The OL Club Review
Message from the Chairman In this edition of The Quad, we particularly wanted to focus on and emphasise the extensive achievements of some of our female OLs. The College has been co-educational since 2001 and some 20% of our global network of Lancing OLs are women. One of the key aims of my time in office as Chair of the Old Lancing Club is to increase the number of female OLs in the running and activities of the Club. I hope you enjoy reading the fascinating stories over the next couple of pages from some outstanding alumnae.
NIGEL BENNETT Chairman, The OL Club Olds 1972–1977
News from OLs Beatrice Rose Holland (Handford 2009–2014) Interior Designer based in Milan
Rudo Mugwagwa (Manor 2002–2005) Attorney in the USA
Since finishing my interior design studies at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) in Manhattan, I spent a few years working between Milan and the UK with various firms, in different roles. While stuck at home during the first lockdown and between jobs, I decided to launch my own website and brand. Guided by business podcasts, online seminars and a determined mindset, things slowly began to take off. Expanding a business within a creative industry that required touch and feel, client interaction and connection during lockdown periods was certainly a challenge, but with out-of-the-box thinking we delivered some really exciting projects. The Beatrice Holland Interiors studio has now been established in Milan for 18 months and in the last year I have worked with clients in Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy – a dream come true. I travel quite a bit for work, but when home in Milan, I live with my 9-month-old Dachshund Donald and my partner of eight years, Niccolo. I have found a wonderful group of friends here, both expats and Italians. You can find out more at www.beatriceholland.com
Since leaving Lancing I have had a rewarding global experience, both through my education and through my career. I am now a State of New York qualified attorney with an LL.M. in Securities & Financial Regulation from Georgetown University in the United States. Previously, I had attended and graduated from University of British Columbia in Canada with a BA degree and then went on to also attain an LL.B. (Hons) degree from the University of Manchester. My career as a lawyer has afforded me working in different countries in various capacities. I worked at the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service’s ‘One Baltimore’ in the USA where I coordinated the delivery of civil legal services and then went on to develop the pilot project for work programme trainees at the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Employment. More recently, after admission to the bar, I worked at a boutique law firm in the Cayman Islands, specialising in alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity. I am now preparing to return to the United Kingdom to join the private equity practice group of an international firm. In returning to the British Isles, I am really looking forward to reconnecting with more fellow Lancing alumni.
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THE QUAD
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SUMMER 2022
