Spotlight on:

Project Engagement Lead

Alternative title

Average salary

Starter

Experienced

Usual hours

36–40 hours

Say hello to Yele, a 25-year-old project engagement lead at The Eve Appeal — a charity that spreads awareness around and funds research into gynaecological cancer. Here, she tells us about her role, how she got there and why it’s so important.

The headlines

Alternative title

Starter

Experienced

Working hours

Usual hours

36–40 hours

Topics

Health

Human rights

Inclusivity

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What does a project engagement lead do?

It varies day to day. One day I might go into a business and deliver a talk on gynae health awareness and bring resources like posters, pins, badges and banners.

A day working from home would involve researching businesses that I can reach out to and seeing what connections have come through networking events. Also developing and contributing to the design of materials — from posters and leaflets to ads curated for LinkedIn and Instagram. So, if I’m not publicly speaking, I’m probably doing admin or research.

How did you get into this career?

In my undergrad I studied medical science with a focus on neuroscience. Towards the end of the course, and after speaking to friends about different health issues we were facing, I realised that the only times we spoke about women's health was in relation to pregnancy and childbirth.

I went on to do a Master's at UCL in women's health, purely for my own understanding and for my own curiosity. I learned so much about things from Female genital mutilation (FGM) to women’s rights and endometriosis.

During that I felt inspired to raise awareness where I could about anything and everything to do with women's health. Gynaecological cancer, like most things to do with women's health, is something that’s often overlooked, underfunded, and not a lot of people are aware of.

When I saw my current role being advertised, I saw an opportunity to do something about this.

Other than qualifications, what do you need to do this job?

Any sort of volunteer role. When it comes to engagement, a lot of it is about communication. So, in basic terms, just having the confidence to speak publicly and in a confident manner. And these are skills that you really only get by talking, meeting and engaging with others.

I volunteered at Forward UK, a brilliant charity dedicated to raising awareness about FGM and other issues that are particular to the Black African community in the UK and worldwide. At Forward, I was part of the Young Women's Advisory Council. That was really where my confidence in speaking publicly developed — I hosted poetry events for International Women's Day, led talks on social media and body image, and more.

Also, I volunteered at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and there I learnt how to offer emotional support to vulnerable people on a one to more basis. This deepened my empathy and now in my career reminds me that, when I regurgitate statistics, there are real people with full lives behind each one.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?

The most rewarding part is seeing the journey that people go on with me each time I deliver a presentation — from the shock of having a picture of a vulva in the office to “wow, this is really empowering, this is important, and this is all about breaking down that taboo”.

It’s getting that feedback from men saying “I'm going to pass this information along to my wife or my daughter, my mother”. Then for the women I've had one say “I've been putting off my cervical screening appointment just because life just got in the way, but that this talk has just highlighted how important it is to get a check, even if it is probably nothing”.

What’s the most challenging thing about your job?

Getting people to understand the value of supporting women's health in the workplace. Often women's health is something that isn't talked about within social circles, let alone within the office or corporate spaces. These are real, hard hitting, emotive, and personal topics that seem to have no place in a corporate environment that's meant to be quite stoic and rigid.

The hardest part is making people see the value in why women's health goes hand in hand with a successful workplace and a thriving business.

You never want to put women in the position where they're having to choose between their health and work. Reports show that women will leave where they work if they don't feel supported by the employer when it comes to their health. it's trying to convince them to see that value.

What do you wish you’d known when you were starting out?

That what I wanted may not have been what was best for me.

In my mind, I was always going to be a paediatrician. That's what I thought I wanted to be because I loved kids, I loved health and I was great at science. And then I realised that what I really wanted wasn't so much to be a paediatrician, but to help vulnerable people, to be an advocate for them and give them the confidence to speak for themselves, even without me speaking for them.

Up until 18, the only understanding of education you have is very boxed. But you don’t have to be a scientist or a doctor to work in women’s health. We've got so many different roles within our organisation. We've got people who are in the digital fundraising team, in the marketing team, the philanthropy officers who are saying thank you to the donors — each one of them contributing to the advancement of women's health outside of that traditional science background that I thought I needed.

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Project Engagement Lead

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Project Engagement Lead

Got any questions?Head to our Discord and join the conversation.

Follow us

Don't know what you want to do? We'll help you find a career you can care about.

Got any questions?
Head to our Discord and join the conversation.