30(ish) Awards 2024
Read the stories of the 30(ish) winners who make up our final 2024 list of change-makers, innovators, and rule-breakers from the Cardiff University alumni community.
Cardiff University’s 30(ish) Awards celebrate the achievements of alumni who have made a positive contribution to their community, and all before they hit 30. Well, 30(ish).
Eschewing the format of traditional ‘30 Under 30’ lists, the 30(ish) Awards were open to alumni under or over 30, who feel 30(ish). Designed to recognise the change-makers, innovators, and rule-breakers in the Cardiff University alumni community, there was an overwhelming response.
Alumni from across the globe and a wide range of industries nominated themselves or were put forward by their fellow alumni, staff, or colleagues.
After much consideration, 30(ish) winners were selected and invited to attend a special awards event on 10 October. Held at the University’s innovative sbarc|spark building, the event was hosted by Cardiff University’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner.
We've arranged the list into some groupings to help you navigate through our winners' stories:
Larissa Ann Louis (PgDip 2015)
Larissa is a human rights lawyer, currently leading the pro bono unit at law firm Azri, Lee Swee Seng & Co. The first of its kind in Malaysia, Larissa established the unit which has won several landmark cases, most notably the enforced disappearance of social activist Amri Che Mat. This win had a huge impact on the right to freedom of religion on a national and global level. Larissa's contribution to this case resulted in her being chosen to represent Malaysia in USA for the “Professional Fellows On-Demand Religious Freedom & Interfaith Dialogue”.
In 2022, Larissa was elected a Bar Council member – making her the youngest person ever elected – and was appointed Co-Deputy Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee (HRC). In 2023, she was re-elected and now holds the position of HRC Chairperson, leading a team of lawyers to initiate change.
Statelessness is a huge issue in Malaysia and Larissa has spoken alongside ministers, commissioners, and leaders. She was appointed to co-head the citizenship cluster of “CSO Platform for Reform”, a coalition of NGOs focusing on institutional reforms for a better Malaysia. She also founded a company called "HaKita (our rights)" which pushes for human rights empowerment for anyone and everyone.
Vasileios Pristouris (MA 2017)
People's Choice Award winner
Vasileios is a dynamic digital content creator for the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations’ social media channels. He excels in producing engaging video and photo content that highlights the EU's humanitarian aid and civil protection missions across the globe.
He tries to give voice to the voiceless and has a knack for stories that help capture the public's attention. From medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients to the Rohingya in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in Jordan, Vasileios searches for personal accounts of people that shed light on conflicts and crises, as well as their consequences. He has covered the EU's response to the war in Ukraine, the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, the Sudan crisis, wildfires in Greece, and more.
Vasileios is passionate about using digital platforms to amplify critical issues and tell compelling stories.
Panagiotis Papakonstantinou (MSc 2019)
Panagiotis (Panos) is the executive manager of Jazzy Nomads, a nonprofit organisation he co-founded in 2021, based in Greece. He envisioned creating a mobile, community-driven team that is accessible, affordable, and engaging for children and young people, creating impactful initiatives that benefit local communities.
Under his direction, the organisation has completed multiple community projects that have engaged over 1,000 children and young people across Greece.
The organisation focuses on promoting active participation through community-led initiatives. It operates across various domains including art, health, and education, aiming to empower young people through meaningful engagement in social issues and community development. Their activities include interactive performing arts projects and initiatives designed to foster citizenship and human rights awareness.
Jazzy Nomads collaborates with a wide network of partners and supporters to implement these programmes and to ensure a broad community impact.
Tom Gerken (BA 2011)
Tom was born with dyspraxia and just one working eye, but he's never shied from a challenge. He started his career as a researcher at BBC Wales, and over a decade has worked his way up to become a journalist in the BBC News technology department, where he splits his time between roles as the team's Duty Editor and Online News Lead.
But don't get him started on his podcast, or he'll never shut up. He co-hosts ‘Our Dads Died’ with his best pal, stand-up comic Rich Spalding. And as the name suggests, it's a podcast by two guys whose fathers passed away while they were young.
The podcast is intended for anyone who's experienced loss (hey, that's everyone) and relies on a quirk of our culture – British folk like to stare death in the face and laugh. Tom and Rich do it every week, and it helps them cope. Hopefully, it'll help you cope too.
