July 20, 2022 Oak sponsors Female Leadership Programme

On Tuesday, July 19th, we welcomed over 50 young female entrepreneurs from the LEAP programme into our boardroom to present their sustainable business ideas. LEAP was created to help young women develop their business, entrepreneurial, and leadership abilities by producing their own social enterprise ventures that address major global concerns, this year's theme being 'Planet'. 

We are proud to have supported this event for the past 2 years which welcomes over 50 students, aged 14 to 18 from over 30 countries. The young women attend a 10-day programme covering training in marketing, value propositions, market research, finance, digital marketing, presentation skills and Ideation.  

Bringing together local and international students, these women competed in a Dragons' Den-style competition and pitched their business ideas to 8 investors, including lawyers and financial service professionals, with the opportunity to £2,000 to support their innovative ideas! 

On the panel was our very own Managing Director, Jo Gorrod, who commented: “It was a fantastic afternoon listening to the innovative business ideas that were all focused on meeting at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

In just 10 days the teams produced some innovative ideas from female leadership programmes and mental health havens to e-commerce for sustainable fashion. These young women will one day be our leaders and demonstrated impressive presentation skills and discussed business procedures in depth. Congratulations to all the ladies who participated, and I look forward to seeing where our angel investment takes them.” 

Peter Le Masurier, from JCG, added: “This is the third year we have hosted LEAP and we are incredibly lucky to have so many prominent businesses involved along with successful business leaders who are prepared to give up their time to guide our students. I am looking forward to seeing how our students and the visiting students interact with each other, taking onboard, sharing knowledge and making the most of the invaluable advice and help they will be getting.” 

The JCG Foundation has been established as a charitable trust to support current and former students, as well as to raise awareness of JCG in the local, national, and international communities.