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Emilia Tambwe, Founder of International Aspiring Leaders (IFAL) talks to Legal Women UK, about why she founded the Organisation and highlights the work IFAL are doing to support International Students in the United Kingdom and France.
What is IFAL?
International Aspiring Leaders is an organisation of 2000 members that promotes the inclusion of international students in the academic and professional environment in the United Kingdom and France.
To accomplish this goal, members access free programmes allowing them to gain technical skills that will contribute to their future careers. This includes an 'International Mentoring Scheme' where mentees are paired with students or professionals from their native country and who are currently in the UK or France. Within this programme, their mentor provides them with application and interview tips to succeed. Additionally, members and mentees both have access to conferences, webinars and workshops. Currently, we are collaborating with the French Embassy in London and the University of Law to build this awareness. We are also in discussions with top business schools in France to assist international students in Paris.
Why I launched it
As an international student myself, I faced difficulties when I commenced my studies at University in the United Kingdom. Coming from France, the academic system was completely different and no one at university seemed to resonate with these struggles. Thankfully, my personal academic tutor was also French and supported me during my degree. This difficulty, which my fellow international students also experienced, made me think about the need to build a community where we could assist each other academically. However, I only launched it after failing to find work experience for 6 years as an international student. My foreign experience was not valued, and I did not understand why this was the case, because while the laws were different, the tasks remained the same. During a legal event, I met my vice-president, an American student who studied at top US universities and also struggled to find work (for visa sponsoring reasons). As a result, we created a LinkedIn page, which received immense traction. Consequently, we decided to form an organisation to provide more structured advice.
Highlights of some of the work done and events co-ordinated
I was involved in the formation of the International Mentoring Scheme, which included finding international mentors who were keen on helping international students in the UK and France. I was happy to see the willingness of others to help mentees in need. 50% of our mentees secured job roles following their experiences with us.
I also co-ordinated three open days with three US law firms aimed at providing international students with specific insights into the firms. The students received insights from lawyers from various international backgrounds who shared personal experiences of how their law firms had been inclusive towards them.
A few success stories
A recent example is Eloine, one of IFAL's mentees who, thanks to the programme, secured a one-year placement at Chanel's London office. By attending our workshops and interacting with her mentor, she built all the necessary skills to succeed in her career.
Another success story is that two of our members participated with IFAL, in a competition organised last year by the UK French Embassy. The task was to come up with a project aimed at enhancing the inclusion of French students in UK based companies. They were ranked second.
What the future holds
I really hope that we can continue to build awareness in the business industry about the importance of international students. As we are moving into a more globalised world, it is essential to include these students not only academically, but also post-graduation. This ranges from, providing tailored mentoring programmes for them, offering more language-speaking or foreign-qualified roles, promoting their cultures in companies, and also sponsoring their visa.
We are also continuing to expand our organisation to help international students in countries other than the UK and France.
Emilia Tambwe
Founder of International Aspiring Leaders,(IFAL)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilia-t-2b476b1bb/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadinte/
February 2025