Health and wellbeing
This group of our winners are all change-makers in health and wellbeing. They've been recognised for their impact and outstanding work across charity, healthcare, and medical fields.
Ceri Jones (BMus 2003)
Ceri is a food educator, food writer, and chef. She transitioned to working in food after 10 successful years working in orchestral management after both her parents passed away.
In 2024 Ceri published her first cookery book 'It Starts with Veg: 100 Seasonal Suppers and Sides' with Pavilion/Harper Collins, a guide to cooking with 40 different vegetables and how to make them the central part of your plate.
In the 10 years she's worked in food she has taught hundreds of cooking classes, inspiring people of all ages to cook from scratch, improve their culinary skills and knowledge, and eat better for themselves and the planet. Her classes at the Garden Museum in London, where she currently works part-time as a food educator, have a focus on plant-based cuisine for kids, families, and the local community. Her classes have included several socially prescribed projects where cooking together has had a positive impact on the participants’ mental health.
As well as teaching cookery, Ceri is a chef and has found a niche in cooking for wellness retreats around the world.
Justin Eghaghara (MSc 2024)
Justin is a passionate and dedicated optometrist who has significantly advanced eye health initiatives in Nigeria. Since earning his Doctor of Optometry degree in 2012, Justin has focused on professional enhancement and community improvement, providing affordable and accessible eye care to reduce avoidable blindness among the underprivileged. At 27, he launched the Better Vision for a Changing Nation programme, providing free medical and eye care services to over 5,000 people.
Watch online
As a Vision Redefined for Youth Empowerment Foundation co-founder, and an active member of the Family of Optometric Mentors, Justin has mentored over 400 optometrists and established an e-learning platform benefitting thousands. His work in capacity-building and competency upgrading for young optometrists has helped to ensure they receive quality training and a world-class experience.
His collaborations with various organisations have led to successful eye health outreaches in underserved communities, earning him multiple awards, including the Selfless Award presented by the Nigerian Optometric Association for his contribution towards advancing eye care in Nigeria.
Justin's commitment to improving quality eye health services, significant community impact, and dedication to mentoring have transformed lives and elevated the standards of eye care in Nigeria.
Dr Mat Legut (PhD 2017)
A scientist-turned-entrepreneur, Mat is the founder and CEO of OverT Bio, an NYC-based biotech company. OverT Bio launched in 2024 with a $16M investment to develop next-generation engineered T-cell therapies for solid tumour cancers.
While pursuing a PhD in cancer immunology at Cardiff University, Mat was inspired by the potential of cell therapies for treating and perhaps even curing cancer. At the same time, he recognised the limitations of current approaches and set out to address them, culminating in the launch of OverT Bio.
OverT Bio combines cutting-edge cell engineering technologies with big data approaches to address major unmet medical needs in solid tumours. The company’s core platform, developed by Mat and his co-founder, searches every gene in the genome to identify the best genetic modifications to endow immune cells with novel properties.
OverT Bio is developing effective and safe cellular therapies for solid tumours with the potential to help millions of cancer patients worldwide.
Entrepreneurship
This group of our winners are all entrepreneurs. They have been recognised for demonstrating the power of successful entrepreneurship and the impact of taking an idea from the conceptual stage to fruition.
Konstantinos Kousouris (BSc 2021)
Konstantinos is an influential entrepreneur from Greece and the co-founder and CEO of Blink. Financial stress is one of the biggest concerns amongst Gen Z, and fintech start-up Blink helps young adults manage their money and feel back in control.
Blink earned its first investment from Startupbootcamp, one of the largest funds in Europe, and has since been awarded by the National Bank of Greece in the country’s biggest start-up competition.
For his entrepreneurial journey, Konstantinos has been listed in Forbes 30 under 30 2024 Greece and is a Global Finalist for the Study UK Alumni Awards in business and innovation.
Diksha Dwivedi (MA 2014)
With a passion for storytelling and a knack for building impactful brands, Diksha has dedicated her career to helping leaders craft compelling personal narratives.
As the founder of people-powered journalism site AkkarBakkar.com and branding agency YOSO Media, she has driven innovative content strategies and powerful storytelling techniques, reaching millions globally. Her professional journey spans various roles, from writing features at Yahoo! to heading brand marketing at Invideo.io.
