Women In Leadership
The Women in Leadership programme at Invicta has been designed to encourage all students to be ambitious in their education and career plans.
Exploring the career paths and experiences of our alumni and other women in a variety of industries will allow our students to gain an understanding of the incredible variety of options that are available to them.
There is a wealth of evidence that mixed management teams are more profitable and work better, and yet women are still in the minority in management roles globally. Part of the answer lies in developing the confidence and skills of talented girls and young women so they are prepared to step up to management and leadership positions.
We are currently looking for profiles by women with interesting jobs and careers, including, but not limited to, those who are in leadership positions.
We would love to hear about your career path and journey so please fill out the form below if you would to contribute to our Women In Leadership programme, to inspire and build the confidence of future generations.
Women In Leadership Profiles:
Name: Rebecca Adams
Role: Educator, Recruitment & HR Lead
Company/Organisation: The Chapel, Hairdressers
"Turn up, say yes to everything and make plenty of mistakes so you can learn from them (it’s never failure). Women multitask, we adapt, we grow, and we change. We need to stand together and celebrate each other’s wins more."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Grace Poll
Role: Management Trainee
Company/Organisation: Apex Contractors
"Having women in the construction industry is incredibly important. While it has traditionally been seen as a male-dominated field, this perception is changing—and it's encouraging to see more women entering and thriving in a range of roles across the sector."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Sasha Silk
Role: Social Value Lead
Company/Organisation: Apex Contractors Ltd
"Having women in the construction industry is incredibly important. While it has traditionally been seen as a male-dominated field, this perception is changing—and it's encouraging to see more women entering and thriving in a range of roles across the sector."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Alice Ames
Role: Detective Superintendent
Company/Organisation: Kent Police
"It’s so important that policing reflects the communities we serve. That means embracing diversity in all its forms—backgrounds, cultures, styles, and gender. I’m proud to be a role model for other women and to demonstrate that female officers can thrive and lead in this field."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Susan Anderson
Role: HR Director
Company/Organisation: Chalkwell Coach Hire
"While HR is a field where there is strong female representation, it is not necessarily at a senior level. I do think female representation is important, particularly at this level, as in the UK only 35% of all active companies have a female director listed."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Anna Alizadeh
Role: Joint Lead Science Technician
Company/Organisation: Invicta Grammar School
"It's good for girls to have a role model. Work hard and don't worry if you don't get the results you want first time, there's always another way."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Nathalie Aure
Role: Highly Specialised Echo Cardiac Physiologist
Company: Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
"Women often take on many roles in life, and the ability to perform all these tasks only highlights how capable we are of becoming strong leaders. Fear, unfair judgments, and treatment should never stand in the way of our dreams to become women of power."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Ashling Oladele
Role: 5th Year Medical Student & Founder of 'Be Exceptional'
Company: Be Exceptional (IG: @beexceptional.co)
"Strong female representation is crucial in all industries, and the medical field is no exception. It is important for young girls to see that they can achieve whatever they set their minds to. Strong female figures show young girls that it’s possible to have it all—the career, the family, the relationships, the business, or the degree."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Sharon Robinson (née Roots)
Role: Software Engineering Manager
Company: Kingfisher Plc
"Currently, I’m the co-chair of the Neurodiversity Network and run the T-Level placement and Apprenticeship programmes for our Yeovil office. My passion for inclusivity led me to collaborate with Yeovil College, where I run a monthly coding workshop for Year 7 & 8 girls to inspire them to pursue STEM subjects."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: S.J. Wills
Role: Author of books for teens
"Historically, women have been under-represented in certain types of writing—there are still far more female romance novelists than military historians, for example—but the industry is changing. There is no reason to limit oneself. Women’s perspectives can enrich every genre and form of writing."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Vickie Sayer
Role: Account Director
Company: Krow London
"In general the creative teams are largely male led, but so many of the products and services we are advertising are bought by women, so it’s important we have creative executions that appeal to them."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Ellie Dommett
Role: Professor of Neuroscience and Deputy Director of the BSc Psychology Programme
Company: King’s College London
"I would say work hard and stay focused but be prepared to be agile and change direction if you need to. There are some great opportunities that will pop up and you need to be flexible enough to take them."
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Selina Suri
Role: Project Manager
Company: Network Rail
"Being a woman and not having an engineering background was challenging but it actually gave me confidence to believe in myself!"
Click Here to read her full interview
Name: Alice Gill
Role: CEO and Head designer
Company: AGE Productions UK Ltd
"I think there is a perception that females in the industry can only create 'pretty pink brands' and this is definitely not the case! AGE Productions UK Ltd prides itself on being able to offer a diverse design style that attracts all audiences."
Click Here to read her full interview
Katie Price
Role: Osteopath
"I think women make great manual therapists and many people out there still associate male practitioners with more success due to the general assumption you have to be strong to get the job done. It's great to show them otherwise."
