This year’s winners include:

Jennifer Dominic – Alumni Rising Star of the Year Award

Since the completion of her BSc (Hons) Biosceiences degree, Jennifer has shown innovation, leadership and community service through her successful career path, becoming an inspiration in the STEM sector.

Jennifer is a passionate STEM advocate and leader in the healthcare and life sciences sector, with a focus on making an impact by unlocking potential in people, providing access to medicines to all, and fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society.

Jennifer has set up a social enterprise, Wenite, to support fellow STEM graduates in achieving their career goals. Career-wise she has achieved remarkable success in the pharmaceutical industry, making a significant impact on the company’s strategic direction to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. She co-leads the League of Employees of African Descent globally and serves on the Europe and Canada DE&I Council.

Jennifer is a champion for the importance of transformative impact of education and volunteers her time to support the University and our students. Her journey from Nigeria to the UK, overcoming immigration challenges and achieving success in the pharmaceutical industry, exemplifies resilience and determination.

This year, Jennifer also featured in the Universities UK 100 Faces campaign, celebrating the success of first-generation students and graduates who were the first in their families to go to university.

Marius Reklaitis – Alumni Rising Star of the Year Award

Marius has made significant contributions in music and philanthropy. His work spans mental health advocacy, inclusivity, and education. He founded the Kent Philharmonic Orchestra and co-founded the Kent Chamber Opera, aiming to make classical music accessible. His leadership roles include the honorary chairman of the Canterbury Arts Council and the CEO of Marijampoles Filharmonija. Marius’s innovative teaching methods have garnered international attention, and his conducting skills have led to collaborations with world-class orchestras. In 2023, he became the first Canterbury Christ Church University alumnus to participate in the King’s Charles III Christmas broadcast.

“Winning the award gives a responsibility and a bit of pressure as an alumni of CCCU to carry on the work I did and currently doing as alumni in the community of Canterbury and Kent. Not only in the canterbury and Kent district but abroad as well, it humbles me to receive this award. It humbles me and gives me strength to carry on what I’m doing at the moment.

“My fondest memory is when I had the chance to (When I finished my music degree) play piano at the inauguration of our current VC of CCCU – that really springs in my mind and has always given me strength to pursue my dreams and carry on.

“I think my time at CCCU helped me to understand that nothing can be served to you on a silver platter. You need to fight, and as S Club 7 said – you need to reach for the stars. I know it’s a bit cliché but those words give the truth – you need to fight, you need to work hard, if you’ve been beaten up, if you’ve hit a pole, if you’ve not succeeded – keep going, never give up, keep trying and one day you will succeed. To all current students - keep going - if you have a dream, you will get there.”

Dellanie Nash – Alumni Community Hero Award

Dellanie was awarded Student Nurse of the Year 2019 and is a dedicated nursing professional who goes above and beyond to care for her patients. She is currently a GP practice nurse specialising in diabetes and hypertension management as a Lifestyle and Weight Loss Advisor.

Dellanie’s aim for patients in the community has always been to improve the quality of care and ensure that patient safety and positive outcomes. She has crafted her career with purpose and determination, having started as a foreign language speaker without UK qualifications. Her continued professional development is clear; she has built and progressed with her education, skills, research and practice During the Covid pandemic, Dellanie worked 7 days a week for 20 months, sacrificing weekend family life to help others, as a front-line vaccinator. She continues to develop her professional skills and is about to undertake further studies to gain her nurse prescriber qualifications.

“I’m amazingly surprised to have won this award – I didn’t expect it. When I read all the nominees and the shortlisted, … I feel like in comparison to them, they’ve done a lot more, so I’m really pleasantly surprised to have won the award for Community Hero.

“Fondest memories of university, I loved the camaraderie with other students, sharing experiences and networking because you always feel like you really got it hard but when you listen to other people’s stories you always find yourself in the middle – someone is always struggling more than you, but someone is also having it easier than you, so you always find yourself in the middle. It's a good reflection to get some perspective so then you just keep pushing yourself to get there.

