Invest to Progress! UCL Astrea’s One-Day Conference

Background 

At the start of 2024, we carried out a survey amongst our members to better understand how they felt about their careers and the pathways available to them at UCL. It soon became clear that several respondents felt that their pathway was unclear, that they experienced uncertainty in how to approach progression and they lacked confidence in building a network.  

Why attend? 

One of the important aspects of our roles at UCL is not just doing well in our day-to-day tasks, but taking the time to develop our skill sets so that we can progress in our careers. We are each allocated 10 days per year; however, we do not always take the time to invest in ourselves, putting the daily tasks ahead of our development needs.  

The Astrea one-day conference is a day for you to take for yourself. You are given this time by UCL to train, and your training days hold equal, if not more, importance, to your daily tasks, because investing in yourself means investing in your future.  

About the day 

We have curated a day to inspire and educate our network with talks from female senior leaders who have navigated the pathways of UCL to reach the top, workshops around mentoring, wellbeing and resilience, and an interactive networking workshop – to help you meet other like-minded women, develop new professional relationships and build your own community at UCL. 
 

Agenda 

09:00 - Delegates Arrive/Welcome Refreshments 

09:30 - Opening of the day - Welcome address to our members.  

09:45 - Plenary 1 - Inspirational Leadership - Stories from female leaders who have pioneered their pathway at UCL - Julie Smith Director of Operations Arts & Humanities, Fiona Strawbridge - Director of Digital Education and Emma Shirbon - Assistant Director Compliance and Performance, Kae Ohene-Yeboah - Head of EDI Programmes and Charters 

10:45 - Tea Break 

11:10 - Plenary session 2 - triple workshops (delegates select which to attend)  

1) Mentorship Training - Led by Avili Feese 

2) Navigating Difficult Conversations/Finding your Voice - Led by Dr. Sunny Lee 

3) Resilience, care and self-compassion when navigating our career journey - Led by Victoria Abbott 

12:20 - Lunch 

13:30 - Networking Workshop with Eugene Walker from School of Management - Interactive all afternoon networking session - Network as you learn!) 

14: 45 - Tea Break 

15:00 - Networking session continues 

16:30 - Thank You and Closing remarks.  

Additional Information 

UCL Astrea has secured funding from all Faculty Directors of Operations to support attendance at this event, and we hope that you will see the value in taking the time to attend a training day that will empower you and embolden you to reach new heights. 

There is a limited number of places per faculty, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible for your place. We will run a waiting list for attendees and update interested parties as soon as any additional spaces arise.  

Please note: The conference is limited to 100 attendees and is an all-day in person event, so please do make sure that you are able to attend in person when signing up, as your presence is what makes the magic happen! 

Register Now 

Please complete the following form to register for the event – registrations will close at 12 noon on 10th June.   

https://forms.office.com/e/ifyeJ3gK4k 

We will confirm your space by via email in the near future and keep you updated of any news and developments.  

We are so looking forward to sharing this day with you. To inspiring you and being inspired by you. To hearing your stories and seeing you flourish with new learning and confidence. You deserve this day.