Anisha Kochar | Leveraged Finance Associate | NatWest
Anisha is a caring, determined, hardworking individual who approaches all aspects of life with enthusiasm and drive and is always seeking out opportunities to help others.
After discovering a love for mathematics at school, Anisha went on to achieve a first-class BSc Hons degree in MORSE (mathematics, operational research, statistics and economics) at the University of Warwick. In her first year of university, she completed a female insight week in Structured Finance at NatWest, leading to her being offered a summer internship with them. After successfully completing the summer internship, Anisha joined NatWest on the Structured Finance graduate scheme where she did 4 rotations in Rating & ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Advisory, CFILM (Corporates, Financial Institutions & Loan Markets), Mid Cap Leveraged Finance and Infrastructure & Project Finance. Anisha completed the graduate scheme in 2022 and joined the Mid Cap Leveraged Finance team as a permanent associate.
Anisha has always been passionate about helping underrepresented groups of people and creating more diversity and inclusion in society. This led her to become a strategy committee member on the Gender Network, leading the 50 Ways to Fight Bias initiative, and joining the People & Inclusion Hub for Corporate Banking & Structure Finance (CBSF) at NatWest.
Starling Bank
Starling Bank is an award-winning, fully-licensed and regulated bank built to give people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past.
It offers personal, business, joint, euro and dollar current accounts alongside a children’s card. Starling also provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) proposition through its subsidiary Engine, using the proprietary technology platform that it uses to power its own bank. Headquartered in London, the bank has offices in Southampton, Dublin and Cardiff.
Shruthi Govindarajan | Structural Engineer - II | Worley
While at school, Mathematics was my favourite subject and my strength in analytical skills and logical thinking were primary motivation factors for me to pursue Engineering as a profession.
I was fortunate to succeed in IITJEE, considered one of the toughest entrance examinations in India for admission into Engineering, and joined IIT Madras to pursue Civil Engineering. And here I am 11 years later still passionate about the subject and keen to make a difference in the field of Engineering.
I am a Structural Engineer with over seven years of global engineering and site experience and my role enables me to bolster the industry’s collective work to secure energy resilience by exploring and designing renewable sources of energy, and by sustainably extending the life of our current energy assets.
Through my career, I have had the opportunity to work with various clients such as TOTAL, Shell, Neptune, BP, Aramco with projects in various locations including North Sea, Saudi Arabia, Gulf of Mexico, etc. In my current role, I am part of the Advanced Analysis team and I help clients solve advance and complex problems in offshore energy platforms. My most recent work involved helping one of the clients to increase gas exports in an existing offshore platform by performing structural integrity checks and thus contributing to the sustainability of the asset.
I am also co chairing the Women's network at Worley and an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Gemma Littlewood | DEI Strategic Lead / Project Manager | Oil Spill Response Limited
Gemma has worked for Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) for 17 years and now in the role of Strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Lead and Project Manager.
As Project Manager, Gemma is co-leading the organisation's 'Footprint for the Future' project, which looks to recommend and implement the future physical office and warehouse spaces needed by the organisation across its global Footprint. Gemma also leads the implementation of the DEI Strategy alongside her role as Project Manager.
Gemma is passionate about the synergy between establishing diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces in an organisational system design and translates this knowledge into supporting the Footprint for the Future Project, where future office and warehouse spaces alongside new working practices will be designed for the next 20 plus years.
Oil Spill Response Limited: OSRL is the world's largest international industry-funded cooperative which exists to respond to oil spills wherever in the world they may occur, by providing preparedness, response and intervention services.
Catherine Podesta | Offshore Installation Engineer | SSE
On completion of my master’s in mechanical engineering I joined bp where I had the opportunity to work in a diverse variety of roles within projects.
I started on the graduate scheme in Project Controls, learning the skills needed to help keep a project on schedule and within budget.
However, I had a desire to apply my engineering experience and jumped at the opportunity to work offshore on a construction vessel. This showed me my passion for subsea construction, and it allowed me the opportunity to learn from a diverse team and experience firsthand the challenges of working on site.
From there I managed the regional construction vessel program and contract for bp North Sea, which allowed me to influence safe and efficient offshore execution for the business. After which I moved to awarding and managing the services contract for subsea hardware in Mauritania and Senegal including new region entry for the contractor.
Following 8 years at bp I wanted to use the skills I had learnt to support the UKs transition to Net Zero. I moved to SSE Transmissions to help stand up the Marine function in the business and provide technical input into the network upgrades needed to support the UK's ambitious targets set out in the government's British Energy Security Strategy. Working with the head of development I am working on initiatives to streamline our procurement and front-end design to allow us to meet the 2030 targets.
Aasha Marenghi | Subsea Project Manager | bp
Aasha is a Subsea Project Manager for bp, leading a global project team to deliver the subsea production system for bp’s complex ultra-deepwater gas project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.
With a background in mechanical and subsea engineering, for the last fifteen years she has held a variety of subsea project management roles in bp and the energy industry, with a strong track record of major project deliveries in West Africa and Egypt.