Diksha has also authored several books and has recently become a Chair of the Cardiff University India Alumni Association, co-leading our New Delhi Chapter.
Diksha's ultimate mission is to empower founders and entrepreneurs to articulate their stories, connect with their audiences, and build enduring personal brands.
Paul Stollery (BSc 2010)
Paul used his Business Management degree as a starting point for a career as a serial entrepreneur. He's the co-founder and creative director of Hard Numbers, a technology PR agency with 20 staff and a turnover of just under £2m. The business was named the best new PR agency by the CIPR, PR Moment, and the UK Agency Awards.
Previously, he founded the award-winning youth marketing agency Hype Collective. He successfully exited this business in 2023 with a six-figure deal. He is also an investor and board member of Magic Digits, a professional services firm with a six-figure turnover.
Paul, an award-winning creative, has received accolades from the Cannes Festival of Creativity and PR bodies including PRCA, CIPR, and AMEC. He has also worked with some of the world's biggest technology companies, including Adobe, Deliveroo, Microsoft, X and PlayStation.
In his spare time, Paul helps the next generation of entrepreneurs develop their business ideas. He's the co-host of Rebel Meetups, a space for founders, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and wantrepreneurs, and has guest-lectured at the London College of Communication.
Perri Lewis (BA 2006)
Perri is the co-founder and CEO of Mastered, a new breed of organisation dedicated to lifelong learning in the creative industries. Over 10 years, they’ve supported more than 6,000 professional creatives from over 95 countries, with diverse clients such as luxury fashion group LVMH and British games developer Sumo Group.
Perri started her career as the editor of Gair Rhydd, then went on to work as a commissioning editor at The Guardian and Psychologies Magazine. In 2012 she published her first book, ‘Material World’, a guide to craft and the DIY movement featuring contributions from Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, and over 100 others.
Alongside her work at Mastered, she is a trustee of The Spitz, a charity dedicated to tackling loneliness and isolation through live music.
Yong Zheng Low (MBA 2018)
Yong is a senior "number-person" business advisor who serves as the outsourced CFO for GCFO, a consultancy firm that supports Malaysia-based SMEs to grow and transform. He began the venture with his business partners, and in five years they have established six branches in Kuala Lumpur with a hundred staff. GCFO has secured three annual business awards to date.
Through consultation, the company provides financial and business transformation solutions to SMEs, improving their operational framework and enhancing efficiency.
His team is involved in 61 fundraising projects with a total value of RM 105 million raised in just 36 months. He is also currently actively involved in 23 companies with RM 400 million portfolio size, with two anchor projects pushing through for Initial Public Offerings.
Yong is data-driven with a focus on revenue to achieve breakaway success. He was featured as Chief Judge of JCIKLM Idea Bank Competition 2023 and was a speaker at BFM Caijin September 2023 Edition Season 2.
Environmental activist
This group of our winners have all been recognised for their positive impact on the environment. They are all protecting and aiding the environment on both a local and global scale through promoting awareness and producing solutions.
Prem Gill (BSc 2017)
Vice-Chancellor’s Award winner
Prem’s PhD research, Seals from Space, uses satellites to monitor Antarctic seals. As the founder of Polar Impact, a network to support minorities in polar research, he’s spearheaded projects that attract talent from non-traditional backgrounds to conservation and change the image of polar explorers.
This work spans a range of audiences and formats, from hosting citizen science workshops at Cambridge, which trained students in state-of-the-art conservation techniques, to producing Grime music from the sounds of Antarctic seals to installing a National Maritime Museum art exhibition co-produced with local students. His most recent outreach project, Polar Portals, magically connects inner-city school children to the world's most rapidly changing environments. Children receive postcards from Antarctica with a secret – when scanned, they come alive through AR expedition diaries revealing the journey of the scientists that transported their cards.
Beyond his outreach work, Prem was hired to work on Attenborough-narrated Frozen Planet II and helped film never-before-seen animal behaviour. He also lectured master’s students at Oxford on the use of AI and Immersive Technology for Conservation, was awarded National Geographic Emerging Explorer 2021, and was elected a trustee to the Royal Geographical Society.
