Leeds’ most inspiring leaders: Meet the finalists for 2017
They’re the Moses to your flock
Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some go out of their way to have greatness thrust upon them.
We’ve scoured Leeds to find the people who, not fulfilled by mere lectures and Thursday nights at Flux, have pushed themselves further to become something more.
They’ve invented groundbreaking apps, founded societies and campaigned to make education more diverse.
You’ve probably already heard of them, or maybe they’ve influenced your life without you knowing it. Either way, you’re going to want to see who’s made the list.
Here are your most inspiring leaders of 2017.
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Avigail Kohn, President and Founder of PPE Society
Third Year, PPE
Why did you found PPE society?
There was no society that represented us when I started at Leeds. I wanted to have a space where PPE students could meet outside of classes, discuss our course and hang out.
I had people who were willing to be on the committee but there was no one who wanted to take on the role of President. I enjoy being in charge of things and like taking on way too many responsibilities so I was happy to give it a go.
What does being a leader mean to you?
A big part of being a leader is having a strong team behind you who respect you. You need to be able to commit and take responsibility for your actions in order to fulfil the expectations of the people who look up to and rely on you.
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What advice would you give to someone wanting to take on a leadership role?
A good leader has to be someone who’s empathetic because you have to recognise the needs and desires of the people you’re leading. They have to know what they want and have a vision of some sort.
They have to be a good communicator so they can get their point across clearly and be knowledgeable about whatever it is they’re doing.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I think it would be really cool to be in a top level government position, like an ambassador, but I’m yet to decide which country I’d be an ambassador for.
Alternatively, I’d like to be involved with social action or charity work. Definitely something in the political sphere but at grassroots level – not an MP.
Do you have big plans for the future?
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Omair Vaiyani, Co-created Synap
Fifth Year, Medicine
What made you interested in creating the app Synap?
My friend James and I made “Synap” in our first year. We got fed up with taking notes just to read them over and over again and found a more stimulating method was to create our own questions from our lecture notes.
From this we created Synap, an app where students can submit their own questions to create a big resource for our users, customised to their particular modules. It started off as a medical platform but it’s now used for pretty much any subject, with users having created over 200,000 multiple choice questions so far.
It’s used by students and professional throughout the world, with over 10,000 people already on it.
What does being a leader mean to you?
In smaller companies it’s crucial you have people who take charge. At the beginning of the start-up process our team pretty much relied on us completely, but over time we were able to delegate more and more. It’s doing what needs to be done and then figuring out when people are ready to be delegated to.
What makes you a good leader?
I’ve taken the concept of education and tried to increase engagement by figuring out the best way to help people in education and learning. I’ve also had the courage to fully dedicate myself to this for the next few years, but that’s the courage you have to have if you want to succeed in the market.
What drives you?
I love technology so I want to find ways to get people to use it in creative and engaging ways.
Are you driven, ambitious and resilient?
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Scarlett Gurney, Director of the Leeds RAG Fashion Show
Third Year, Fashion Marketing
What made you interested in becoming the Director of the Leeds RAG Fashion Show?
Before I started uni I found out about the Rag Fashion Show online and knew I really wanted to get involved.
It’s a lot of pressure because there are so many people involved but that’s also what makes it so enjoyable. I’m meeting so many people and doing so many different things. About 600-800 people attend the show each year and it’s all funded through sponsorship – we raise money through a series of events leading up for it.
What kind of leader are you?
It’s all about team work. We have two hour meetings every Monday with all 30 of us and everyone shares what they’ve been doing. It’s so important to delegate because with the volume of work we have to do it would be impossible to take it all on myself.
It’s really important for me to take on everyone’s ideas and bring them all together at the end.
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What does being a leader mean to you?
Having empathy is one of the most important qualities of being a leader. There’s a very fine line between being someone’s friend and someone’s colleague, and I think a leader needs to meet this in the middle.
You need to be enthusiastic about the end goal – if you’re too cold you’re not going to get the best from people.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I definitely see myself working in the fashion industry but I don’t know what particular area. I know I really enjoy communicating and changing environments and that’s what I love about fashion because it’s constantly developing and exciting.
Are you good at dealing with high pressure situations?
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Cecily Holt, President of Leeds Model United Nations
Third Year, History
What made you interested in becoming President of Leeds Model United Nations?
I wasn’t planning to become President – I initially just wanted to reapply to the committee – but when it got closer to the elections I realised there were aspects of it I wanted to encourage and change.
When I first joined I was quite shy and had done no debating. The society was really encouraging and helped me gain more confidence in public speaking and general life.
What does being a leader mean to you?
I feel very responsible for the society – it rests on me to improve it.
I see the responsibility almost as a job, although I don’t get paid. Of course I also enjoy it and feel genuinely passionate about it, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to put nearly as much time into it as I do.
What qualities make a good leader?
Someone who can work well with a team, take on board others ideas rather than dictating to them, be able to recognise how everyone works and know how to utilise it.
My team are pretty confident getting stuck into their work – I tend to just nag in the background.
I like to think I’m a delegator spreading out the value. I like to be involved – I’m happy for them to do things but I always want to see the end results because I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
Do you have the qualities of a good leader?
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Melissa Owusu, Education Officer at LUU
Masters, Social and Political Thought
What made you want to become LUU education officer?
I’ve always enjoyed education. I think students come to university largely to learn and it’s really important they get the best learning experience they can.
This is my second year as education officer. I did it for another year because the changes I implemented and the campaigns I started were going really well and I didn’t want to drop them.
I wanted to work on how the curriculum wasn’t diverse – it was very white and male dominated. I replicated a campaign that started at some universities in London called “Why is my curriculum white” and brought it to Leeds. It was really popular.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to take on a leadership role?
Being a leader means having a vision for what you want to achieve but still being able to listen to your team. It can’t be so dogmatic a vision that it can’t be amended if other people have better ideas than you.
Trying to be a nice person is important as well.
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What are you passionate about?
Education. I just think it’s great. What continues to drive me is that I’m helping other people get the education they need and will help them think in a different way to when they first came to uni.
Education needs to be far broader and more encompassing than it is at the moment. The way we distinguish between high and low culture needs to be re-thought so we stop excluding things that could teach us important life lessons.