News
GDST alumnae recognised at the 2023 Women of the Future awards
We were delighted to have three brilliant GDST alumnae shortlisted in the Women of the Future Awards, which resulted in a Category Winner and Special Mention for two of our former GDST students respectively.
GDST Winner — Aviva Arts and Culture
Sutton High School’s hugely successful film-making alumna Aletha Shepherd has been recognised by the Aviva Women of the Future Awards 2023, scooping the Arts and Culture category in recognition of her production company, Shot of Tea.
Aletha founded the production company with the vision of inclusivity at its core to bring a fresh perspective to the media industry. Since its inception in 2017, Shot of Tea has quickly gained recognition for its highly successful short films, which play at festivals around the world and have won numerous prestigious, international awards.
“I hope my award inspires others to never give up on their ambitions. My education at Sutton High School GDST was pivotal in teaching me how to weather the storms of my industry and has certainly helped me to have the strength to persevere” — Aletha Shepherd.
According to the judging panel, it was Aletha’s attitude towards success and failure combined with her motivation and resilience that made her stand out.
GDST Special Mention — Aviva Community Spirits
Clementine Brown is a Royal High School Bath alumna and was given a Special Mention for the Community Spirits category.
After leaving Royal High School, she studied Arabic & Persian at Oxford and then started working as a data analyst for the UN. In 2018, she co-founded CodeBrave, a non-profit training disadvantaged youth in Lebanon in coding, robotics, and AI – tools to lift themselves out of poverty.
In 2021, she set up a social enterprise, CodeBrave Tutors, to fund the charity sustainably. CodeBrave has received recognition from Wired ME as one of the early-stage start-ups poised to transform the Middle East, and was also listed in the Deloitte Fast50 Technology Companies in 2022.
GDST Shortlisted — Aviva Young Star
Anvi Gupta was shortlisted in the Young Star category of the Women of the Futures 2023 awards.
Anvi has only very recently entered the GDST Alumnae family having just graduated from Northwood College for Girls, where she was Deputy Head Girl for 2022-23. She is a passionate and proactive activist for period awareness and women and young girls’ menstrual health.
Her notable achievements include extensive fundraising for Bloody Good Period, becoming a Youth Ambassador for Period Power and recently completing an internship with period-pant company WUKA where she led on PR, influencer marketing and social media strategy for the Axe The Tax petition to remove VAT from period pants.
The Women of the Future Awards
The Women of the Future Awards are a platform for successful young women in Britain. For seventeen years, the awards have shone a light on trailblazing women working in all fields, from science to community work, academia to sport. These awards have gone a long way towards shifting gender stereotypes, and spring-boarding talent to great heights.
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 all-girls schools and the network is increasing every year.