She has a passion for project leadership, leading teams to tackle complex challenges, and creating team spirit and purpose around a project mission.
Throughout her career, Aasha has built trust and respect through authentic and inclusive relationships across a diverse network. She prides herself in creating a mutually supportive and psychologically safe environment for her team to operate in, and in providing space for individuals to work flexibly to be at their best.
Aasha has been part of the working group for bp’s ‘Women in Projects’ community, organising and hosting network events; and is also a coach and facilitator for bp’s project management training courses.
She is a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and a Chartered Project Manager with the Association of Project Managers.
Alexandra Lawson | Commercial Advisor - Integrated Energy Solutions Europe | Shell UK
After first thinking a career in dentistry was what her future had in store, one work experience week and root canal treatment later, Alexandra changed her mind and explored what the world of STEM had to offer.
Growing up in Glasgow, Alexandra was far removed from the world of oil and gas three hours north, but through influential role models and supporters, Alexandra graduated with a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde and has since found herself immersed in the energy industry.
Skilled in supply chain optimisation and operational strategy, Alexandra has had a fantastic career in the energy sector to date. Having started her career as an operations engineer, Alex now combines her frontline experience with her commercial acumen, working as a Commercial Advisor within the Integrated Energy Solutions team at Shell, helping customers decarbonise through onsite energy solutions to achieve their net zero ambitions.
Outside of her 9-5 responsibilities, Alexandra is passionate about advocating for the future pipeline of STEM talent. She channels enthusiasm through her additional responsibilities as a member of the Women in Science & Engineering Young Professional’s Board and sponsorship of Northeast Scotland College’s Girls in Energy Program.
Throughout Alexandra’s education, her favourite part of attending industry presentations was watching someone present, feeling completely inspired and thinking “one day, I want to be like them.” She is on a mission to be that role model for others and to light their spark for science and engineering, just like others did for her.
Zoha Omer | Future Leaders Graduate | CBRE GWS
As an ambitious and goal-driven individual, I have always believed in creating value while moving forward in life.
My journey began in Saudi Arabia, where I grew up as an immigrant from a middle-class divorced family. Fitting in with the culture and establishing an identity was a struggle, but I persevered and maintained high academic achievements throughout high school.
I was fortunate enough to secure a merit scholarship allowing me to attend Jeddah's best private university. During my undergraduate, I faced the challenge of balancing school with work to support my family's needs, instilling a profound sense of responsibility. These challenges shaped me into a committed and goal-driven individual, which led me to immerse myself in community-building organizations and serve causes more significant than myself.
In the summer of my junior year, I secured an opportunity at Cummins, Middle East, where I was responsible for developing corporate sustainability and management policies. After graduation, I received a full-time internship offer at Desert Technologies (DT), where I had the opportunity to deploy several rural electrification projects across Africa to provide clean, cost-effective, and sustainable energy.
My ambition is to make impactful opportunities and develop my understanding to decode and implement deep-seated change in the community. I aim to expand my knowledge of facilities management while complementing and broadening my current expertise within the energy sector. With the support and guidance of CBRE GWS and my manager Chris Demuth, I am eager to be involved in the transformation of people's lives.
Michelle Smith | Portfolio Delivery Manager - Digital | River Island
I’ve worked in retail for 20 years, I have a real passion for the evolving world of Retail and have worked my way through the changes and challenges it has faced.
From what was a part time job at 15, has given me a career, filled with amazing experiences and opportunities to develop myself.
While stores has always remained a real passion of mine, this has evolved into the world of Omnichannel and has been my area of interest over the last 8 years. Getting to work in digital gives me the opportunity to be part of that progression and how we bring our instore and online experiences to life for our customers.
I put everything into what I do, I really enjoy my role, the business I work for and the people I get to work with.
Tokunbo Ifaturoti | Senior Project Manager | Ministry of Justice
I started my corporate legal career at Amazon.co.uk and worked as a solicitor and consultant for various Law Firms having qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales.
I am a Senior Project Manager and have worked on various projects in sectors such as Construction, Data Protection, Digital Transformation, and Procurement. I am a Global Goodwill Ambassador and advocate for Sustainable Development Goals.
As the CEO of a corporate social responsibility and sustainability management consultancy with a particular focus on the development of emerging nations, I remain passionate about Sustainable Development. I advocate its benefits across corporate and non-profit organizations in the United Kingdom, Africa, and Asia drawing from 22+ years of working and volunteering experience.
I am also the host of a Sustainability Development Podcast series that amplifies the voices of people from communities, businesses, academia, and civil society organizations. I use this platform to share bold and innovative solutions that help tackle social, economic, and environmental issues which affect sustainable development.
I have worked and volunteered with over 15 Not-for-profit organizations and charities in countries to provide strategic direction, and visibility, drive projects, and meet the organizations’ goals including UNICEF (United Kingdom). I have led and also been part of, fundraising projects raising millions of pounds to provide access to material resources to meet needs not limited to girl child education, hunger, crisis-ridden communities, and the environment.
I have 2 bachelor's degrees (in Law and International Development with NGO Management) and a master's degree (in Computer & Communication Law).