Students from Burgess Hill Girls live up to the promise of being ‘Tomorrow’s Women’, organising a a powerful conference, themed Pioneers of Progress; Women Leading the Way.
Burgess Hill Girls hosts successful student-led conference featuring distinguished women leaders from a diverse range of sectors.
The conference, organised entirely by a dedicated team of Lower Sixth students, welcomed Abi Mellor, Co-Founder and MD of MOREVER, an independent creative agency; Dr Kathy Romer, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sussex; Louise Street, Director of Worldwide Airports at British Airways; and Burgess Hill Girls BOLD girl Natasha Arbon-Stuckle, a Strategy Analyst at PA Consulting, who shared their unique perspectives and experiences as female pioneers in their respective industries.
The distinguished speakers offered practical strategies for navigating male-dominated industries, challenging perfectionism, recognising subtle workplace biases, and creating opportunities for women’s advancement.
The planning and delivery of the conference provided the Lower Sixth students with valuable leadership and logistical experience, from securing speakers, designing marketing materials, creating videos for social media to the event management on the day. The students described the opportunity as instrumental in developing their self confidence as well as their organisational and leadership skills.
In addition to the guest speakers, the team were keen to invite girls from other local schools to share the benefits of hearing from the inspirational speakers and they were excited to welcome students from St Paul’s Catholic School, Oathall Community College, Chailey School and Burgess Hill Academy. This collaborative aspect of the conference created a valuable opportunity for educational exchange among local schools where attendees were treated to powerful insights from the speakers who shared their personal and professional journeys.
Marguerite Lazell, Careers Co-ordinator, from Oathall Community College said:
“It was a fantastic event, really well organised by your students – please pass on our thanks and congratulations to the team. I thought the mix of speakers were excellent, such a diverse range of fields, presentation styles and personalities with different experiences illustrating there in no ‘one right way’ to be successful.
Our girls were buzzing about it all on the way back to school and I’m sure it will have given them so much to think about and take with them as they start to think about their futures.”
Common themes emerged from all the speakers, including overcoming gender barriers, embracing change, building confidence, and developing supportive networks which made for an excellent Q & A panel discussion to close the conference.
Interim Head of Burgess Hill Girls, Heather Cavanagh, commented:
“This conference represents a transformative moment for our students as they prepare for their futures beyond Sixth Form. The opportunity to hear directly from these accomplished women provides not only inspiration about potential career paths, but also invaluable insights into leadership qualities and skills essential for success in tomorrow’s world. We are immensely proud of our students for organising such a professional and impactful event, and deeply grateful to our speakers for sharing their experiences and wisdom with the next generation of female leaders.”
