As a school proud to be nurturing a community of future successful businesspeople, at KBS we strive to make a significant contribution to the global sustainability agenda, starting with our commitment to Sustainable Development Goals.
That’s why, this year, we launched the Kent Business School Dean’s Sustainable Futures Competition.
The competition celebrates former and current students who feel they make a tangible difference to the world we live in, either through their studies or other activities they do.
We are delighted to announce our winners:
Ashwanth Gnanavelu (Alumni)
Ashwanth studied for his MBA at Kent Business School in 2004. He is also a member of the Association of British Scholars (ABS) in India.
Since his graduation, he has returned to India and developed DesiCrew, a social enterprise that works towards creating IT occupations in rural India and has supported hundreds of people into work from the poorest of backgrounds.
DesiCrew has won over 15 international awards.
Inetina Ebitonmor (MBA current student, Business Start Up Journey)
Inetina Ebitonmor who is studying for her MBA at Kent Business School, is an expert in Financial Markets in Lagos, Nigeria.
Working in a largely male-dominated field and being a mum to three daughters, Inetina developed a new passion for improving female representation in the workforce, which led her to a new business venture.
Yellow Table Talk is a mentoring company that works with a group of devoted therapists, coaches and parents to help empower girls with confidence.
And our runners-up:
Pak Ho Polo Lam (Alumni)
Polo Lam graduated in 2018 with a BA in Business and Management with a Year in Industry. He now runs his own VR marketing company.
Polo created his own entrepreneurial journey during his final year by starting his own company, Deseo Virtual Reality. He creates 360 videos and virtual tours for organisations across the UK and Spain, including the University of Kent itself.
Steph Harris (Alumni)
Stephanie Harris studied BSc Management Science at Kent Business School followed by an MSc in Management.
She took her expertise into the construction sector, working as a Business Manager for a leading construction firm and taking it to B-Corp status.
Steph has since set up on her own and works as a Strategic Business Consultant and now enables construction businesses to reduce their impact on the local community and environment.
Naila Alakbarova (alumni)
Naila is Head of Non-Lending Products at a bank in Azerbaijan and undertook an MBA with Kent in 2016. Currently Naila volunteers at an NGO in Azerbaijan, which helps young people get advice on careers.
She is particularly passionate about reducing the gender gap and helping females to carve out careers in a field suitable to their skills and experiences. Her dream is to one day create a scholarship fund for disadvantaged females to fulfil their dreams through tertiary education.
Muthoni Mbiwria (current student)
PhD researcher Muthoni joined Kent to complete her studies in Marketing through her interest in consumers in subsistence marketplaces. Her work experience in Kenya has shown her that many new interventions targeted at consumers in subsistence marketplaces fail, even though they offer their customers many potential benefits.
Her PhD work seeks to better understand the role of gender as a barrier and enabler to the adoption of innovations in subsistence contexts. This work should help policy makers and NGOs to overcome consumer objections to interventions and better enable these consumers to benefit and make use of products targeted at them.
Each winner takes home £250 and runners up, £100.
We wish to thank everyone who entered the competition.
Think you might be worthy of a sustainable futures prize? Keep an eye on our social channels to apply for next year’s competition.