Students call for change through Directors of Tomorrow blogs

Tuesday 24 December 2019

Grammar School student Mary-Kate Hubbard, Ladies’ College student Orla Rabey and Elizabeth College student Jacob Brady are the 2019/2020 Directors of Tomorrow blog winners.

The three students were selected from a group of nine nominated by their schools to take part in the 2019/2020 IoD Directors of Tomorrow.

The Directors of Tomorrow initiative was created by The Ana Leaf Foundation nine years ago as a way of celebrating young business talent on the island.

The scheme invites students, as selected by their teachers based on their interest in business, economics and current affairs, to attend the annual Guernsey IoD Convention, and afterwards they are invited to submit a blog reflecting on their experience.

The blogs are judged by representatives from The Ana Leaf Foundation, the IoD Guernsey Committee and Orchard PR, and the three winning students will go to London in the new year. 

IoD Guernsey chair John Clacy said: “It was a pleasure to have nine of Guernsey’s bright young minds at the convention. I was really impressed with the students, they had great insights into climate change and are already making a big difference within their schools to cut back on plastic and reduce their carbon footprint.

“The blogs submitted were of a very high standard so choosing three favourites was challenging but the winning blogs were innovative and very well written.”

Ahead of the IoD Convention the students attended an informal lunch to meet John Clacy, Stretch Kontelji from the IoD and the convention’s moderator, ITN newsreader Alastair Stewart. This gave the students an opportunity to discuss the hot topic of climate change and voice their opinions on the opportunities and risks associated with climate change in Guernsey.

Amanda Simmons, a trustee of the Ana Leaf Foundation, said: “The Directors of Tomorrow initiative gives local future leaders the chance to voice their opinions and it was wonderful to see how passionate they were about the climate change topic. 

“During the convention the students were questioned by Alastair to give them a chance to address the audience and get their comments heard. Some of the students attended a climate change march a few days earlier which was focused on Guernsey’s policies and climate change so the timing couldn’t have been better.”

Pictured top: The three students with John Clacy from the IoD.