Freddie Hodkin (BMus 2018, MA 2021) and Chris Roberts (BMus 2017)
In 2023, folk duo Filkin’s Drift (Chris Roberts on guitar and Seth Bye on fiddle), assisted by friend and musician Freddie Hodkin, embarked on a radical approach to touring. They decided to walk the 870-mile Wales Coast Path, playing 50 gigs en route to launch their EP ‘Rembard’s Retreat’ and promote sustainability in the music industry.
Watch online
With stories of global artists clocking up vast air miles and emissions, they questioned whether there was a better way to tour, one that would allow them to get a sense of each place they visited, combine a love of nature with their art, and challenge the industry’s accepted practices.
By visiting locations rarely reached by artists, they found hyper-local audiences brought in by word of mouth. Being limited in what they could carry forced them to refine their stage set-up, and being outside for two months allowed engagement in citizen science schemes along the way.
The experiences of this tour entitled CERDD//ED from the Cymraeg for ‘walking’ and ‘music’, have already fed into upcoming creative output. A web series following the project, as well as local, national, and international media coverage, ensured they hit their fundraising goal for the charity Live Music Now.
Yetunde Deborah Fadeyi (MSc 2021)
Deborah is an energy and sustainability practitioner with a decade of cross-disciplinary experience spanning sectors such as waste management, energy access, and aerospace. Her technical expertise is within policy and sector design, corporate sustainability, energy, net zero transition, and technology design.
In her role as Sustainability Manager at the Aerospace Technology Institute, she applies her cross-sector learnings from the renewable energy and hard-to-abate sectors. She contributes to UK technology strategy on aerospace while charting internal decarbonisation plans, developing thought leadership, and presenting relevant opportunities for sector decarbonisation.
Before this, she worked with the Nigerian government as Chief Sustainability Officer to deliver socio-economic and technology-responsive solutions to waste management services.
Beyond her corporate responsibilities, she contributes her expertise to high-level dialogues, engaging with organisations like IEA to advocate for people-centred transitions through REES Africa, an NGO she founded. As a social innovator, she developed holistic designs to incentivise clean energy users by monetising social and climate impact.
She is also a children’s author and has been named a Three Cairns Fellow, a finalist in the Top 50 Women in Engineering, and a Chevening Scholar.
Tara Irwin (BSc 2017)
Tara is an ESG (environmental, social, and governance) Analyst at finance firm Hargreaves Lansdown, championing sustainable investing, both internally and within the wider industry. She has designed a net zero strategy for the £9 billion AUM of the UK's largest investment platform for private investors.
Tara has pioneered an innovative proprietary fund house dashboard, which empowers the firm’s analysts to assess the ESG credentials of fund groups within their solutions. She has also designed an engagement strategy that integrates sustainability across all aspects of fund management.
Internally, Tara has galvanised support for climate action, leading HLFM to sign up to Climate Action 100+ and publicly commit to prioritising climate as an engagement theme.
Beyond her role at HLFM, Tara is a board member of the Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership. She also serves as a Director sponsor for the Community Climate Action Fund and holds advisory roles with Bristol City Council's Net Zero Investment Lab.
Tara's unwavering passion for mobilising finance to combat the climate crisis is evident in every facet of her work.
Rishabh Moudgill (LLB 2019)
A trained lawyer, Rishabh has committed his career to the frontlines of international development and climate change action. Currently based in South Korea, he’s the Policy and Evaluation Officer at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the world’s largest multilateral climate fund, where he has contributed to strategic decisions shaping the landscape of global climate finance.
He has worked on crucial evaluation reports to guide the GCF Board’s decision-making, facilitated vital policy decisions, developed the Evaluation Standards for the Fund, and gathered critical evidence from South America, Africa, and Asia to inform multibillion-dollar climate investments. He also represented his Unit at the UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai, discussing readiness funding and access to climate finance for global climate action on adaptation and mitigation.
Before joining the GCF, Rishabh, alongside regional teams, led the implementation of WWF-India's ‘Ek Prithvi’ environmental education initiative, which impacted 130,000 students in 200 schools across 11 states.
In addition to his LLB from Cardiff University, he holds an LLM from the University of Bristol and a PgDip from the National Law University, Delhi.
Equity advocate
Our winners in this group are all working towards more equity in society. They all recognise that each person or group has different circumstances, and campaigns for better resources or opportunities to reach an equal outcome.
