Alumna of the Year 2024 Celebrates a Broadcaster and an Aerospace Engineer

Engineer Maleha Khan and journalist Felicity Baker took centre stage at the Alumnae of the Year Awards evening, inspiring attendees with their extraordinary journeys. Maleha, now at the UK Space Agency, described her path into Engineering and Aviation, while Felicity, a Senior Journalist at the BBC, shared the story of how she became a ‘Stambassador’.

We welcomed over 70 alumnae, staff, parents, and donors for the Alumna of the Year Award Presentation and festive celebration at the GDST offices in London on the evening of Thursday 28 November. Our Chief Executive Cheryl Giovannoni kicked off the evening with a heartfelt welcome, emphasising the importance of the GDST Alumnae Network in fostering lifelong connections. She also highlighted the transformative impact of philanthropic support, particularly through bursaries that transform the lives of students. Cheryl then handed over to GDST Chair Vicky Tuck to present the awards.

‘It has been hugely inspiring to read the stories of all the nominees for this category and in the Trailblazer award and everything you’ve all achieved, I was just happy to be amongst you all.’ — Alumna of the Year 2024

GDST Trailblazer of the Year 2024

maleha khanThe first award presented was the Trailblazer, a young alumna who is already achieving outstanding acclaim early in her career. There were four fantastic finalists for the award and the winner was Maleha Khan, a Portsmouth High School alumna. Maleha, now at the UK Space Agency, inspired the audience with her journey. She shared milestones such as earning her Master’s in Engineering from The University of Southampton, taking her first solo flight, and marching with her Royal Air Force unit on Remembrance Sunday.

GDST Alumna of the Year 2024

felicity bakerFinally, the main Alumna of the Year award was presented to Wimbledon High School alumna Felicity Baker for her role as Senior Journalist at the BBC and her advocacy as a ‘Stambassador.’ Remarkably, Felicity had rushed straight to the presentation evening from packaging a breaking story on the BBC Six O’clock news.

On receiving her award, Felicity said:

‘I would just like to start by saying a huge thank you. I’ve never won an award before and I certainly never imagined I’d win one as a result of my time at school. It has been hugely inspiring to read the stories of all the nominees for this category and in the Trailblazer award and everything you’ve all achieved, I was just happy to be amongst you all.’

Felicity described how she had been working with Sophie Raworth (Putney High School alumna) at the BBC for a year when she shared a social media post about Stammering Awareness Day. Sophie was surprised to learn that she has a stammer and persuaded her to go in front of the camera to talk about it. This led to her starring in ‘I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering in the Spotlight’, a BBC documentary about stammering.

‘The more people talk about it, the more normal stammering will become, and the more people who do stammer will feel accepted.’

Felicity concluded her speech with a powerful message:

‘This award is not about me. It’s about everyone who stammers – and I know there will be people in this room who stammer or who know someone who does. I’ve realised we really are everywhere! The more people talk about it, the more normal stammering will become, and the more people who do stammer will feel accepted.’

The celebration concluded with Cheryl Giovannoni congratulating the winners and guests were given the opportunity to make new connections within the alumnae network.

Do you have an alumna you would like to nominate for the Alumna of the Year 2025? Look out for nominations opening in March 2025.

The GDST Alumnae Network

The GDST Alumnae Network is the largest organisation of its kind in the country. There are over 100,000 GDST alumnae from across our family of 25 girls’ schools and the network is increasing every year.

Find out more about the GDST Alumnae Network