In order to inspire and develop the next generation of young female leaders, particularly female students in the fields of engineering, design, technology, and business, Bentley Motors has announced the students who have been chosen to participate in the 2023 edition of its Extraordinary Women initiative.
The Extraordinary Women program is intended to encourage women to seek jobs in STEM and the automotive industry as part of Bentley's larger diversity and inclusion commitment under its Beyond100 strategy.
Four carefully chosen students from top universities in the UK, including Loughborough, Bath, Warwick, and Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as a partner university in Saudi Arabia, Dar Al Hekma University, will now begin the program. The Pioneers will mentor the students, and the program will culminate in a special trip to the Bentley headquarters in Crewe, England.
Bentley introduced the successful mentees (the four students) to the mentors (the Pioneers) during a private ceremony hosted in Saudi Arabia in May. Four students have been carefully chosen to work with the four Pioneers, who made a commitment to the "Extraordinary Women" initiative.
The chapter for the UK Gauri Morjaria, a student from the University of Warwick who is majoring in MEng Automotive Engineering, will be guided by Amanda Levete, an architect who won the RIBA Stirling Prize. Judith Mburu, a student from Loughborough University specializing in MSc Finance and Investment, will be guided by Hayley Hunton, who is now Bentley Motors' Head Of Financial Planning. Polly Berryman, a mechanical engineering major from the University of Bath, will be guided by Nicola Gough, a member of the Bentley Motors product strategy team. Alisha Nasim, a student at Manchester Metropolitan University focusing in technology and cyber security, will be guided by Focal & Naim's Megane Montabonel.
Dar al-Hekma's Saudi Arabia chapter has four chosen students participating in the program. Computer science major Nada Ayman Alzahrani will be guided by MISHAAL aeronautical founder and aeronautical engineer Mishaal Ashemimry. Finance major Sarah Nahill Alrawi will be mentored by Noha Zagzoug, an associate at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Nadine Attar, a designer and the owner of Nadine's Jewellery, will serve as Joud Mustafa Zahran's mentor. Zahran is majoring in graphic design. Nicola Gough, a member of Bentley Motor's product planning team, will serve as Reem Mohammed Alsamkari's mentor. He or she is majoring in cyber security.
The mentorship program, which will continue until the end of June, will offer support and direction to the students as they begin to concentrate on their professional objectives. The female-only student group will have frequent one-on-one video conferences with important Bentley Head Office team members, in addition to frequent one-on-one meetings with the original Pioneers.
The students will also travel to Crewe, UK, to visit Bentley's UK headquarters, where they will spend a week immersed in the world of the famed automobile manufacturer. There, they will receive a thorough introduction to Bentley's operations as well as details on its diversity and inclusion initiative.
The best engineers, designers, and marketers from Bentley will spend time with the students, and they will be given a project to complete and turn in at the conclusion of their trip to the UK.