Stella Nderitu (MScEcon 2022)
Stella is a feminist social justice champion, specialising in engaging Africa’s young women in leadership and governance. She is the founder of DadaPower Initiative, a grassroots women’s rights organisation in Kenya that works with teenage girls and young women in civic rights, climate justice, and feminist leadership.
She was awarded the Cardiff University Cambria Fellowship in 2021 for her outstanding social enterprise idea on women-led climate action in Murang’a County, Kenya.
Stella is the Director of Programs and Partnerships at Emerging Leaders Foundation-Africa, a youth-serving organisation that nurtures values-based leaders through mentorship, training, and coaching. She sits on the Board of Youth Agenda and is part of the National Advisory Committee of the Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA). She is also the Convener of the Gender Justice Coalition on Public Transport, which developed the public transport code of conduct to enhance women’s safety.
She envisions a world where all women and girls thrive without fear or experience of any form of violence.
Sarah Lynn (LLB 2014)
Sarah is an inclusion leader at one of the UK's largest charities, Samaritans. Working on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team, and for a while leading the team as acting head of EDI, they are working to change the culture and improve diversity and inclusion at the charity, as well as in the invaluable service they provide.
Since 2014, Sarah has also led “Impact”, the longest-running LGBTQ+ youth group in Cardiff, ensuring there is a supportive and empowering space for LGBTQ+ youth from the city and further afield. Sarah has been featured on the Wales Pinc list and works consistently for the improvement of the LGBTQ+ community in and around South Wales.
Shreya Sharma (LLB 2021)
Shreya established legal aggregator platform Rest The Case after university, at the age of just 21. Based in India, the company matches members of the public with the correct legal help for their needs, as well as providing information and resources, completely free of charge.
Shreya identified that people in India often lacked the legal knowledge to understand what kind of lawyer they needed to talk to, or how to find the right one. Rest The Case helps make that easy – matching individuals with verified lawyers in more than 500 cities, with experts in over 60 specialisms.
Watch online
Established during the pandemic when lockdowns made it difficult for people to find the help they needed, Shreya built the company from a team of just two, personally meeting with lawyers to explain the service and recruit them to the platform.
In four years, the company has become a market leader in the space and is pioneering the use of AI in legal tech. Rest The Case is making legal assistance more accessible to millions, including some of India’s most vulnerable.
Innovation
This group of our winners are recognised for innovation. They all demonstrate how powerful creating and introducing new ideas within your industry can be.
Bi Luo (MA 2017)
Luo Bi (sheepmaomao) is a pioneering digital artist and founder of Chengdu Sheepmaomao Culture and Art Co. Ltd. A graduate of Sichuan Agricultural University and Cardiff University, she has made significant strides in digital art since 2021.
Luo Bi is renowned for her work in digital plant creation, focusing on virtual biology and ecosystems. Her unique Romantic Vitality style has inspired many artists and promotes female empowerment. Her notable works including “Digital Plum Garden” and “Digital Pomegranate Sprouting” have been showcased in over 30 exhibitions worldwide, including the 2024 Venice Biennale. In 2023 she was selected as an artist-in-residence at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel.
Luo Bi’s works have garnered massive attention both online and offline, with viewership exceeding one million. Her collaborations with over 30 brands, including Hennessy and La Mer, integrate art into everyday life, highlighting her influence and unique position in the art world.
Jordan Copner (BSc 2018)
Aged just 25, Jordan founded Copner Biotech Ltd in 2020 alongside his father, another Cardiff alum Alan Copner (BSc 1983). The company’s focus is the research and development of a portfolio of products and services for the 3D cell culture market. The aim is to reduce and remove animals and animal products from critical fields such as cancer research and tissue engineering.
The company is now a team of seven, supplying products across the UK, Europe, and Australia. In 2024, the company was recognised as a key player in the global 3D cell culture market.
Shweta Salvankar (MSc 2023)
Shweta is a senior sustainability consultant who has recently joined Harley Haddow, a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy. In this role, she leads the Building Performance and Sustainability division, focusing on energy-efficient building design through advanced simulation methods.
She graduated from the Welsh School of Architecture just last year, and in early 2024 won the award for the "Most Significant Contribution to the Art and Science of Building Services Engineering" at the CIBSE Technical Symposium to Wales.
