Cleo Morris
A graduate who built a successful business while creating opportunities within her local community has been Highly Commended in the Local Community Impact Award category at the inaugural University of Worcester Alumni Awards.
Cleo Morris, who studied Business and Combined Studies at the University of Worcester from 2011 to 2014, was recognised for her contribution to workplace inclusion, organisational culture and community development through her entrepreneurial work.
Since graduating, Cleo has established and grown her own company – Mission Diverse - working with organisations across the UK and internationally to improve workplace inclusion, strengthen organisational culture and create more equitable experiences for employees.
Alongside building a successful business, she has had a positive impact within her local community, creating employment opportunities and using her knowledge and experience to help organisations bring about meaningful change.
Reflecting on the award, Cleo said: “It feels great to receive something like this, it genuinely means a lot. I left the University of Worcester over 12 years ago, so to know that the things I have gone on to do since then, and the work I am still doing today, have been recognised is incredibly special.”
She added: “When you are busy building a business and focusing on what comes next, you do not always stop to look back at how far you have come. Recognition like this gives you a reason to do that, and to know that the university I started that journey with still sees and values what I am doing means the world to me.”
Looking back on her time at Worcester, Cleo credits the University with giving her the freedom and confidence to discover her interests and shape her future career. After changing degree course during her first year to focus more closely on business studies, she developed the knowledge and adaptability that would later prove invaluable when launching her own company.
“My time at the University of Worcester gave me something really valuable – time to learn, time to understand myself, what I wanted to achieve and where my interests were,” she said. “The ability to adapt, follow what interested me and make decisions about my own direction has been just as valuable in running a business as the academic learning itself.”
Cleo said that among her fondest memories of university are the friendships she made and the life lessons she learned about working with different personalities and perspectives. Those experiences, she says, helped develop the relationship-building and communication skills that continue to serve her today.
“There are people I met at university who I still speak to today and would class among my nearest and dearest friends,” she said. “Those relationships are probably some of the fondest things I have taken away from my time at Worcester.”
The inaugural University of Worcester Alumni Awards celebrate the achievements of graduates who are making a positive difference in their professions and communities.