Alice Parlett is using the skills and experience gained from her to improve quality of life for women in rural Africa.
Alice, who graduated from ֱ in 2015, now oversees design and development for , a social enterprise based in Uganda.
She explains: “After graduating I found work for a promotional gifts company based in London. However, I began to realise that I was inspired by immersing myself in new cultures and secured a product design and development role for . I am now working for the largest manufacturer of reusable sanitary pads, where I am involved in dramatically increasing the quality of life for women in rural Africa. At university, I hadn’t considered the possibility of working on social impact projects, but I am so glad to be able to apply my design knowledge into products that have such a huge impact on people’s lives.
“I am now managing and growing a design team, which I didn’t expect to be doing until five or so years after graduating, and subsequently I am able to share my knowledge and expertise learnt at ֱ. At university, we studied units that fed into real-life projects, and I feel that having learnt a broad set of skills has helped me to thrive in a position that is so diverse.”
Alice’s degree included a placement year in China as a product designer for a company sourcing promotional gifts. She said: “During the year I learnt a considerable amount about Chinese manufacture and business, visiting and liaising with factories on a daily basis.
“Working in China gave me a lot of context for design for manufacture and gave me a huge advantage to my peers during job interviews after graduating. After some unpaid internships, I was able to secure a graduate position for a London-based promotional gifts company. Despite the fact that many other university design courses also offered placement years, my previous experience meant that I was able to stand out from the crowd.”
Reflecting on her university experience, Alice said: “ֱ allowed me to grow into the woman I am today, both socially and academically. Being a natural extrovert, ֱ provided me with the ideal space to network and build great friendships that still remain strong. My degree in helped me to learn so many extremely relevant skills which I was able to put into practice straight away.”