"Canterbury Christ Church University has provided me an opportunity to find my calling. I really find that helping people achieve their good metabolic health, I have been empowered because of my time at the university, I didn’t know that this is what I wanted to do – I wanted to become a singer! I love music but actually I once applied for a lecturer job, to get a PhD but I didn’t get funding, so my friend encouraged me to take a step back and try nursing because you love studying and nursing always provides an opportunity for studying. I ended up doing some nursing and that’s it, I really love it, I’m just going to carry on doing what I love doing – studying and nursing.”

Kara Satterley – Alumni Outstanding Contribution Award

Kara has contributed significantly to the Primary Education Team at Canterbury Christ Church University and student teachers for over a decade. Her commitment to supporting student teachers at all stages of their training, inclusively, with empathy and raising their aspiration, makes her a supportive and inspiring mentor. She has also engaged in the Educational Research Schools Partnership and has been instrumental in implementing intensive training and practice experiences into courses. Her work has greatly benefited both the student teachers and the Primary Tutor Team.

Kara recognises and embraces the benefits and professional development that collaborative working with the university brings to their teachers, and the teaching profession.

“I feel absolutely honoured and privileged to have won this award in this category.

“My fondest memory of University is making friends for life, to start with, and starting my teaching journey; this is where it began. I’ve stayed in this area since I qualified, a long time ago, and went straight from university into my NQT year, which then lead to becoming deputy head at the same school. I moved three years ago to my current school, but established links with CCCU really early on, mentoring students from early on in my career right through to now.

“I also mentor teachers in my school who are themselves mentors, making those connections with Christ Church which are invaluable for that networking moving forward to the future.”

Louisa Arnold – Alumni Community Hero Award

Louisa aims to make sport accessible for all. Over several years Louisa has helped many local sporting organisations, often those lacking in funding, to grow and develop. This has included working with the homeless community to raise self-esteem, setting up disability coaching projects and supporting older members of the community to keep them active and boost confidence. Louisa led Project 500: More Women, Better Coaching targeted at helping more girls and women get into sports coaching, creating role models for future generations. In 2018 the project won a National UK Coaching award. Louisa has returned to the university as a guest lecturer on many occasions to share this message with our sports students.

Louisa is also volunteer netball coach encouraging young people to develop their own values through sport, as well as acting as a mentor to support CCCU students working on their coaching qualifications.

“It feels great to have won this award and be recognised for the work that I do, but actually, the real reward is supporting people within the community to enjoy sport and physical activity and hopefully gain a habit for life.

“Having finished University in 2003, I think some of my fondest memories are the friendships I made while I was there, the experiences I had with the lecturers, and the subjects that they opened me up to. It really demonstrated that that was the career I wanted to follow. So from graduating at Christ Church I went on to follow a career in sports development, and alongside that doing lots of coaching and helping local people to enjoy sport as much as I do!”

Jana Koperniech – Alumni Sustainability Champion Award

After graduating from the University and then the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Jana started her career at the United Nations. Since 2012, she has been supporting governments, private sector, and countries worldwide to embark on a transition towards clean/low-carbon and climate resilient development pathways. Jana is committed to making progress in sustainable development and has focused on advising countries on financing of energy efficiency, clean energy and low-carbon transport options while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. She is passionate about developing and managing large infrastructure and energy projects that benefit the local people, while ensuring they get also translated into measurable sustainable development benefits, such as job creation, economic savings, healthier environment, and promotion of gender equality.

Lorna Daymond – Alumni Vice-Chancellor’s Award

This one-off special award goes to Lorna Daymond who was one of the first students to graduate at Canterbury Christ Chuch University. Lorna graduated with a Certificate of Education in 1965.

“I feel very honoured and slightly stunned to receive the Vice Chancellor’s Award. That feels very special.

"I think, it’s not a memory, it’s joining – a sense of community, of people who were supportive, understood all sorts of things that we were studying; people you could share things with, that was lovely. I remember it as somewhere which was warm, supportive and it feels like home. It still feels like home, which is why I come back.”