EH*V CHELTENHAM LADIES' COLLEGE
Since EH*V was established at CLC, the EH*V-CLC Team are particularly important to our collective. Their work gives a taste of what a team of womxn can achieve, and more importantly, provides us with insights into the issues effecting womxn in their age groups. Below is the Team for the 2020-2021 period.
President
I am this year’s president of Empower Her* Voice at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. I am extremely excited to be working with a group of incredibly passionate girls. To me, EHV has always been a place of discussion and debate where I feel confident that my voice will and can be heard. With my role, I intend to keep the conversation with the BLM movement going. I believe the role that education plays is vital in seeking change and moving forward as a society. I would also like to advocate for those who cannot do it for themselves; I hope to do this by sharing my own stories and furthermore, encouraging others to do so. By acting as an example, I hope to show that there is indeed strength in vulnerability. My strong desire to speak for people who feel they don’t have a voice stems from my own struggles with appreciating both my identity and myself as a black woman. Over the years, I have learnt how important these factors are in making me who I am, hence my hope is to be able to lead more women to this realisation.
NIFEMI AKINGBOYE
Vice President
I am delighted to be elected as the Vice President of EHV, this year and I hope to help raise awareness about the inequalities that women still face today, especially in the workforce. I am really passionate about the increasing the visibility of women in STEM and their representation in the scientific field. I want to encourage other women to strive for their goals and to help girls less privileged than myself. I also want to be a champion for women of colour. As a black young woman myself, I understand the struggles we face in society due to racial discrimination. I aim to also focus on contributing to eradicating the stigma surrounding both period poverty and women’s mental health. I believe equality is a fundamental right of all humans beings and hope that I can help educate and share experiences with others to take steps towards a more equal, loving and accepting society.
VICTORIA HSU
Social Media Director
I’m one of the social media directors this year and I’m really excited to be a part of such an inspiring team! I hope to explore intersectional feminism and the difference between what feminism means within different cultures, religions and experiences. To me, female solidarity is key in creating a successful community. I believe that you cannot pick or choose what females you support, and also hope to advocate for the importance of women’s health: physical, mental and sexual. I will be coming up with projects, posts and content on social media to promote our values and provide education, so watch this space!
FLORENCE BURT
Events Coordinator
I am events co-ordinator this year so I hope to create a space for our whole community to interact in an open, respectful and healthy environment encouraging debate and empathy. I want to put our girls in touch with wonderful people to inspire and empower through our events. For me I relate most to issues with body image and the confidence of young girls as so many teenage girls are so insecure about not only appearance but achievement. Therefore, I hope to empower and cherish young girls so that they can grow, flourish, love themselves and shout about their every attribute. It’s a scary world so I hope I can give our girls some confidence and love to fight the world with.
SIENNA OGLINA
Social Media Director
I am one of the social media directors this year and I feel privileged to be apart of such an amazing organisation. I am passionate about the unity of women in the face of every challenge we individually face. Within society today, it’s becoming more and more common to see women labelling themselves as feminists, but still putting other females down. It seems to be popular for the media to spin narratives placing powerful women against each other, never together. I would like delve deeper into why this is such a common occurrence. To me, feminism embodies equality between all, and fighting for a future which means skin colour, gender and sexual orientations are not seen to be negative factors. The goals of feminism will be reached when no person feels embarrassed, forced or awkward about calling themselves a feminist, instead for all people to see it as a label in which they should take pride in. A feminist future is a healthier, happier and more secure future- for all parties which make up our diverse community which is the world. I will be using the EHV social media platforms to educate and provide a safe space for discussion.
OLIVIA FREER
Involvement Director
I am this year’s Involvement Director and I’m so excited to encourage and involve the whole CLC community in our EHV events this year. In this position it is an important aim for me to connect with all year groups, no matter how young, to inspire them in learning more and speaking out against gender inequality. I wanted to join Empower Her* Voice as I am passionate about creating a gender equal society – it is important to me that women are treated with the exact same respect as men are given in everyday life. We are on the path to change and together we are only going to keep that movement going and create more change. I can’t wait to give talks at our events and promote EH*V!
VIONNÉT LEE
Events Coordinator
This year, I am one of the events coordinators, so I hope to use this platform to raise awareness for feminist issues through organising various talks and panels. Through this, I hope to discuss women who have experienced issues such as sexual assault, a topic which I feel incredibly passionate about, and to spotlight some especially inspirational people who have paved the way to a more equal society. A topic that greatly interests me is the role of women in the business world, as inspired by female CEOs such as Lynn Doughtie, Anastasia Soare and Indra Nooyi. This is especially prevalent given the evident stigma towards females in the workplace, ranging from issues dealing with pay to pregnancy discrimination. By discussing these issues, I aspire to make people more aware of this, so that we can make change in the future. Strength is in numbers - if we all are aware of these problems, we can do more to remedy them, so please keep an eye out for lots of EH*V events coming up next year!