COMPANY NEWS
On 1 May our annual Education Lecture was held at Haberdashers’ Hall. Our annual Education Lecture is now part of the Haberdashers’ Advantage Working Together programme. The lecture is attended by our members, guests, school leaders and governors.
The title of this year’s lecture is ‘Geopolitics, Education & Resilience: Building Stronger Societies in an Uncertain World’, was delivered by guest speaker Dr. Fiona Hill CMG.
Fiona is a Defence Advisor to His Majesty’s Government, serves as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organisation based in Washington DC, and is Chancellor of Durham University.
She is an acclaimed foreign affairs specialist and author, and has served as a presidential advisor to George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump (in his first term). She has researched and published extensively on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, regional conflicts, and strategic challenges. She is the author of the bestselling memoir “There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century” and co-author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin.”
In December 2023, Fiona was appointed as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for services to international relations.
In July 2024, she was appointed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to be an external reviewer of the Strategic Defence Review being conducted by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The evening
Fiona delivered her keynote speech and was then joined on stage by four Habs students:
- Lily – Head Girl, Haberdashers’ Hatcham College
- Enoch – Head Boy, Haberdashers’ Hatcham College
- Yasmin – Haberdashers’ Elstree Girls
- Shash – Haberdashers’ Elstree Boys
The Sixth Formers put their questions to Dr Hill and engaged thoughtfully and expertly with her responses.
There was then an opportunity for the audience to ask Dr Hill their own questions.
