Spotlight – OGA Ambassadors

OGA Ambassadors

The Old Girls’ Association relies on the support of many St Swithun’s alumnae who volunteer their time to help with the annual calendar of activities. We call these kind OGs our OGA Ambassadors. They share their expertise and give us their advice and time… all things we are hugely grateful for.

Lisa One of these Ambassadors is Lisa MacLaren (HA 1988). After finishing her A-levels at Epsom College Lisa took a year out in South Africa with her dad and then came back to the UK to study Business Law at City, University of London. Her next stop was the College of Law, York which looked right out on to the racecourse.

Although Lisa was sponsored by the Army from the age of 16 and dearly wanted to work as part of the Army’s legal services, changes made to funding by the government at the time meant that the arrangement was terminated. Lisa didn’t enjoy the ‘civvy street’ law firm she went in to after university and left after nine months to take a different career path. She has never looked back! It is a career that has been global, provided her with the opportunity to work and live in APAC and North America and given her the chance to experience so many cultures.

Lisa is now the Senior Vice President of Cielo Talent, a recruitment outsourcing firm who look after the recruitment and human resource needs of their many clients.

One of the things she enjoys most about her work is that every day is an unknown. She says, “Working with people is fascinating as they are the most unpredictable commodity there is.”

The pandemic has also caused previously unseen problems for companies and Lisa and her team have had to be creative with their responses in order to support their clients’ talent strategies. Lots of changes have been fast-tracked due to COVID as many employees needed to relocate or change their core hours. It has required some thinking ‘outside the box’ and added more vital experience to Lisa’s 24 years in the profession.

One of the events Lisa helped us with this year was to give L6 students a practice interview before they applied to universities. She feels it was a privilege to help them

understand what institutions and employers are looking for and how they can put ‘their best self’ forward. We are extremely grateful for the time Lisa has given us and look forward to working with her again soon.

Emma Faid (HH 1983) is another of our OGA Ambassadors. Emma left St Swithun’s to study Latin and Greek at Cambridge followed by postgraduate studies in Classical Archaeology, also at Cambridge University, and business studies at Anglia Ruskin University.

Then she trained as a Chartered Accountant with PwC before working in management accountancy in the public sector. Emma is still a practising accountant, but has also chalked up nearly 20 years as an academic administrator/office manager in various departments of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin Universities. Her current role is in the Sainsbury Laboratory, a plant sciences research laboratory based in Cambridge

Emma University’s Botanic Garden, where she “does a little bit of everything apart from actual plant sciences!”

Emma’s other passion is helping others in their time of need and she has volunteered for the Red Cross for almost 24 years, originally in event first aid and training other first aiders, but now volunteers in emergency response. Most recently, she helped to staff the Coronavirus Supportline and local responses in Cambridgeshire and Essex.

Emma’s first aid background was one area where she was able to help us. She spent the day with us at our Tichborne Garden Open Day (in aid of the Bramston Bursary Foundation) and was our dedicated first aider, helping to ensure that our first event ‘in person’ since coming out of lockdown went smoothly. She also joined us at Old Girls’ Day in September, but this time just as a guest to catch up with old friends. Emma says, “If you are thinking about being an OGA Ambassador, then go for it! If you’re considering volunteering then you probably already have an idea of how you might help”.

So whether it’s baking cakes, stewarding guests, talking to students or helping us to grow the OGA network, please get in touch to join in the fun when you can. There will be a warm welcome waiting for you.

You can get in touch on oga@stswithuns. com and we look forward to hearing from you. ■