Our winning volunteers 2022

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Alumni Volunteering Awards 2022.

Westminster is extremely fortunate to have hundreds of dedicated volunteers, selflessly giving their time and expertise to support students at the University.

Through taking part in our mentoring schemes, giving careers talks, hosting events and workshops, and representing the University as international ambassadors, our alumni and partners go above and beyond to support the University’s mission and our students’ success.

During Volunteers’ Week each year, it is our pleasure to recognise and celebrate the dedication and commitment of these volunteers through our Alumni Volunteering Awards.

The Awards

The Awards include five categories, reflecting the breadth of volunteering opportunities at Westminster and the range of ways our alumni get involved. The categories are:

Alumni Speaker of the Year Award: For alumni who have delivered an outstanding presentation, lecture, workshop or panel discussion.

Going the Extra Mile Award: For alumni who have provided dedicated support across multiple initiatives or activities.

Exceptional Support of Students and Recent Graduates Award: For alumni who go above and beyond to provide professional development support to students and recent graduates.

Long Serving Volunteer Award: For the marathon alumni volunteers who have supported Westminster for at least three years.

Volunteer Partner Award: For non-alumni partners who, recognising the potential of Westminster students, generously offer specialist knowledge and insights to support their development.

The Winners

Yashraj Jain

Alumni Speaker of the Year: Yashraj Jain (Applied Market and Social Research MA, 2011)

Since completing his MA on an international scholarship, Yashraj has been working in the research industry, and is currently a Senior Researcher at Fundamental Media and Director at the Research Concierge.

Yashraj has demonstrated his commitment to students’ employability as a member of Westminster’s Employability Advisory Boards and also by volunteering as a keynote speaker for our What it Takes series. Students found his interactive presentation on ‘What it Takes to Make Better Career Decisions’ so engaging, that there was little time for the Q&A. Unprompted, Yashraj followed up with considered answers to each of the students’ outstanding questions.

Yashraj gave the talk from Mumbai, while India was facing the worst of the pandemic. Despite this extremely challenging situation and added difficulty with the time difference, Yashraj still delivered an outstanding event.

'Lola' Jianjie Xia

Going the Extra Mile: ‘Lola’ Jianjie Xia (Film and Television MA, 2015)

Since completing her degree, Lola has been working as a trilingual TV producer and screenwriter. In partnership with South Korean and Hollywood production teams, she works as a creative producer across borders, regions and languages.

Her first volunteering experience at Westminster was as a mentor on our Career Mentoring programme in 2019. Since then, Lola has remotely mentored and helped three students take their first steps into their professional careers, both in the UK and China. In 2021, Lola supported both the Westminster Working Cultures (WWC) UK and WWC Professional programmes, speaking to students about her experience as a producer in China’s creative world and how endurance and her passion has kept her going.

Despite being based the other side of the world, Lola has always been willing to support students and inspire them with tales of her endurance.

Rajan Borkhataria

Exceptional Support of Students and Recent Graduates: Rajan Borkhataria (Computer Science BSc, 2020)

Rajan is a Software Support Analyst at Innovative Systems. After graduating in 2020, he spent his first graduate year enthusiastically saying ‘yes’ to every alumni volunteering opportunity put to him.

As a previous WWC UK participant, Rajan was enthusiastic about speaking on the programme himself and took part in multiple WWC UK sessions last year. He inspired many students with his honest advice as he described his career journey so far – the challenges he has faced, the lessons that he has taken away and the opportunities that he has embraced. As a recent graduate, Rajan has demonstrated admirable commitment and passion for volunteering at Westminster.

Christian Rodrigues

Long Serving Volunteer: Christian Rodrigues (Business Management BA, 2013)

Christian is a highly skilled and successful retail manager with over 19 years’ experience. Throughout his career, he has delivered successful strategies and initiatives with businesses in High Street and Luxury Fashion.

Christian has been part of the mentoring community at Westminster since 2015, providing exceptional support through our Career Mentoring programme and Ask a Mentor service. He has worked with a number of students, building their confidence, enhancing their vocational prospects and improving their academic outcomes. In addition, he has encouraged mentees to network with his colleagues and given tours of his workplace, so that mentees can learn more about their desired profession.

Over the years, Christian has been an excellent example of a mentor whose efforts are impactful and rewarding.

Cognizant

Volunteer Partner of the Year: Cognizant

Cognizant Outreach is the technology company’s volunteering-led social impact programme. Supporting inclusion in tech is at the heart of Outreach and something they have been able to do further by engaging with Westminster’s mentoring programmes.

Cognizant has been one of our key partners, supporting all three branches of Future Ready Mentoring. In addition to their support as mentors, the Cognizant team hosted an Outreach Event specifically for Westminster students and graduates for International Women’s Day. The event was designed to give mentees an opportunity to meet industry leaders and work side-by-side with digital professionals on a project team.

The Cognizant team have gone above and beyond to help students and recent graduates understand the options available to them after they graduate, and assist them in navigating the everchanging job market.

Could you be an Alumni Volunteering Award Winner?

Find out more about the many volunteering opportunities available for our alumni and supporters: westminster.ac.uk/get-involved