One of the ways we make an impact in our local community is through long-term partnerships with schools.

Lakiesha Maxey became interested in Deloitte while she was still at school and it helped to transform her future. Now she is now supporting the next generation.

When she was in year 13, Deloitte employees visited her school to run CV and mock interview workshops. She had never heard of Deloitte and had always assumed university was the natural next step. But they opened her eyes to the alternative routes into work and further education. She applied for a place on our BrightStart scheme in audit, and started here in September 2017.

Now, she is a Relationship Manager for her school, John Madejski Academy. She has regular contact with the school and works with colleagues to manage and develop programmes to support the current students. As an ex-student, Lakiesha says it has been great that she can show pupils that they can have a career at a company like Deloitte.

She also took part in a panel discussion on the future of higher education at Deloitte, alongside Professor Baroness Alison Wolf, an adviser to the Government on post-18 education and funding. An audience member asked her what skills she wish she learnt at school and she said public speaking. Looking around the room at that moment, Lakiesha realised how working at Deloitte has built her confidence and enabled her to speak in front of a room full of strangers, senior executives and colleagues. She would not have been able to do that two years ago.