Meet the Team
Summit Overalls
The Coordinators take overall command of the Summit with influence over every aspect of its planning and implementation. The pair are the main outlet for innovation each year and as the representatives of the Summit they meet with key partners to discuss the aims and logistics of the weekend. On the weekend itself, the Coordinators will be responsible for the general image of the Summit and the organisation of the summit's extensive team. They will also be on hand to answer any questions from delegates, speakers and sponsors.
Lancelot Wilson
Lancelot is in his third year of WES and Warwick, studying PPE. Outside WES, he can be found in four locations:
1) His natural habitat; curled up on the sofa reading Iain M. Banks' science fiction
2) Jogging through the fields around Leamington in the rain
3) In T-Bar telling everyone how amazing Albania is
4) Serving with his army reserve unit
He grew up in Oxfordshire, Israel and Bangladesh. He's really excited to be a part of WES and this year he'll be focusing on making our summit the most professional and well-oiled it can be, delivering value for money for our sponsors, and a well-run and organised experience for our delegates.
Charlie Atkins
Charlie is a final year Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (EPP) student (best not to ask him if he studies PPE!). Charlie has been a part of WES since his first year. After being a Marketing Coordinator for WES2023, he looks forward to working closely with the WES2024 team to expand the summit's reach and engagement, particularly with Warwick students and 16-18-year-olds. If you ever need him, you can probably find him in the FAB Caffè Nero (fuelling his mild coffee addiction), probably listening to Taylor Swift.
Samin Sabah Islam
Samin is a final year Economics student from Bangladesh who cannot get used to the UK weather. She will take any and every opportunity to talk about WES2023 and how she casually talked about banoffee pie and cricket with the King of Lesotho! This year as the Overall, she's determined to take WES to greater heights, and welcome an in person student delegation from single continent! When she's not using WES to procrastinate her degree, you can find her stocking up her TBR pile or rewatching the Batman trilogy.
Talks Team
The Talks Team is an integral part of WES. It is responsible for assembling the speaker lineup as well as guiding the Summit’s key themes and discussions. From Nobel laureates to sitting heads of state, the team has a strong record in welcoming some of the world's most distinguished public figures. In addition, Talks handles speaker logistics and panel formats, working closely with the other teams to ensure each edition of the Summit is a success. Prior to the Summit, the team delivers a range of additional events such as one-to-one interviews, and standalone keynote speeches in its WES Presents series. Nonetheless, its unwavering focus is to ensure WES 2024 boasts the Summit’s most diverse, engaging and world-renowned lineup to date.
Vivek Venkatram
Vivek is a second year Philosophy, Politics & Economics student, who recently returned from a charity climb to Mount Kilimanjaro & the Good Food Conference in San Francisco. In his free time, he enjoys discussing current affairs, is an avid fusion percussionist & a hiking enthusiast. Vivek enjoys late-night conversations with Joseph & Sarim – which usually involve totally-normal manifestation & some mention of ultrarunner David Goggins. Despite his many failed attempts at fixing his sleep schedule, he is always open to providing advice or a listening ear. Interviewing some of the 2023 Summit’s speakers, Vivek strongly believes in WES’ potential in promoting diverse perspectives, getting topical insights from world leaders & including the leaders of tomorrow through impact-driven conversations. Here’s to making that a reality during the 2024 edition of the Warwick Economics Summit!
Joseph Brennan
Joseph is a second-year Economics student from Croydon, in South London. He joined WES as a Talks Team member last year and enjoyed using his general knowledge to build a diverse speaker line-up. Currently, he has a 600-day streak on Duolingo (yet cannot speak French) and has almost learnt all the capital cities in the world. In his free time, he enjoys reading a book, watching a Christopher Nolan film, or ticking something off his to-do list, ideally with a nice cup of English Breakfast Tea. This year, with Vivek & Sarim’s help, he hopes to secure great speakers across all WES events and create thought-provoking discussion throughout the 2024 Summit.
Sarim Ali Haider
Sarim is a second-year EPAIS student who joined WES last year as a Talks Team Member. When he’s not out of town for the millionth time during term, you can usually find him in the FAB studying because he thinks the library doesn’t have good enough aesthetics. He loves chatting about global politics (maybe a bit too much) and he is obsessed with everything related to design. If he’s not busy writing another research paper, you can find him grinding with his esteemed Talks teammates and friends, Joseph and Vivek, to deliver the best talks lineup at WES24, or working with Vivek to convince Joseph that manifestation is real. He’s always open to chat, feel free to reach out anytime.
