CONNECTED spoke to three Reading alumna from different years, who have inspired and supported each other to achieve their career goals in some of the world’s biggest companies.
The strength of our alumni community at Reading reaches far beyond the borders of our campuses – as demonstrated by these three human geography graduates. From Chanel, to M&S, to innocent drinks – Heather, Ellie-May and Emily all work within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in well-known companies. CONNECTED spoke to Heather, Ellie-May and Emily to discover more about this heartwarming story of graduates supporting graduates.
Heather Cadden
2015 graduate, Heather, has focused her career on upholding the human rights of workers within the supply chain at Asda, Sedex, and M&S, and is now a Senior Manager for Human Rights at Chanel.
Heather’s passion was inspired by one of her modules at Reading taught by Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans. Heather said: “We had to do a presentation on child labour in a high street retailer. It made me realise my passion for this area and was such an eye-opener in terms of a career path.”
Heather has successfully established a career for herself in this field, focusing on the rights of workers in supply chains. She explained:
“Workers at every stage of the supply chain should be treated well. My roles have always involved collaboration with other businesses including competitors, suppliers, and industry experts on the ground to improve working conditions.
“For example, one project I worked on at M&S was launching a voice tool in our supply chain to enable workers to feedback to M&S on their specific areas of risk.”
Heather’s passion for her work continually draws her back to Reading, where she provides an insight into her industry and acts as an informal mentor to students and graduates.
Heather said: “I have been back to Reading to give a lecture on one of Dr Lloyd-Evans’ modules a few times now, and I mentor students from the University who are interested in the industry. I support my mentees with that big jump from leaving education and going to work, and help them understand the realities of life within the ethical trading and human rights industry.”
One of Heather’s mentees was then third-year student, Amelia Harper. Graduating in 2018, Amelia has focused her career on sustainability at New Look and TFG London, and is now Responsible Sourcing Manager at Lidl.
Heather said: “I’ve been mentoring Amelia since October 2017 when she was a final-year student. In 2018 we both delivered a talk at Reading about our jobs – I was working at M&S at the time. We both discussed the different ways companies approach CSR, and how our mentoring relationship worked.”
Ellie-May Turner
It was one of Heather and Amelia’s talks which helped Ellie-May to figure out exactly what she wanted to do with her career. Ellie-May graduated in 2020 and has focused her career on responsible sourcing, human rights and corporate responsibility at Direct Produce Supplies, and is now a Sustainability Analyst at Innocent Drinks.
Ellie-May said: “I’ve always liked the idea of being able to make a difference in my career and have always been a huge advocate for human rights and equality. But it was Amelia and Heather’s alumni talk which really helped me pinpoint what I wanted to do.
“Their talk showed how much goes on behind the scenes of retailers and fast fashion, and how much more work there is still to be done.”
Ellie-May has stayed in contact with Heather since they met at Reading. “Keeping in touch with Heather after I graduated has been great,” she shared. “As Heather was working in the industry I wanted to enter, she was able to offer practical advice, such as recommending online courses, looking at my CV, and offering support with interview tips.
“When our paths crossed again through our jobs, my company agreed for Heather to become my mentor. She is incredibly supportive and passionate, involving me in projects she was working on at M&S to build my personal experience in human rights, and she also helped me to find my current role at Innocent Drinks.
“Heather’s infectious passion inspires myself and others to make a real difference in the world.”
Emily Matthews
Emily graduated in 2019 and has focused her career on responsible sourcing and sustainability at Worldwide Fruit, and is now a Senior Ethical Trading Coordinator for Sedex, supporting beauty client Coty. Emily and Heather met each other at a work conference and took advantage of the opportunity to form a professional connection.
Emily said: “When I was studying at Reading I investigated the claims behind Nike’s sustainable footwear as part of a module. This, plus reading an article about Heather’s career journey, initially sparked my interest in the sustainability sector. After graduation I worked at Worldwide Fruit and was further inspired by my manager about the environment and human rights.
“While I was in the food industry I met Heather at one of the FNET [Food Network for Ethical Trade] conferences. We stayed in touch and connecting with Heather really helped me to figure out the next stage I wanted to take with my own career.
“I am now focused on ethical sourcing within our supply chain for a client in the beauty industry called Coty and am loving it.”
Supporting each other
With all three graduates benefitting from alumni-student and alumni-alumni support after graduation, they have also been inspired to give back where possible.
Heather said: “I absolutely love what I do. It can be a very difficult job, but I want to do the right thing and it’s important to seek out problems so we can do something about it.
“If I can share my knowledge and experience to help fellow Reading graduates progress in this important field then I absolutely want to do that. It’s been a joy to support them and I have learnt so much from them.”
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