Charlotte Wardle

Member of the Dean's List, class of 2023

Socially responsible in the workplace

Charlotte has been a fantastic role model for fellow students. During an eight week internship in Sky’s Head Office she volunteered for a day at educational charity Stepney City Farm as part of the Sky Cares initiative. While at Sky she also completed the Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language courses and volunteered to share her newfound knowledge at Sky in a ‘Let’s Talk’ presentation. Charlotte impressed her internship managers so much that she was offered a position on their Strategy Graduate Scheme. 

During her placement year at GSK Charlotte was the IPUNITE site ambassador and National Treasurer supporting 300 interns. She was a judge for STEM challenges including the EDT Awards, and led numerous fundraisers in aid of Save the Children. As the volunteer Sustainability Champion, she raised awareness of World Water Day and the environmental impact of microplastics amongst over 50,000 GSK employees. While volunteering as Culture Champion, she led the production of an ‘Interactive Culture Pack’ to further advance the diversity and inclusion agenda, and presented her project to over 300 colleagues across five teams.

During her placement year Charlotte received an amazing eight ‘Global Employee Recognition Awards’ from GSK. 

Leading by example

Afterwards at SUMS, she shared her experiences with twelve fellow students as a Placement Ambassador, and as a result of her dedication to the role she was nominated for an ‘Inspiring Student Worker Award 2023’ in the ‘Leadership’ category. 

Charlotte has made the most of every opportunity during her studies. In the University she became a Student Support Worker, taking notes on behalf of students with disabilities or dyslexia. As a SUMS Student Ambassador she supported DASSH with their Widening Perspectives programme, inspired prospective students at open days and contributed to first year student employability as part of the Futures First module. 

An entrepreneurial attitude

Charlotte expanded her own substantial work experience by securing an internship with Deloitte Digital, and by joining the Unilever bInspired mentorship scheme through which she undertook two days of work experience shadowing Unilever’s technology and commercial teams. 

To boost her employability even further, Charlotte completed an accredited qualification in GDPR with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM), took advantage of Careers Advisor sessions with the SUMS Employability Hub, and also worked freelance as a Virtual Assistant supporting eleven international clients in this role during her final year of study. She made a decision to specialise in supporting neurodivergent entrepreneurs and began this journey by providing digital marketing support to a bakery owner. 

As an entrepreneur at heart, Charlotte took the leap to launch her own business, Crafts Cupboard Ltd, in 2020. She made £30,000 gross profit within the first year of incorporation, having sold her products to sixteen countries worldwide.