WeAreTheCity have partnered with Future First to connect state school students with alumni role models.
The partnership will connect WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star 2021 Award winners with Future First’s alumni network. Future First are working to ensure that every state school and college is supported by a network of willing alumni, and that every young person has access to the information, advice, insights and connections needed to give them confidence about the future.
Winners will record an inspirational message to share with students in schools via Future First’s YouTube channel and across their social media and website. WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star winners can also sign up to support their old school or sign up to Future First’s National Alumni Network to be kept informed of volunteering opportunities.
Speaking about the partnership, Vanessa Vallely OBE, Managing Director, WeAreTheCity, said, “WeAreTheCity are delighted to be partnering with Future First as a part of this year’s Rising Star Awards. The very essence of our awards is for our winners to not only benefit from the on-going learning we provide through our partners, but to pay that opportunity forward in some way. I am very excited that our 2021 Rising Star 100 will have the opportunity create short video messages that will used to inspire future generations within schools.”
Lorraine Langham, CEO, Future First said, “We are delighted to once again be partnering with WeAreTheCity to connect their Rising Star winners and their inspirational messages with our students. At Future First, we work to connect state school students with alumni role models, showing them that they can achieve great things, regardless of their start in life. The fact that 43 per cent of children do not think ‘people like me’ will be successful in life and 35 per cent do not know someone in a job they would like to do in the future has to change. Our partnership with WeAreTheCity can help drive change for the young people we work with.”
Now in its seventh year, the Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the UK’s female talent pipeline below management level. The 2021 awards will recognise and celebrate a further 100 female individual contributors from over 20 different industries that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow. These winners will join our award’s alumni of 650 previous winners, across the UK and India.
The nominations process for all the Rising Star categories is now open until International Women’s Day on 08 March 2021. Nominations can be made via the Rising Star website.