Page 49 - Future Leaders 2018-2019

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4 3 The Top 10

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DAISY MUTSAU, 23 ISAIAH WELLINGTON-LYNN, 23

School: University of Birmingham School: University College London/Harvard
Course: Chemistry with Industrial Experience (MSci) Course: Anthropology (BSc)
Year: Graduated Year: Third (of four)
Grade: 2:1 Grade average: First
During a third-year placement with FMCG (fast-moving Isaiah, who is enrolled at University College London (UCL),
consumer goods) firm RB (Reckitt Benckiser), Daisy was is currently undertaking a year abroad in Boston at Harvard
elected student department representative for all students University as part of his course.
in her division, liaising with HR and senior management. In spring 2018, he and two of his Harvard classmates announced
Noting that many employees had misconceptions about the launch of the Redefining Boundaries Fellowship, which gathers
students, she says, “people who didn’t have students in their 15-20 of the most dynamic black ‘techies’ to build a legacy to
teams thought we were just there to make coffee. I saw it promote black excellence in technology for generations to come.
as an opportunity to start something new, so I organised the The inaugural initiative took place in June, with the selected
first student achievement exhibition.” fellows invited to intern at a range of companies in San Francisco,
She convinced the department director to fund the event, and spending a week meeting companies and taking part in
allowing all the students to showcase their achievements. seminars and debates. Isaiah and his co-founders managed to
Daisy’s own triumph was to develop the first ever hydrophilic garner a group of extremely heavyweight companies to support
liquid interaction method at RB – whose brands include the project, including Google, Facebook, eBay, Airbnb and Box
Scholl, Nurofen and Air Wick. The method detects the Group, while the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Andreessen
amount of substances that should be in a product for quality Horowitz agreed to host the event.
assurance purposes, for example to prove claims of a cream’s And yet Isaiah would never have made it to Harvard in the first
effectiveness over rivals by demonstrating it has ‘x’ per cent place if it hadn’t been for his determination and resilience.
more of a certain active ingredient. Although he had secured a scholarship to attend, the body
“My method got results in ten minutes as opposed to 30 – administering it pulled out with funding problems at the 11th hour.
which is how long it traditionally takes across, not just the This left him needing to raise £64,000 in just four weeks.
FMCG industry, but also in the pharmaceuticals field. Isaiah wasted no time in embarking on a rigorous drive to raise
It’s now being implemented at RB.” the money, contacting hundreds of scholarship organisations,
Impressively, while she was there, Daisy was responsible setting up a crowdfunding page, sending more than 500 emails
for carrying out and managing the stability analysis for the and taking to multiple social media platforms to ask for help.
Scholl brand across the entire business. This was unusual It all paid off and he was able to reach his goal in time.
for a student intern, who would normally have an analyst Isaiah has launched his own foundation to support schoolchildren
working alongside them. from disadvantaged backgrounds. It will offer three prizes: an
Meanwhile, last summer, Daisy was awarded a £5000 essay prize, an achievement against adversity prize and a ‘prosper’
scholarship to represent her university as part of an award for distinction outside of academia. He is launching the
entrepreneurship project in Hong Kong. There, she worked scheme as a pilot with his former primary school.
as a team leader, developing a strategy for an e-commerce Isaiah was recently picked as one of 15 students out of
tourism business focused on Chinese students, an untapped 3000 for the KPCB Fellows Award, set up to jumpstart
market. The scholarship was open to undergraduates from Silicon Valley careers, and interned at Airbnb (San Francisco)
all disciplines but was awarded to just three students. over the summer.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
As a director in the pharmaceutical industry and running Having invested in a plethora of different tech companies,
a charity that sponsors children in developing countries and with my foundation having formed a strong footprint
to go to school. and a legacy in the UK – and possibly also the USA.

10 ANNIVERSARY EDITION FUTURE LEADERS 47
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