Oxford Brookes celebrates Thrive Festival 2021

Oxford Brookes University’s free Thrive Festival is returning in November for the fourth consecutive year, helping aspiring entrepreneurs grow their business with a series of events.

The two-week festival for students, recent graduates and staff runs from 9 to 21 November, with sessions both online and face-to-face to promote innovative ideas, help attendees realise their full potential and to assist with their personal development.

Thrive Festival, delivered by Enterprise Support at Oxford Brookes, will begin on 9 November with the ‘Meet the WEgate community’ virtual event. The WEgate community is an online platform connecting women entrepreneurs across Europe to help them grow their businesses.

Other featured events include:

• A virtual talk from Geoffrey Williams, Global Head of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Dr Martens, and co-founder of Rocking ur Teens.

• CEO of The Negotiation Club, Phillip Brown, will host a virtual workshop on Negotiation Cards and practical tactics.

• An in-person panel discussion ‘She Means Business Brunch’, where attendees will hear from a panel of successful women who share their entrepreneurial journeys.

• A Yoga and Brunch event delivered by The Project PT, which will take place on Monday 15 November at Tap Social Whitehouse in Oxford.

Thrive will then conclude on Friday 19 November, where attendees can attend an informal evening event at the Marvellous Mad Hatter in Oxford, with the chance to network in a friendly and relaxed environment, welcome to entrepreneurs at all levels.

Elizabeth Cameron, Partnerships Manager, said: “Thrive has always been about bringing the community together to make enterprise accessible for all and this year we can promise all that and more. The five key themes for this year’s Thrive Festival, in line with those of Global Entrepreneurship Week, are Purpose, Sustainability, Inclusion, Ecosystem and Education, and we have made sure to integrate this philosophy into all of our events.

“The festival brings a perfect mix of interactive workshops and inspiring speakers to make sure that everyone feels inspired to be their most ambitious selves!”

You can find the full list of events for this year’s festival Thrive festival