Leaders Inspiring Leaders

The very first SEG Student Leadership Forum took place online on March 6. Over 30 students representing all of our schools and campuses took part in this inaugural event and had the privilege of hearing from influential leaders. Dr. David Knuff, VP of Academic Excellence and Innovation at Swiss Education Group, shares his insights on this event. 

What led you to organize a Student Leadership Forum? 

We are committed to preparing our students for successful careers. I felt however, that we needed to intentionally invest in those students who consistently “step up” and demonstrate exceptional leadership capability. The goal of the Student Leadership Forum is to provide an opportunity for our student leaders to grow, gain additional leadership skills, and develop campus engagement strategies. 

How were students selected to take part in this?  

About 30 students were chosen based on their demonstrated leadership ability. The deans of each school selected five students from each campus, which included the Student Ambassador Forum (SAF) president and vice-president, as well as three others who the deans felt had demonstrated exceptional leadership potential. 

How did you choose the influential leaders? What is something they shared that stood out to you? 

We are fortunate that all our schools are well-connected to the industry which enables them to be able to deliver a relevant, real-world education. It is among these connections that we sought out speakers that would be the best suited to address the topic of leadership, as well as diversity and inclusion: Dominique Turpin, Ph.D, Dean of External Relations, IMD Business School, Rachel Marouani, CEO, Talisman BY, Eugenio Pirri FCIPD, Chief People & Culture Officer, Dorchester Collection, and Yong Shen, our very own CEO. The message that stood out to me the most (and hopefully to the students) is that of the importance of remaining authentic. The sessions with the leaders were refreshingly emotional, candid, and relevant to the career choices our students have. 

What can we expect next? 

We can expect great things from these student leaders! They were really impressive in how they showed up, asked great questions, and displayed great engagement. 

We are planning a second iteration of this Forum, sometime in the autumn, with an in-person format at one of our schools. We will offer more concrete deliverables as it will be more of a weekend retreat structured around workshops, giving participants tangible tools to take back to their respective campuses.