With a rich background in sustainable building practices across the UK and India, Shweta has also garnered recognition for her expertise, including the CIBSE Young Modeller Award and a gold medal from Timber Development UK for climate-responsive design.
Jawad Khan (BEng 2008)
Jawad is the founder and CEO of TransLinguist, a global speech tech startup, pioneering multilingual communication. The company leverages AI for seamless bi-directional speech translation, bridging gaps across communities, corporations, and governments, eradicating language barriers and fostering global interaction.
Inspired by pandemic-induced communication challenges, Jawad's vision encompasses a hybrid solution for both on-site and remote speech interpretation. TransLinguist serves clients like the UN, the British Council, and the NHS, addressing real-time language needs. Under Jawad's guidance, the company optimises multilingual conferences, enhancing efficiency and ROI through innovative AI-driven communication solutions.
Jawad's inclusive vision extends to providing real-time sign language support. TransLinguist’s Sign Language Interpretation tool connects speakers and sign language users, empowering communication with hearing-impaired communities.
Wales to the World
The winners in this group are taking a leading role in bringing Wales to the world. They have been recognised for celebrating everything Welsh on a global scale, from language to history to culture.
Tom Davoren (BMus 2019)
Since graduating from Cardiff, Tom went on to achieve his PhD in wind conducting from the University of Kansas (USA). He now holds a professorial position at Benedictine College (USA) and travels regularly to Japan as a Professional Conductor to Tokyo City Brass.
As a composer, his music was awarded the American National Band Association Composition Prize and is now performed in the USA, Canada, Cuba, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Switzerland, Japan, China, New Zealand, and Australia – anywhere there are brass and wind bands!
Tom’s Welsh identity is a big part of his music, with Welsh songs and folklore frequently acting as subject matter. His piece ‘Legacy’ was performed at Westminster Palace by Tredegar Band to celebrate the legacy of Aneurin Bevan, and his Fanfare ‘Degawd’ was commissioned for the Royal opening of the Welsh Assembly, by the then HRH Charles Prince of Wales, performed by the Band of the Prince of Wales.
Ross Clarke (MA 2014)
Ross is a travel, food, and wine writer specialising in Welsh food and culture. He’s a former editor for British Airways and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, a member of the Guild of Food Writers and the British Guild of Travel Writers, and writes for publications including The Times, The Independent, National Geographic Traveller, The Guardian, and BBC Travel.
In 2021, he started his popular Substack newsletter, The Welsh Kitchen, which celebrates the food and drink culture of Wales and Welsh communities. With more than 80 issues, his newsletter has garnered praise from around the world.
Ross is also a regular contributor to the Welsh culinary conversation. He’s been a guest on the A Slice of Cheese podcast hosted by legendary food writer Jenny Linford and has been interviewed about Welsh food for National Geographic Traveller Food magazine.
In 2021, Ross also had the joy of returning to Cardiff University as a lecturer on the MA Magazine Journalism course – the course from which he graduated a decade ago. He continues in this position and his freelance journalism career, striving to encourage the next generation of journalists.
William Hayward (BScEcon 2011, MA 2017)
Since graduating from Cardiff University's prestigious News Journalism course in 2016, Will has had a meteoric career.
He has established himself as the premier authority on Welsh affairs and Welsh politics. During his relatively short career, he has won 14 awards for journalism including being named Welsh journalist of the year on multiple occasions.
Watch the interview online
Will has also written two critically acclaimed books. His first looked at how the pandemic played out in Wales, with a rigorous assessment of the decisions made in both Cardiff Bay and Westminster. His second was an impartial assessment of the merits of Welsh independence, which has been widely heralded for setting the tone of the debate on Wales’ future.
His journalism has included in-depth investigations into poverty, violence against women, and the Welsh NHS. His newsletter, which analyses Welsh political issues, has gained 2,000 subscribers in the space of eight months.
In addition to his work at WalesOnline and the Western Mail, he is also a regular contributor to Sky News, LBC, BBC, Times Radio, and podcasts like Pod Save the UK. Will has also spoken movingly about his struggles as a dyslexic journalist.
Journalism and media
This group of winners are all recognised for their work in journalism and media. They are being celebrated for their great journalism which is topical, timely and impactful.
Sagnik Basu (MA 2019)
After finishing his master’s in 2018, Sagnik moved to the US to pursue a career in media. With only $300 in his pocket and no contacts, he embarked on his new life.
