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Alumni updates
Find out what your fellow Keelites have been up to recently. If you have some
exciting news to share, let us know!
An advocate for women in business
and one of Africa’s brightest young
achievers Nataliey Bitature (above)
was awarded an honorary degree
from Keele University.
Nataliey, who graduated from Keele
in 2013 with a degree in Business
Management and Education,
attended Keele’s Winter Graduation
on Thursday 23rd January to receive
her Doctor of Science award for her
inspiring leadership and work to
empower young women.
Nataliey is the Chief of Staff
of Uganda’s Simba Group, a
conglomerate of companies spanning
the hospitality, energy, telecom,
and real estate sectors, as well as
a foundation which she oversees
the operations of. She has been
recognised amongst Africa’s brightest
young achievers by Forbes “30 Under
30”, and the World Economic Forum
named her one of the Top 5 African
Innovators.
Nataliey, who has credited the
University with helping her get to
where she is today, said: “It’s so lovely
to be back at Keele, I have such good
memories of being here. It was my
home for four years. I was so shocked
to be asked to accept the honorary
award and I feel really touched. This
means so much to receive this award
from Keele as this is where my journey
started and it helped propel me into the
world.
“I chose to study at Keele because
I could do two majors at the same
time, as I wanted to do Business
Management and Education Studies,
and even while I was doing that I got to
do lots of other modules from different
faculties too and learn so many
interesting things. It really suited the
variety that I was looking for and gave
me a diverse foundation which has
helped me grow in my career.”
After graduating from Keele, Nataliey
attended the Hult Business School in
San Francisco where she completed
an MSc in Social Entrepreneurship.
During this time she co-founded the
concept for Musana Carts – a business
that creates solar-powered street
vending carts designed for microentrepreneurs
across Uganda. Musana
Carts has since partnered with Coca-
Cola, The Rockefeller Foundation,
Mastercard Foundation and Ideo.org.
After working with young women in
urban and rural Uganda, Nataliey
launched an initiative called ‘HER’,
an online community programme
where young women in business are
equipped with both business and life
skills that are designed to help them
grow in their businesses and in life.
Nataliey has also been invited to speak
to the United Nations Development
Programme, the United Nations
Population Fund, Rotary International,
and the International Labour
Organization, advocating for youth and
women's empowerment.
Nataliey added: “I think especially
for women we need to have more
confidence in ourselves and speak
up more. We still get undermined and
dismissed quite easily in business as
usually you’re in a male-dominated
room, meeting or field and you need
to believe you’re there for a reason
and your value will be recognised by
other people. I would advise young
females to not be afraid to speak up,
to ask questions, give your opinion
and contribute. It’s really important
that younger women have female role
models and mentors and see women
succeed in these male-dominated
fields, so I think it’s up to us who are
already working in the sector to be out
there and try as much as we can and
be visible as we do it.”
Living Heritage steam locomotive
in construction, with royal
approval
Paul Hibberd (History, Politics and
Education, Class of 1975) is Chair
of Trustees of LNWR George the
Fifth Steam Locomotive Trust which
is building a new steam locomotive