Operations Team
The Operations Team is responsible for handling the logistics and operations throughout the year and for the Summit weekend itself. It is the team at the Warwick Economics Summit that manages and organises the Summit activity. The team is responsible for taking care of all of the background activities that keep the Summit running efficiently behind the scenes and ensuring that the delegates of the Summit ultimately receive the highest quality of experience at the University of Warwick. They also oversee the purchase of merchandise in a cost-efficient way and ensure that the weekend operations run smoothly. The Operations team works closely with other teams to bring our marketing strategy to life and maintain a physical presence on campus and beyond.
Anastasia
Simmonds
Anastasia (you can call her Ana!) is a second-year Economics student who joined WES last year as an Operations Team Member. She is incredibly excited to be part of a fun and welcoming team as Operations Coordinator, and to help provide you all with an amazing WES2024 experience! When she’s not filling in spreadsheets and spending thousands of pounds on WES merch, you’ll see her taking photos of everything, playing in the piano room and working on new craft projects. Did you know that Ana can play three instruments and sing? Unfortunately, she hasn’t been as successful in language-learning and is still trying to learn French after many years. She loves pretty sunsets, karaoke, her adorable cat Oscar and meeting new people, and is always down to meet up for coffee!
Lee Jun Foo
Lee Jun is a second-year Economics student just like all the other members of the ops team. He is new to WES this year, embarrassingly having never attended a WES event, but is excited for what he can bring to ops! When he’s not busy pestering suppliers about merch that never arrives and mistaking the time on meetings, you can probably spot him around campus wearing the headphones that never leave his side (separation anxiety) or checking American football scores (as he is a huge New York Giants fan). He considers himself quite talentless, but I guess he does speak 5 languages. His claim to fame is that he went to the same school as Joji. Lee Jun is excited for WES next year, particularly running the summit!
Tal Nuni
Tal is a second-year Economics student who joined WES as an operations team member in his first year after scrambling around to join any societies that he could after freshers week. In his free time, he is a big football fan, both playing it and hoping Erik Ten Hag is the man to bring Manchester United back to the top. Tal is always excited to meet new people and can't wait to be part of WES for another year. His aims for the WES2024 summit is to make it the most memorable one yet, with the Operations Team ensuring everything is running as smoothly as possible. Additionally, he hopes to lead the resurgence of WES UNITED this year after an off-season last year.
Technology Team
The Tech Team is responsible for the maintenance of the Warwick Economics Summit website and all the technical aspects that the Summit requires throughout the year. Due to its hybrid nature, WES 2024 promises to be a very exciting and equally challenging summit for the team. For the in-person summit, the team is focusing on delivering an app and installing event equipment to make the event as smooth as possible. The team is also working on creating a virtual platform for the event to be streamed on so virtual attendees do not miss out.
Alexandros Georgiou
Alexandros is a second-year Economics student who joined WES in his first year as a member of the Tech Team, who helped produce the first hybrid summit. His role this year is particularly focused on developing the mobile application further to guide attendees and delegates during the summit. When he's not working for WES or revising for his exams, you may find him watching football, either on television or at Stamford Bridge, as he is a passionate Chelsea fan. If the football is not on, he is either building computers or planning a social to defeat his WES collegues at Mario Kart, which is normally successful.
Tom Kwok
Meet Tom - he is from Hong Kong and is currently a second-year Economics student. He is a huge football fan and supports Tottenham Hotspur. Tom is also a big fan of skiing and badminton, and he spends more time on these activities than on his own degree! Tom was a tech team member last year so this year will be his second year in WES. He is definitely looking forward to the team trip!
Euan Dalley
Euan is a third-year Computer Science student who grew up in Abu Dhabi and has joined WES this year. He's most excited about developing the Website and Mobile App for delegates. When not complaining about his coursework or queuing for a spot on the Leamington bus, he enjoys watching Liverpool (savouring every moment before Klopp leaves), and dreaming of the next British heat wave, since according to him 30 degrees 'isn't that warm'. He's also patiently waiting for his share of WES merchandise, since he claims that the jumpers were a major factor in him joining.
Sponsors & Partners Team
The Sponsorships and Partnerships team (S&P team) is tasked with delivering the budget required to finance the summit and further events. The team works closely with university departments, corporate sponsors and IGO’s such as the European Parliament to form relationships that benefit WES attendees. Throughout the academic year, the S&P team organises career events with their sponsors and partners and promotes graduate and undergraduate opportunities. During the summit, it hosts panel discussions featuring representatives from corporations and moderated by S&P team members. Internally, the team is responsible for managing the budget, controlling budget spending, and making the most out of one of the largest budgets on campus.
