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The Head of Deloitte Academy, Christina Themistocleous, travelled to Nairobi, Kenya with the goal to offer voluntary work and help students achieve their ambitions and reach their full potential.
During her stay there, she presented the Deloitte Academy seminar "The Art of Effective Communication" to students of the “Orthodox Teachers College of Africa”. The program offered training through innovative practices and gave the chance to students to explore unconventional ways of learning, aiming at encouraging them to develop a growth mindset and a culture of creative curiosity. The ultimate goal of the seminar was to help students cultivate further competencies, such as creativity and empathy. The seminar was focused on the art of effective communication in the professional world and was designed to offer participants the chance to better understand the foundations of communication, to explore how they are perceived by others, how to engage into meaningful activities that will change how they perceive things. Also, they participated in role playing to experience how to give and receive feedback in an alternative, fun and unique way. The intend of this unconventional training was to assist college students to improve their communication skills and gain life skills that one is not born with, but can learn, before joining any workplace.
Through WorldImpact and related initiatives, Deloitte focuses on making a tangible impact on society's biggest challenges. Deloitte is committed to using its global scale and influence to create a more sustainable and equitable world for all, whilst embracing its responsibility to lead by example in doing so via the WorldImpact social responsibility and sustainability program. Through WorldClass Deloitte aims to develop job skills, improve educational outcomes and expand opportunities for 100 million people worldwide by 2030. At Deloitte, we believe that one of the greatest impacts we can have is when our people use their skills and knowledge to help individuals achieve their aspirations and reach their potential, and we encourage our people to invest their time to support communities through volunteer work and donations.
This is what led Christina Themistocleous to Kenya. As she said, "I am grateful that I had the opportunity to transfer my knowledge beyond our country’s borders to students at the Teachers College." The college has been operating since 2003, offering Education Certificates and Diplomas in Teacher Training in Early and Secondary Childhood Development, as well as in Education, Guidance and Counselling, Educational Administration, Informatics, Accounting and more. The College’s role in education in Kenya today is very important, as evidenced by the recognition of its curricula as the official state curricula for equivalent degrees in all colleges in the country. Its mission is to provide training, research, and participates in national education policy design, as it’s recognized as a centre of academic excellence in teaching, learning and research. With a focus on making a substantial impact, particularly on children, it creates the conditions and offers resources for a better future, giving young people new opportunities in knowledge and education.
"With this in mind, I travelled to Kenya eager to pass on the knowledge of the Deloitte Academy to students who dream of better futures. While I went there with the intention of teaching and sharing knowledge, I found myself learning so much form everyone there, especially from the students and their thirst for knowledge. Millions of people around the world are held back or don’t have the opportunities to achieve their full potential. Investing in education and skills is the answer to this. This is the basis for more opportunities and progress, creating a better future for all,” Ms Themistocleous concluded.
