We are delighted that this year (for the first time ever!) our nominations have culminated in not one but TWO finalists for the GDST Alumna of the Year 2022 !

As you may know, Bianca Miller-Cole (Class of 2007) is a finalist for Alumna of the Year and Sigourney Bell (Class of  2009) is up for Trailblazer of the Year Award.

Here’s why these inspirational women have been chosen as finalists:
Alumna of the Year: Bianca Miller-Cole

Bianca Miller-Cole is a serial Entrepreneur, mentor, speaker, and Sunday Times bestselling author. She founded the personal branding company, The Be Group, and shot to fame as the runner-up on BBC’s The Apprentice in 2014.

In 2017, she co-authored the book, Self Made: The Definitive Guide to Business Start-up Success. In 2019, Bianca was an expert on Channel 4 show ‘Save Well, Spend Better’, helping members of the public with their finances. In 2021, Bianca’s second book, The Business Survival Kit, became a Sunday Times bestseller in two categories in its first week. Bianca works with charities and brands to inspire people to believe in their dreams and make them a reality.

Bianca is included on the Financial Times Top 50 Future Leaders list, the HERoes and EMpower list, and the Top 10 Power Profile Leaders on Linkedin. She was awarded ‘Forbes 30 under 30’ status in 2018. She is a keen advocate for the progression of women and believes in the power of diversity.

Trailblazer Award: Sigourney Bell

Sigourney Bell is currently undertaking a PhD focussing on understanding and developing new treatments for paediatric brain tumours at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. Her passion for STEM outreach compelled her to set up BlackInCancer, an organisation that aims to highlight Black excellence in cancer research and medicine and tackle the huge disparities in access /provision of cancer care and survival rates for Black patients.

Building on the success of the first online BlackInCancer Week in October 2020, Sigourney will hold the inaugural global BlackInCancer Conference in collaboration with Cancer Research UK in October 2022. She also launched the BlackInCancer Pipeline Programme which aims to redress Black under-representation in higher education and the cancer workforce.

She was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2021 list and features in the Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope exhibition which will be at the Science Museum in London from 25 May 2022 until January 2023, in recognition of both Black in Cancer and her scientific contribution to cancer research.

Thank you to all those of you who have supported our two finalists by voting in this year’s awards – we’re keeping everything crossed until we find out the results in September!