Be Bold Grant Winners: Alumnae Turning Ideas into Impact

Be Bold 2025: Alumnae Turning Ideas into Impact and Your Turn Could Be Next 

Every year the Be Bold Grant celebrates the creativity, ambition and courage of LEH alumnae who are taking their ideas into the world and making a real difference. The 2025 recipients show just how powerful a bold idea can become with a little support and belief behind it. 

This year’s winners are working across healthcare, sustainability, communications and creative practice. Their projects range from improving maternal critical care to rethinking how reputation is understood in the age of artificial intelligence. Together they reflect the breadth of alumnae talent across different stages of life and career. 

Meet the 2025 Be Bold Grant Winners 

Shivani Lodhia, Class of 2016 
Shivani is developing Parisi, a new platform within her communications consultancy Parisi Consulting. The project brings together media, parliamentary and proprietary data to help organisations understand and measure reputation in real time. At a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping communications, her work focuses on improving transparency and helping define how trust is measured and understood. 

Veronica Bolton-Smith, Class of 2000 
Veronica is expanding the work of the Critical Minerals Africa Group, an organisation focused on transparency and value creation within Africa’s critical minerals sector. Her project develops educational video content and public engagement tools that help shift perceptions of Africa’s role in the global clean energy transition, highlighting expertise as well as resource supply. 

Dr Deborah Horner, Class of 1995 
Deborah, a consultant anaesthetist and critical care specialist, is using her grant to support METERNAL, The Maternal Critical Care Alliance. The initiative aims to improve outcomes for critically ill pregnant women and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. The funding will help establish the organisation as a registered charity and strengthen its long term impact on maternity care. 

Megan Rossiter, Class of 2009 
Megan, founder of Birth-ed, is continuing her work to empower expectant parents through accessible antenatal and postnatal education. The grant supports her upcoming book Birth Power, helping extend her guidance to a wider audience and ensuring more women can access informed, supportive education during pregnancy and beyond. 

Stephanie Martin, Class of 2004 
Stephanie is developing a creative project exploring matrescence, the profound transition into motherhood. The work considers identity, ambition and the realities of balancing professional life with motherhood, with potential development into stage or screen production. It highlights the emotional and structural challenges faced by women during this life stage. 

Why it matters 

The Be Bold Grant is not only financial support, it is a catalyst for action. It enables alumnae to test ideas, build projects and take meaningful creative or professional risks they might otherwise postpone. It also strengthens the wider alumnae community by showcasing what is possible when ideas are backed with encouragement and belief. 

Could 2026 be your year 

Applications for the 2026 Be Bold Grant are now open, with funding available to support innovative and purposeful alumnae projects. The grant is designed for ideas at any stage, whether you are launching something new, expanding a venture or exploring a completely different direction. 

If you have an idea and would benefit from some funding an dsupport to help you get it off the ground, our alumnae network is right behind you. 

What would you do if you gave yourself permission to be bold? You can apply for the 2026 grant here. Deadline is 23 October.