Thinking Partners:
A coaching network supporting black students at Fashion Business School

Thinking Partners was established in 2018 to support our black student community, ensuring they have the best possible experience at LCF.

The network, led by Alix Hanson, offers our black student cohort the following benefits:

• One-to-one sessions
• Peer-to-peer sessions
• Group sessions with students across courses
• Personalised support between sessions

Thinking Partners empowers students to achieve optimal educational outcomes and enhance their overall student experience. By joining the network, black students can connect with one another, facilitating the development of vital skills such as leadership, resourcefulness, collaboration, problem-solving, resilience, and academic excellence. This creates a positive impact on their university journey.

Through supportive sessions that encourage individuals to question, explore, access opportunities, and develop solutions, participants from various courses can collaborate with others at different stages of their journey, learning from their peers. The program is highly specialised, catering to the unique academic and technical needs of black fashion business students.

Within Thinking Partners, students work with qualified coaches who help them achieve their personal best, nurturing their ideas and championing their growth. They also engage with a range of stakeholders who possess the expertise to support them, from the start of university through to graduation.

Below are some interviews and testimonials given by Thinking Partners alum.

Testimonials

Millie Sanyama – BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Merchandising:

I chose to study BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Merchandising, which is a business course that is creative in terms of product design / visual merchandise inceptions and the digital presentation of them. I joined Thinking Partners in my final year, after returning from a one-year work placement at ASOS. I can’t think of anything that would improve Thinking Partners. As a student, I gained confidence in myself, enhanced my interpersonal skills and importantly, I learned how to strategically present myself within a business environment. I am now aware of the business market and how to competitively trade, I can network, liaise with different people and adapt myself in many scenarios and industries. I feel it is necessary for LCF to be aware of unconscious bias that is instilled within its institution. This will allow black students to be able to present themselves and their work in an authentic manner, without the potential risk of being misunderstood or marginalised.

Kaya Levi - BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing:

After entering the Fashion Business School with an academic background in Art and Design, I achieved a high Upper Second Class degree in BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing. My art tutor advised me to go to Fashion Business School instead of a design faculty as I have the creativity and business acumen to be a well-rounded fashion professional. My three years at FBS have equipped me with all the ingredients needed to complement my creative skills. My undergraduate studies also unlocked my academic research and writing skills. I achieved first-class grades for all my essays and my dissertation about fashion and the African Diaspora. After working in the fashion industry as a Fashion Marketing and Branding Consultant, I decided to further my research in this area. I have now been offered and accepted a place on the MSc Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology programme to study fashion anthropology at the University of Oxford, on a full Merit Oxford Graduate Scholarship. I look forward to embarking on postgraduate study and contributing to the world's number-one-ranked anthropology department.

Shereen Chambers – MSc Cosmetic Science:

When I joined Thinking Partners, I realised there is support available, no matter how big or small the issue is. I also connected with others who have been through similar experiences and can offer guidance. As a result, I realised I can achieve anything I want – and no set back is permanent. Thinking Partners helped me think from alternative points of view and assess situations from different perspectives. I am increasingly determined and self-assured and I know that my goal is in sight.