Natalya Ball
Natalya is a second-year Modern Languages and Economics student who joined S&P last year as a team member. She was born and raised in Brazil which makes her weak for dealing with British winters. She is super excited for WES 2024 and for recruiting new team members. When not working on WES, she really enjoys playing tennis, running, eating good food and travelling. Aside from that, her favourite thing to do alongside her S&P coordinator Sefora is to make fun of Nishant!
Nishant Ramesh
Nishant is a third-year Economics student from Mumbai who joined WES last year. When he's not reaching out to firms relentlessly, you'll find him at Fusion Bar watching Chelsea games (something he has not enjoyed doing in years) or playing football at the five-a-side pitches near the Sports Hub. He has an unhealthy obsession with Christian Bale movies, and is currently immersing himself in the world of Blues. Nishant is confident that the WES 2024 team can make the upcoming Summit the best one still, and is committed to ensuring that WES remains a success.
Sefora Daniel
Sefora is a second-year student studying Modern Languages and Economics (German and Mandarin Chinese). She stumbled upon WES at the societies fair, where a quick merch grab transformed into an S&P team member application. After being a team member last year, she is now a coordinator. As S&P coordinator, Sefora is the bridge between top employers and young talent. She brings her attention to detail and Gmail proficiency to do this. Sefora grew up in London and comes from Eritrea. When she’s not scouring LinkedIn for a potential sponsor, you can find her watching The Lord of the Rings for the millionth time. In her spare time, Sefora runs trading simulations at Warwick and other universities. She is looking forward to the WES2024 summit after having an incredible time last year!
Marketing Team
The Marketing Team shapes the face of WES. Through social media, piazza stalls and podcast, Marketing aims to reach those interested in joining the debate. It is a close collaborator with all teams to show what WES' talks, events, sponsors, blogs and more, is really about. More importantly, Marketing is keen to find new ways to grow WES' audience, as it reaches its 21st year. On a practical level, the Marketing team is sustained by a mix of Canva, Photoshop, After Effects and Final Cut Pro, and the organised chaos of post schedules.
Aditi Shishtla
Aditi is a third-year Economics and Global Sustainable Development student. She has recently joined WES as a Marketing Co-ord after seeing her flatmate enjoy being a part of this society in my second year. Aditi loves coffee, Taylor Swift and long mental health walks. You can find her stress cleaning the kitchen or stress writing her assignments at midnight. She is too chaotic to hold down a hobby but her current obsession is learning languages on Duolingo!
Ellora Mukherjee
Meet Ellora, who is in her second year, newly part of the Marketing Team, and is super excited to come up with new ideas to promote what WES does. When she's not catching up on the readings that she hasn't done yet (for her actual economics degree) she's playing the piano or at the gym. Although, Ellora is still trying to master Bach (currently unsuccessful) and at the gym, is trying to get that elusive deadlift right. She's looking forward to working with team for the upcoming WES summit, and wants to make it one for the books!
Susan Huang
Meet Susan, one of the marketing coords for this year! Having had a great experience as a marketing team member in her first year, she's excited for another year with WES. Susan is looking forward to working alongside her fellow coords, Aditi and Ellora, to let more people know about WES and see WES grow even further. If she's not designing the next post for WES, you'll find her filming and editing vlogs or cafe/ bakery hopping (let her know if you have any recommendations)!
External Relations & Hospitality Team
The External Relations and Hospitality Team (ERH) is responsible for working with students across the globe to promote the WES brand and create the most diverse WES to date. The summit attracts students from top universities from all regions around the world, last year hosting over 1300 delegates from 250+ institutions. Prior to the summit, the team recruits for and manages our Ambassadors and Representative Schemes, which allow students to lead delegations from their respective universities. Through events and collaboration with other teams, ERH also works on ways to boost WES engagement, foster networking opportunities between delegates, boost student engagement with WES and make the summit accessible to high schools. During the summit, the team handles the logistics and accommodation for the delegations, ensuring they have a smooth and memorable WES experience.
Jack Teoh
Jack is a second-year Economics student who joined WES last year as an ERH team member. When he's not camping out with his iPad organising files on the Drive, he might be found binging the latest Korean dramas or struggling to learn Japanese for his next trip to Tokyo. He is often at the Sports Hub on the football, badminton or volleyball courts, but is still trying to overcome the horrors of "hitting the gym". If you're ever down for some sports, hit him up! The summit was the highlight of his first year at Warwick, so he is excited to meet everyone at WES2024. Alongside the ERH team he hopes to bring WES to as many people as possible and take it to even greater heights!