He joined the Daily Caller in Washington DC as a Senior Producer, where he won awards for his work documenting illegal marijuana operations by cartels. His interview with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was featured in Daily Mail, the most-read English-language newspaper in the world.
In 2022 he became Head of Social and Senior Editor at FOX Media where he develops news shows and podcasts covering sport, pop culture, and politics.
Sagnik is also the co-founder of a media production company that manages content for companies like a16z, Breaking Points, NOCD, Be OnDeck, and New Founding. Alongside this, he organises events in New York, helping talented foreign founders and creatives raise money, build communities, and find their feet in the USA as they juggle immigration and entrepreneurship.
Ian Wafula (MA 2023)
Ian is the Africa Security Correspondent for the BBC based in Nairobi. Previously he worked on Focus on Africa, the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme which covers the continent and runs on the World Service. He helped transition the programme from London to Nairobi.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Ian worked as a Senior Presenter for The Breakdown, a special BBC Africa TV programme which helped audiences make sense of the crisis. The show ran on 32 partner stations in 18 countries. In 2018 he presented and reported for Fact Finder, a media literacy and fact checking show which led to his nomination for Africa Check’s Fact Checker of the Year 2019.
Ian has also worked at local TV stations in Kenya, including K24 and KTN. He holds a BA in Mass Communication from Daystar University in Nairobi and a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from Cardiff University as a Chevening Scholarship fellow.
Sam MacGregor (BSc 2020) and Danni Diston (BA 2019)
People's Choice Award winners
Sam and Danni co-host The Weekend Breakfast show on BBC Radio 1. Broadcast live from Cardiff, it is the first regular daytime show on the station to come live from Wales. The pair began presenting together whilst at Cardiff University on Xpress Radio.
A few years after winning ‘Best Entertainment Show’ at the Cardiff Student Media Awards, they landed a one-off show on Radio 1 in 2020 and found themselves covering various shows on the station for the following three years. In September 2023 they were given their show and recently began hosting Friday Early Breakfast alongside this.
They are regular cover presenters for ‘The Radio 1 Breakfast Show’, ‘Going Home’, and ‘The Official Chart on Radio 1’. As well as this, Sam and Danni have presented from Reading and Leeds Festival, Boardmasters, and Radio 1’s Big Weekend on BBC iPlayer. They are also the resident DJs for Welsh Fire at The Hundred.
Roha Nadeem (MA 2022)
Roha is a sports broadcaster and multi-media content creator from Pakistan. Having played professional cricket at the U-19 level, Roha embarked on a journey in sports journalism at the young age of 16 and is now cementing her place as one of the few women in mainstream sports broadcasting in Pakistan.
In 2020, Roha was awarded the Chevening Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Journalism, Media & Communications from Cardiff University. Since then, she has been working in television broadcasting and the digital sphere as a rising voice in sports.
She currently hosts a prime-time live show on Pakistan’s state network PTV Sports. She also curates and publishes engaging content, including a podcast, on the digital platform Cricwick.
Having built a successful career in an industry historically dominated by male voices, Roha is inspiring many young women in Pakistan to pursue sports broadcasting and break barriers.
Shruti Tripathi Chopra (MA 2011)
Indian-born Shruti is the Editor in Chief of Financial News and Private Equity News, two News Corp publications read by the world’s biggest finance firms for nearly 30 years. The publications’ youngest editor ever, Shruti is also the first person of colour and the first woman appointed to this position.
Shruti began her journalism career in Cardiff University halls, borrowing JOMEC’s equipment to make news packages for Media Wales. Those bylines helped her secure her first journalism job in London – an absolute dream come true for someone whose first language isn’t English.
Shruti is a diversity and inclusion champion, spearheading her publication’s 100 Most Influential Women in Finance list and is widely celebrated by industry bigwigs.
She’s interviewed hundreds of business personalities in her career including Richard Branson, Boris Johnson, Lord Sugar, and Jeremy Hunt among others.
Connect with our winners
You can connect with our winners on Cardiff Connected, our online platform for alumni networking. Find a mentor, ask questions about your industry, and make connections across the whole alumni community.
Social impact
This group of our winners are all making a social impact. They've been recognised for going above and beyond for a community to create positive change.
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