March 15 Awards Ceremony - New York

On Thursday March 3, 2016 trainees, staff, professors and guests gathered for the March 2015-16 Completion Ceremony in New York at the Yale Club in Midtown Manhattan. The procession of the Director General, Institute Directors and professors began with the accompaniment of Mr Patrick T. Jones on the piano. There was a special treat for this ceremony, as a familiar face in the New York opera scene, Mezzo Elizabeth Bouk, accompanied by Mr Jones on the piano, sang the British and American National Anthems. In addition, throughout the evening ceremony, the attendees were treated to arias from Bizet's opera Carmen. The attendees gave spirited applause to each of the three beautiful renditions by Ms. Bouk's from one of the world's most beloved operas. Provost Dr Ronald Kovach presented students with their Certificate of Programme Completion.

Dr Paul Beresford-Hill then handed out Mountbatten Medallions and Certificate Awards and congratulated the following for their extra accomplishments. We wish the March 2015 intake all the success in their future! Check out this amazing video from the completion ceremony!

Read full details and view the full photo album.

A Day In The Life

Abbé Farrell (nee Ferrier) (New York, March 2011), a graduate of the University of Glasgow.

Abbé currently works as a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant. She also does some creative writing (www.abbeiwrite.com). Previously she has worked for Institutional Investor; Breast Cancer Care; and, after being in London for a few years, returned home to Scotland to work for one of Scotland's largest charities, Erskine. A desire for a change of pace and lifestyle then led Abbé to go freelance. Clients range from a Museum, to a Hospice; a Community Trust; and, some small Scottish businesses, including a cutting edge new design firm and a local artist who creates bespoke pieces of pebble art. She says, "It's fantastic working with such a variety of clients – every day is something different... when I have the time in between work, travels and planning my wedding I get back into my creative writing – I am working on my first novel just now, a thriller crime fiction novel set in the Highlands..." Read the full article

Entrepreneurial Alumni

Sarah Becker (nee Miller) London, March 2008 Sarah is a graduate of the College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University, recently updated us on the purchase and re-branding of her own business, Clear Simple Business (formerly Clear Simple Living). It was previously a home and office organizaton business, however Sarah has re-branded it to focus on process improvements and automation for small to mid-sized businesses. Clear Simple Business specializes in helping organizations build, repair and optimise processes so they can get on with their business. In Sarah's words, "seeing the lightbulbs turn on for my clients is the most rewarding experience I have had thus far. Being able to create simplicity out of chaos for them is a wonderful feeling! From this simplicity they are able to take their businesses to the next level with more confidence and clarity". Sarah is the owner and currently the sole employee. Find out how Sarah put her dream of owning a business into a reality...

Jonny Hough & Claire Collins New York, January 1999 They met whilst they were both students at the University of Liverpool, UK. They then decided to embark on the NY programme together. They have since enjoyed successful individual careers, married, had two children, and now (if that already isn't enough!), a few months ago set up Effra Digital, their own digital marketing agency specialising in design and build of responsive websites, digital project management, evaluation and training! Their aim is to "expand and build our business so we can competitively bid for work alongside established agencies. We'd love to take on a Mountbatten Intern of our own at some point". They explain how they have "taken an evolutionary approach to starting out which has helped us to minimise the risk and ensure we can continue to pay the mortgage and feed the kids. Before Claire quit her job we crunched all the numbers and set ourselves targets of what we'd need to deliver each month to be successful. I'd definitely recommend that approach". Read full article.

Universities in the Spotlight

Our Alum of the Month, Kate Glover is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University, which has provided the programme with over 50 quality candidates since 2003. In fact, our Day in Life of last month David Thorley New York, September 2006), had attended their Law School, and, Anna Titley (New York, September 2009) another esteemed graduate currently holds the position of Director of Operations & Communications for the St George's Society (her Mountbatten Host Organisation) in New York.

The University of Liverpool, another long time provider of excellent programme candidates is in the unique position of providing our entrepreneurs in this issue, married couple and Mountbatten couple, Jonny Hough and Claire Collins! We have enjoyed over 50 candidates from the university since the late 1990's to present day.

Jobs

Global Leading Management Consultancy Prospect33, who continues to employ our alumni, and is currently interviewing several candidates in London, also has a new opportunity. Based in Canary Wharf, London, they are actively recruiting a Graduate Recruiter. They are also seeking a number of Analysts and candidates at Associate level. Business 3.0 is looking for a Business Administrator, again in London; whilst Adidas HQ in Germany is advertising for a Director of Brand Communications - Adidas Outdoor; and, the World Cocoa Foundation is looking for an Executive Assistant to the President to be based in Washington D.C.

In addition, this month Robert Walters (London office) hosted their bi-annual Registration Drinks for returning alumni. The event was well attended, the atmosphere very optimistic, and a lot of the candidates were already in interviews for employment opportunities with RW. We will update you in a later newsletter on their employment statistics of our alumni.

For details of all the above posts and more, please go to our alumni website.