Introduction to the 5 challenges and the mentors

Speakers

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  Virginia Stagni Head of Business Development & FT Talent Challenge Director, Financial Times
  

  Virginia Stagni

  Head of Business Development & FT Talent Challenge Director, Financial Times

  Born in 1993, with a BSc from Bocconi University and MSc in Media & Communications from London School of Economics, Virginia Stagni is the youngest manager of Financial Times in its over 130 year history, playing a central role in the global financial newspaper’s strategic growth. As Head of Business Development & FT Talent Director in the Commercial Department, she has the key role in keeping Financial Times one of the most innovative media groups in the marketplace, Stagni oversees developing new business ideas and opportunities for growth that reflect FT’s sustainable business model, with particular attention towards future readers, especially women and those under 30, and recruiting young talent to the company.

  Stagni is the founder and director of FT Talent Challenge, an innovative hub that attracts hundreds of young students and professionals from diverse backgrounds all over the world. She is also an advisor for the consulting society FT Strategies, which she co-created with the data department. And Stagni doesn’t stop there: she holds a board position for the International Media and News Association (INMA) and seats on other advisory boards – from consumer products groups to startups.

  She was selected for the Forbes Italia Under 30 list in 2021, Fortune Under 40 2021 list, and in 2020 she received the “International Media and News Association (INMA) 30 Under 30” award, for the category of Business Intelligence, recognized as one of best innovators under 30 in the field of digital media. Other honours include the 2020 Italia Giovane prize, rewarding Italian excellence in the world at large.

  She is also a TED Talk Speaker, an author and essayist: Dreamers Who Do: Intrapreneurship and the Future of the News (Bocconi University Press, 2021) is her first book. She has a monthly column for La Repubblica – Italian Tech “Dreamers Who Do” and she writes for other publications.

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  Hayah Al Shihabi Business Development, Financial Times
  

  Hayah Al Shihabi

  Business Development, Financial Times

  Hayah is part of the Financial Times Business Development team, and has helped coordinate the FT Talent Challenge over the last three years, since starting as a challenge participant in 2018. She is a social entrepreneur for humanitarian and youth development initiatives, and has previously founded and managed UNICEF On Campus and the Leading Women in Business Society at the University of London, SOAS.

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  Noor Hafez Business Development Coordinator, Financial Times
  

  Noor Hafez

  Business Development Coordinator, Financial Times

  Noor is a Business Development Coordinator working in the FT Talent team at the Financial Times. She is passionate about FT Talent’s mission to connect and provide new opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds. She works on expanding FT Talent, finding new partnership opportunities and delivering the hackathon experience. Before joining the FT she worked as a conference producer, conducting research, putting together content and recruiting speakers for a wide range of events for marketing and communications professionals.