

About Kaja:

Kaja is currently a student of Neuroscience. Her interest in the study of the brain stemmed from Wrekin College, during her study of Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, as well as Drama and Polish. On top of that she is a passionate musical theatre performer and was able to combine her interests through an EPQ project on the intersection of performing arts and perception of mental disorders. Kaja is passionate about women and youth empowerment, as well as communication being the key to success.

—-----------------------------------

About UCL Leaders:

UCL Leaders is a highly anticipated annual conference designed to spark debate around pertinent global issues affecting every community, such as sustainability, equality, climate change and technology, including artificial intelligence. Through exciting interdisciplinary panels, UCL Leaders brings political leaders, industry experts, and leading academics face to face with the next generation of ambitious students. UCL Leaders was created by the Polish Society at University College London (UCL), however it soon became an internationally recognised event attracting multicultural audiences.

The conference is all about collaboration between students from different universities and countries. It is based in London but also accessible online.

What is the structure of the event?

Day 1 (Friday): Workshops for participants, led by our sponsors and partners, with practical engagement in case scenarios and real-life-based tasks. An ‘opportunity’ area, where partners are available to talk to participants about internship and networking opportunities. This year we are introducing Sixth Form specific opportunities, where students will be able to gain insight from other university representatives about their study experience.

Day 2 (Saturday): Panel discussions and networking sessions, followed by a black-tie ball in renowned London venues

UCL Leaders have previously welcomed speakers such as:

Sir Vince Cable, Former Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2017-2019

Rasa Juknevičienė, MEP, former Minister of National Defence of Lithuania

Edward Lucas, Former Senior Editor at The Economist

Arch Hades, Acclaimed and Bestselling British Poet

Ewa Puszczyńska, Film producer (Cold War, Ida), Oscar and BAFTA winner, lecturer

Bill Browder, Co-founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management

Each year the UCL Leaders Conference is supported by companies such as Amazon, mBank, BNP Paribas, CVC Capital Partners, EY, with media coverage in Vogue, Sustainability Magazine, and Politico EU and more.

In 2023, UCL Leaders will take place in London on the 20th and 21st January. With the capital being a city of innovation and networking, we would like to continue encouraging such aspects of our Conference at a black-tie reception, which, with the help of sponsors, will be organised in the National Gallery.

Olga and Kaja would like to take this opportunity to invite any Old Wrekinians and their businesses to support the conference. They offer a variety of sponsorship packages, more details can be found here: UCL Leaders. 

This a really exciting opportunity to support the next generation of leaders. The conference is entirely run by students and they receive no funding from the university marketing team. In return for their support, partners are offered recruitment opportunities, marketing and brand exposure.

A message from Olga and Kaja:

“Together with our amazing team, we hope to make UCL Leaders 2023 an even more enriching event open to anyone interested in attending. Through the Conference we aim to encourage the new generation of leaders to make a real impact on their communities. We believe that the inspirational panels and discussions delivered by our speakers, as well as the opportunity for participants to actively ask their questions are the ways to achieve our goal successfully. We are grateful for the opportunity to have been able to join the Wrekin community and would love to welcome as many of you as possible in London for the next edition of UCL Leaders. If you would like to support our endeavours in any way, please do get in touch, we will be very happy to talk through our offer and provide further information.”

UCL Leaders online: https://uclleaders.co.uk/

Additionally, we can be found on social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram at UCL Leaders.

Contact: uclleaders2023@gmail.com