​​​​​​Tobi Oredein is a freelance journalist and the founding editor of Black Ballad – a niche lifestyle website written for and by black women.

A former student at Eastlea Community School, Tobi attended Havering Sixth Form College from 2006 to 2008. She achieved high grades in English Literature, History, Sociology and General Studies A Levels and went on to gain a BA in American Studies at King’s College, London.

After finishing University, Tobi was employed as an Entertainment and Features Writer at the TV Times magazine where her weekly writing duties would include celebrity interviews, features, real life copy and news stories. She also freelanced for publications such as Entertainment Wise, Look, the Daily Mail, Woman: Diet Special, Chat and Pick Me Up.

But Tobi grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of representation of black women in the media and so in 2014, she decided to launch her own website, blackballad.co.uk

She calls it ‘a forward thinking lifestyle website for the black and mixed race women of excellence’. The website’s mission is to create a media platform that helps black women in Britain live their best life and it has covered a varied range of topics, such as mental health, beauty, careers, politics, disability, dating and higher education.

After three years of being a free platform, in December 2016, Black Ballad ran a successful crowdfund to transition into a membership platform and has achieved an average of 18% month-on-month growth since its launch.

Tobi continues to develop her website and to write as a freelance for publications such as Grazia, Glamour and BuzzFeed. She says she is passionate about creating unique content that simultaneously engages readers and that puts publications and brands on the cutting edge.

Tola is employed as a lawyer with global law firm Morrison & Foerster and has worked at their offices all over the world, including in the USA and Singapore.

He attended Havering Sixth Form College from 2006 – 2008, taking A Levels in English Literature, Law, Maths and Psychology, before going on to study Law at Brunel University and achieving a First Class Honours degree.

A former student at Eastbury School, Barking, Tola has built his career through working as a Case Manager at the Crown Prosecution Service – the UKBA Unit, and as a Paralegal at Clyde & Co law firm. He then trained as a Solicitor at Morrison & Foerster, which included a six month secondment to their office in Singapore. He is now a Litigation Associate based in London.

Tola married another former student who he met while they were both studying A Levels at Havering Sixth Form College – and the couple have a six-month-old baby.

Chris Shipway works as a Transport Planner for Jacobs, a global company providing technical professional services covering industries such as engineering and construction.

The former Emerson Park student’s specialism is traffic modelling; the mathematical modelling of transport systems using computer software to simulate traffic behaviours.

This role builds on the skills Chris developed at Havering Sixth Form and at the University of Exeter, where he achieved a First Class Honours Master of Mathematics (MMath) degree.

Chris moved to Exeter to attend university and enjoyed the Exeter lifestyle so much that he currently is still living and working there, four years after finishing his degree.

The A Levels that Chris studied at College were Maths, Further Maths, Geography and English Literature, and although Chris studied Maths at university, it was his passion for Geography that led him to choose Transport Planning as a career.

In his day to day work, Chris develops traffic models which allow him to predict how traffic patterns may change in the future, and to estimate the economic benefit of a transport intervention.

He works on Business Cases to bid for funding for transport schemes and has developed small scale projects for Torbay Council and larger projects such as the A30/A303 and A12 in Essex.

Chris volunteers on the South West Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation’s (CIHT) committee as the Events and Communications Co-ordinator and in February 2018, he was awarded the CIHT South West Peter Swain Emerging Professional of the Year for the South West, pictured, recognising how he has gone above and beyond in the profession in his work for the CIHT and as a Transport Planner at Jacobs.

Chris’s advice to current students is to have a hobby that is different from your studies or work. He said: “This gives you a form of escapism from the pressures of everyday life and also makes you more rounded and employable. While I was at university I joined the Dancesport Society where I learnt to dance salsa, and in 2012, I became the society’s President.

“I believe it is the soft skills that I developed from dancing that has helped me in job interviews just as much, if not more so, than my academic profile – and dancing has also given me the opportunity to travel to Nice, Warsaw and Berlin to attend salsa congresses.”

Emma Velterop has worked at the European Space Agency and is now living in the USA working on her PhD in Geophysics (Radar Remote Sensing) at Stanford University in California.

The former Bancroft’s School pupil completed an MEng in Civil Engineering at UCL, during which she spent a year abroad at ETH Zürich on exchange.

Her experiences during this time include satellite data applications for oceanography at ETH Zürich; analysing one of the Earth Observation satellite’s data at the European Space Agency; using Earth Observation satellites over Antarctic glaciers at Caltech; generating risk maps for cities from satellite data at Sarmap (a Remote Sensing company); and satellite instrument calibration at the University of Oxford. She also currently co-leads the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) project group on Space Technology for Disaster Management.

Emma, who studied at Havering Sixth Form College from 2010 to 2012, achieved 2 A*s and an A grade in Fine Art, Maths and Physics.

She said: “College gave me a strong first step on the path to where I am now and I have had some amazing opportunities already. I would say to prospective or current students, ‘Don’t be intimidated by world-class institutions, apply to any opportunity that takes your fancy. Internships and placements give you priceless experiences and open so many doors. If there’s nothing that piques your interest, be pro-active - e-mail that professor, get in contact with that industry leader – you’ll be surprised at how open these people are and they’ll be impressed with your efforts’.”

Emma is currently enjoying being in America at Stanford University, which is a private research university in California, known for its academic strength, wealth, proximity to Silicon Valley, and ranking as a top-10 university in the world.

Ahad Sheikh is a Designer working at the prestigious Heatherwick Studio design agency which creates buildings, spaces and master-plans, focusing on large scale projects in cities all over the world. Their portfolio ranges from the design of the new London Routemaster bus to the Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Hampshire.

Already at the age of just 23, Ahad has designed and built three projects in Wales, England and Indonesia.

A former Stratford School student, Ahad used his graphic design skills to good use while at Havering Sixth Form, working part-time for the College’s Marketing team to produce posters, brochures, logos and newsletters, while also studying on the Art & Design Foundation Diploma course.

While at College from 2011 to 2014, Ahad achieved 3 A*s, one A and one B grade in Graphics, Interior & 3D Design, Extended Project, Fine Art and English Language & Literature A Levels. He then secured a Merit in the Foundation Diploma and went on to achieve a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from Cardiff University.

He always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit and as a teenager he founded his own design company, BluRoc, where he worked with over 150 clients on various projects all the way from corporate branding to interior design.

Alongside his marketing and design skills, Ahad has also successfully mentored and supported a number of students on courses such as Teaching English as a Second Language and mobile app development.

Tele Lawal is a Labour Party Councillor on the London Borough of Havering Council, as well as a Public Relations professional at Metro Bank – where she is the founder of Mbrace, the bank’s diversity network. 

During her time at College, she studied Performing Arts and Creative Media BTECs, achieving Distinction grades in both.

She describes her time at Havering Sixth Form as “one of the best times of my life” and said: “College is where I learned independence and determination. This particular mind-set was drummed into me by some wonderful tutors who taught me that I could be successful through hard work.”

After leaving College in 2013, Tele attended Nottingham Trent University, where she was awarded a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She has experience in Public Relations, the not-for-profit sector, and has volunteered at Belong Charity and Capital Moments.