Green Templeton students help launch Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust campaign in Davos
Green Templeton College students Laura Aristizábal Borrero and Dana Qarout were part of an Oxford graduates team that launched a scholarship fundraising campaign at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.
Laura and Dana were both in Davos on behalf of the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust Scholarships and Leadership Programme on Wednesday, 23 January.
It’s the largest philanthropic scholarship supported by the University of Oxford, helping equip Oxford graduates from developing and emerging economies with the leadership skills, networks and practical tools to make positive, ethical and sustainable impacts on their countries of origin.
The Trust held a panel in the Sustainable Development Goals Tent titled ‘Young Voices of Hope: Perspectives from the Latest Wave of Emerging Leaders’, featuring scholars and alumni discussing the most challenging issues facing their countries of origin, and how their time at Oxford and within the Leadership Programme has helped them create and drive solutions.
Laura Aristizábal Borrero speaking during a Q&A at the World Economic Forum last week
Laura (MBA, 2019) took part in a Q&A during the event, declaring: “I am from Colombia and Colombia is the country of hope.”
She told Green Templeton: “The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarship and Leadership Programme has been the best thing that ever happened to me. Having the opportunity to go to Davos representing my University and my country was a once in a lifetime experience. This programme has changed my life in every single way and I just hope it continues to change the life of more people in my region and in my country.”
Dana (MPP, 2019), from Jordan, spoke on the panel about her belief in the importance of redefining womanhood as more than motherhood, and recognising and encouraging the power of women in the labour market.
Laura described the Leadership Programme as the “best thing” that has ever happened to her
The panel featured further perspectives from other Oxford graduates from a wide variety of countries, all highlighting the benefits of the Leadership Programme to them and importance in investing in young people, to mark the launch of a new campaign to raise funds for the programme. Since 2007, the programme has supported 276 scholars from 72 countries across 49 different courses of study at Oxford.
Trust chairman André Hoffmann said: “I believe in supporting young, talented students through the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarship scheme as a way to make a difference in today’s highly complex world through the advancement of education. Knowledgeable and skilled leaders are needed to shape more equitable and sustainable societies, particularly in trouble-stricken regions.”
You can find out more about the Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme here.