Click Here to read her full interview
Charlotte Tyler
Role: Scheme Project Manager
Company: Network Rail
"I believe you need strong female representation in a company to lead the way, I believe having strong female representation is beneficial to the company, not only other women within the company."
Click Here to read her full interview
Dr Liza Thompson
Role: Freelance Chair and Author
"I co-founded and grew a domestic abuse charity for 12 years, and have very recently become freelance – working for SATEDA was exhausting but rewarding and I learnt so many new skills, and so much about myself during that time."
Click Here to read her full interview
Hannah Goff
Role: Project Manager
Company: We Are Cognitive (A white-board animation company based in Folkestone)
"I’ve been at Cognitive for 4 years, first as a Bookings Coordinator, but I was promoted to Project Manager in 2018. Before that, I spent 16+ years in Project Management roles in the marketing/advertising and charity sectors followed by a short stint as a freelance Project Manager."
Click Here to read her full interview
Dr Marian Duggan
Role: Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Company: University of Kent
"I teach and research around issues relating to gender-based violence, sexual violence, domestic abuse, hate crime (particularly gender-based and homophobic), violence prevention policies and victims’ access to justice."
Click Here to read her full interview
Maureen Meaney, CPA, CA
Role: Vice President Finance & Corporate Secretary
Company: A. Harvey & Company Ltd.
"I was involved from the inception of the idea for a marine base in 1994 to its now world class facility in 2021 which services or has serviced international conglomerates such as Equinor and Exxon Mobil. In 2008 I was appointed Vice President Finance of this company and remain part of a team driving A. Harvey & Company Limited into the future for more generations to come."
Click Here to read her full interview
Sam Graves
Role: Co-Founder
Company: The Maidstone Distillery
"I created The Maidstone Distillery with my husband. I am part time and am in charge of Front of House, all company administration and payroll, and am responsible for the design aspects of our products (labels, branding etc)."
Click Here to read her full interview
Philippa Golding
Role: Quantity Surveyor
Company: Gallagher Ltd
"Jump straight into it and get your foot in the door as soon as you can. LinkedIn is a great place to start, the construction industry is very active on there and you'll often find jobs and apprenticeships advertised."
Click Here to read her full interview
Christina Hasenhuettl
Role: Research Assistant
Company: “School Quality and Teacher Education Project” at the School of Education, University of Salzburg in collaboration with the University of Oxford
"Born and raised in Austria, I have lived in more than five countries, studying and working at different institutions and organisations. My main areas of interest are education, gender equality, and fighting the climate crisis."
Click Here to read her full interview
Gianna Pollero
Role: Author Published with Piccadilly Press
"I have always wanted to be a children’s author and I have written many stories and several books over a number of years. In 2019, I was signed up by a literary agency and subsequently, I was offered a three-book publishing deal with Piccadilly Press (part of the Bonnier group)."
Click Here to read her full interview
Rebecca Bradley
Role: Program Director: MA Illustration
Company: MICA: Maryland Institute College of Art
"I am a freelance illustrator working on numerous projects from Books to greetings cards and in between. I am also the program director for a one year postgraduate illustration program."
Click Here to read her full interview
Desi Aleksieva
Role: Quality Assurance Manager
Company: Aspire Laboratories
"A 2009 University of York Chemistry masters graduate, I went on to work in the pharmaceutical industry, starting off in analytical chemistry research and development. I then moved into analytical technical development and validation where I worked on novel drugs for the US market and managed a team of analysts."
Click Here to read her full interview
Prof Juliette Pattinson
Role: Professor of Modern History and Deputy Director of the Division of Arts and Humanities at the University of Kent and a Chair for Advance HE’s Athena Swan (gender equality).
Company: University of Kent
"I studied History and Women’s Studies at Lancaster University and enjoyed it so much that I went on to undertake a Masters and then a PhD. My PhD was on male and female secret agents during the Second World War."
Click Here to read her full interview
Tracey Shelley
Role: Chief Executive
Company: BCECA – a UK-based trade association that represents the principal engineering contracting companies involved in engineering design, procurement, project management and construction of energy and process plant facilities around the world.
"My career began as a mechanical engineering apprentice in the avionics industry, after which I worked as a project engineer developing and testing night vision military equipment. After 7 years lecturing, I moved into the engineering professional body world, holding a variety of roles focussed on education, training and professional development of engineers and progressing to Chief Executive level."
Click Here to read her full interview
Tara Ojo
Role: Senior Software Engineer
Company: Financial Times
"I grew up in the Midlands and went to Aston University in Birmingham to study a Computer Science related degree. The Financial Times has lots of great people and many opportunities to grow in your career. My team works on the parts of the website that help our readers to find articles and content that matches their interests."
Click Here to read her full interview
Captain Chloe Harrison
Role: Airline Pilot
Company: British Airways
"I always wanted to fly, ever since I was a little girl! From the moment I got it in my head that I wanted to fly planes and travel the world, not one person could tell me otherwise. I did everything I could from that moment to get to where I am today. I became the youngest female Captain at British Airways."
Click Here to read her full interview
