Alumni Giving Back

The Henley Business School is incredibly grateful for our growing community of generous donors who help our students reach their full potential and overcome financial barriers. Your support has the power to change the lives of the students and to set them up for bright futures.

Our alumni network achieves incredible things every year, and we hope our impact continues to grow. With over 100,000 HBS alumni worldwide, just 100 alumni giving £100 a year would generate £10,000, enough to fund a minimum of 10 hardship grants for students in unforeseen financial difficulty. Access to a hardship grant can be the difference between a student completing their degree or having to stop their studies.

We are delighted to share the story of one our donors, Lorena Goldsmith, who has begun donating to our Greatest Need Fund. Lorena is the Contracts Manager for Research and Innovation at City, St George’s University of London and Founder of The Literary Studio Ltd. She received a fully funded Executive MBA Global scholarship after her essay response to the question:  Will artificial intelligence be a help or a hindrance to women achieving greater representation in leadership? won her the 2024 Henley Women in Leadership MBA Scholarship competition. This competition is a partnership between HBS, the Financial Times and the 30% Club, reflecting their shared goal to promote gender balance in leadership roles and to create opportunities to practically support the development of female talent in business.

After winning this funding Lorena felt a sense of responsibility to give back to other Henley students. She learnt of Henley’s Hardship Funds, which support students facing unexpected changes of circumstances to continue their education. Lorena generously became a donor herself and commented, “I view the scholarship not just as recognition, but as a profound responsibility to champion fair representation and the advancement of women throughout my career. I could never repay what this MBA is giving me, personally and professionally, but when I learned about Henley’s Hardship Fund, I saw a way to help keep the door that Henley opened for me, open for others, especially undergraduates who are facing unexpected hardship and who might otherwise have to step away from their studies. Going forward, I’ve committed to giving back a small amount each year.”

We are deeply grateful for Lorena’s commitment to giving back. Her generosity is a powerful reminder that philanthropy is not defined by stage of career, but by the desire to make a difference, and that meaningful impact can begin at any point.

 If you are thinking about giving back to Henley, we warmly invite you to join our community of supporters by making a gift to the Greatest Need Fund. Every donation, whatever its size, helps us to have a lasting impact.