Ishita Naithani
Ishita is a second-year Economics student who decided to join WES this year after being captivated by some amazing talks last year, as a delegate. Given her love for economics (though econometrics is often debatable) and interacting with people she is thrilled to lead External Relations for WES alongside a wonderful team. She hopes to diversify and increase the global representation for this year's summit. She is committed to enhancing the external relations and the worldwide outreach for WES 2024. She works best when she has her favourite playlists on (which includes an obnoxious amount of The Weeknd, AP Dhillon and Lana Del Rey). Be sure to find her at the gym when she is not frantically scrolling through LinkedIn or Moodle. Ishita is always up for a good swim or badminton session and is definitely in for a great night out (Smack over Neon please!). She looks forward to catching up with new students.Working with Jack and Lillian, she is keen to make WES 2024 a memorable experience for everyone.
Lillian Passmore
Meet Lillian, a second-year PPE student. She somehow ended up joining WES last year after thinking WES stood for ‘Warwick Economics Society’, and despite not knowing what ERH stood for at the time of applying, became a team member and has returned for a second year. When Lillian is not focused on reaching record-breaking outreach for WES 2024 or trying to pass her degree, she often ends up sidetracked in her thoughts (an unfortunate and recurring incidence), most recently wondering what Henry VIII’s go-to coffee would be from Nero in Fab, or completing the challenge from the summer of 2020 in visiting all of the UK’s 329 Waitrose shops (on 113 at the moment). This year she's most looking forward to WES’s continued success as a hybrid summit and reaching universities further afield!
Press & Communications Team
Communication is an essential part of WES. At the Press and Communications team, we ensure that important conversations and events - both behind the scenes and during the Summit - are portrayed effectively and widely across a breadth of media channels. By working with journalists and initiating partnerships - with both student-run and industry-leading media organisations, on a local, national and international level - we cultivate the face of the conference. Our work ranges from summarising talks, to interviewing prominent guests, to producing articles that promote debate and broaden horizons. While our schedule is predictably hectic during the Summit weekend, we are busy all year looking for exciting opportunities to cooperate and spread the word about WES! Don’t hesitate to get in touch with the #pressteambestteam at presscoordinator@warwickeconomicssummit.com
Andrés de Miguel
Andrés began his journey with WES as a Marketing Team Member but decided to switch to Press and Communications despite his best creative efforts. Avid runner, he frequently goes on afternoon runs when he can and aspires to take part in the London Marathon in the future. As a 2nd year PPE student, and Head of Research at Warwick Think Tank he has a very full schedule, but this doesn’t stop him burying his head in whatever Game of Thrones book he is currently reading. Andrés hopes to extend the P&C team’s reach on campus through the use of debates during the year, something he has been passionate to organise since he joined the team.
Daniel Rêgo
Daniel joined WES in 2023 as one of the P&C coordinators. He is a 2nd year BSc Economics student from Brasilia, Brazil. An avid nature photographer, Daniel has photographed over 500 species of birds across South America and Europe and hopes to one day click every bird species in Brazil (gotta catch 'em all!). Daniel supports the world's greatest football club, Flamengo, and dreams of one day watching his home country win the "Hexa" at the World Cup. At WES, Daniel wants to improve the summit's public relations by expanding its network with both professional and student media around the world. Some of his goals include increasing the number of journalists attending the conference as well as getting articles about WES published by major newspapers.
Socials Event Team
The main goal of the Socials & Alumni Engagement Team is to help create a strong bond between team members, which is more crucial than ever after the virtual nature of the conference last year. We aim to create socials and challenges to engage all members during the year, encouraging bonding across all teams. Highlights include the WES Tour, where we aim to improve the team dynamic and build connections between members. Another is the WES Ball, where we strive to make the event an unforgettable one. We are also responsible for managing the diverse network of WES alumni, keeping them up-to-date on current WES events.
Alice Naja
Alice is a second-year Economics, Politics and International Studies student from Switzerland. She’s joined WES this year as a Socials Coordinator because she loves meeting new people and is constantly looking for new experiences. Alice mainly attributes her social side and outgoingness to her general love for people. However, a small part of her knows she is simply anticipating the day she leaves everything behind to go live on some isolated farm in a remote corner of the world. When she isn’t busy planning WES’s next social, she’s mostly likely trying not to burn the house down while taking a go at a new recipe, sketching on the margins of her weekly politics reading or nose deep in a thriller novel. Big chance she’s actually trying to do all of those things at once; she’s a big fan of multitasking.
Olivia Hahn
Olivia is a second year Linguistics with Spanish student. As a non-econ student, she was lucky enough to land the only role in WES that truly matters (in her opinion)…SOCIALS! On a day off from being an academic weapon and devoting her life to WES, you’ll find her indulging in ‘self care’: listening to the weekly women’s hour podcast sipping on an overpriced and under-whelming iced latte. Olivia hopes to deliver the best tour yet! The German in her will be holding the clipboard whilst the Spanish will be holding the Sangria.