Alumni news

We were delighted to welcome members of our global Sussex alumni community to an entrepreneurship-focused event in London in June. Taking place in the stunning events and co-working space at Fora in Spitalfields, the event was presented by Sussex Connect to give alumni and final-year students the opportunity to network and hear from inspirational alumni entrepreneurs.

Our inspiring speakers – Benjy Kusi, Omid Moallemi and Emnet Tiruneh – gave a series of short talks on their respective journeys, peppered with useful advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Their talks were expertly facilitated by Luke Mitchell, Entrepreneurship Manager.

Our speakers brought a range of entrepreneurial perspectives to the event. Benjy Kusi is an inclusion and wellbeing consultant and online creator. He recently made his debut as a published author with Hope This Helps: How to be Kinder to Yourself and Others. Whereas Omid Moallemi’s background is in the tech entrepreneurship space. Omid is co-founder and CEO of Prsnt, a gifting app that allows users to instantly send someone a present from more than 100 household brands. And Emnet Tiruneh is a medical doctor by training who found her true passion in addressing public health issues affecting millions of people in Ethiopia and beyond. She was recently the first ever double winner of the annual StartUp Sussex enterprise competition with her organisation Addis Health.

During their talks, our speakers gave some great tips to attendees on how to advance their networking skills, build their confidence in pitching their ideas, and approach potential collaborators. Omid highlighted the importance of having enthusiasm for what you do, “aim high, show passion and people will give you their time”. Another suggestion from Emnet was to, “look for mentors – anyone who inspires you and can guide you through life”. While Benjy emphasised the value of knowing your worth: “It pays to take yourself seriously and rate yourself highly. Practice self-love and find people to help guide you with it”.

After hearing from our engaging speakers, attendees had the opportunity to network with them and with each other during the drinks reception.

Feedback from our attendees and alumni speakers about the event has been overwhelmingly positive:

"The event has made me realise how diverse the Sussex community is, while at the same time being united under the alumni family. It was extremely heartening to see how marvellously accomplished alumni have been in various fields – what better way to become Sussex Uni ambassadors!" – Emnet Tiruneh, speaker.

“The whole environment was great and made me feel at ease for my first networking event.” – Event attendee.

“I met with amazing people. One of them were directly interested in my topic. It was very useful!” – Event attendee.

We’re hugely grateful to all the alumni who gave their time to volunteer at this year’s entrepreneurship event. If you are interested in speaking or attending one of our future events, make sure you have ticked your ‘Willing to Help’ badge on Sussex Connect and that we have your up to date address. You can also drop us an email at alumni@sussex.ac.uk.

Read more about our speakers’ career journeys by viewing their stories in our Spotlight On series of interviews:

Benjy Kusi’s Spotlight On interview
Omid Moallemi’s Spotlight On interview
Emnet Tiruneh’s Spotlight On interview

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