LEAD Launch

Our Lower Sixth students embarked on the Leadership & Enterprise Advanced Diploma (LEAD) at the London School of Economics.

Twenty of our students joined nearly 200 Sixth Formers from 22 other GDST schools for the launch session of the annual diploma – a programme developed by the Girls’ Day School Trust in conjunction with LSE Generate to help equip and inspire the next generation of female leaders and entrepreneurs.

“In a world where gender-equal businesses are 71% more likely to outperform competitors, but women only holding 17% of business leadership roles across the world, the need for change is urgent.”

The enterprise diploma offers a mix of live sessions, workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities, focused on building leadership, resilience and entrepreneurial thinking. Two groups of South Hampstead students are undertaking the challenge this year. Each team will to develop, pitch and launch a business idea that tackles one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ready for the showcase event next March, where they’ll compete for prizes. This term’s launch event at LSE began with a powerful keynote from Rachel Wang, Wimbledon High School alumna, whose career spans film production, social impact and arts advocacy.

“Be bold and brave with your ideas. It’s easy to think that if most people are doing something, then it must be the right thing to do. Remember that we do things best, when we do them our own way.” 

Students took part in a variety of workshops, helping them build confidence, communication and collaboration skills. They also explored social enterprise models, design thinking, and reflected on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, finding causes they’re passionate about and gaining hands-on experience in solving real-world business and social problems.