Taking the Lead

Leadership skills on show as Year 12 win big with GDST Lead!

The GDST LEAD Programme (Leadership and Enterprise Advanced Diploma) is one of the most challenging and exciting things we offer in our Sixth Form, alongside A Levels of course!

A UCAS-accredited programme, delivered in partnership with LSE Generate, part of the London School of Economics, it is designed to help young women discover their entrepreneurial skills, and develop their future leadership potential.

Each team is tasked with creating a profitable, sustainable and charitable business, involving research, creating a business model and designing and executing a sales and marketing plan.

Last week, two groups from Year 12 competed in London in front of 30 other GDST school teams to showcase their entrepreneurial and leadership skills and present their business ideas to a panel of judges. Both groups delivered impressive, confident presentations that clearly demonstrated their creativity, teamwork, and entrepreneurial thinking.

We were thrilled that team period. won the highest accolade, the Judge’s Choice Award, for their work to highlight the issue of period poverty in conflict zones. Their outstanding concept centred on promoting open conversations and breaking down the stigma surrounding period poverty, and included a series of engaging, educational podcasts alongside thoughtfully designed “conversation starter” mugs, both aimed at encouraging meaningful dialogue around this important social issue.

Mishkaat from period. said, “Thank you so much for the incredible support you have all shown towards our LEAD project. We were honoured to receive the Judges’ Choice Award. This would not have been possible without your encouragement and involvement. We are especially grateful to everyone who bought a mug, joined our fundraising events, and watched our podcast. Thanks to you, we have raised £1156, which will go directly to The Pachamama Project, supporting women facing period poverty in war-torn countries.”

 

 

Our other Year 12 team, Nourishing Notts, were worthy runners up, having published their own cookbook and raised over £800 for Hope Centre Nottingham, a local foodbank.

 

Read more about their journeys on their Instagram accounts: @period.gdstlead and @nourishingnotts