Simone Castello will be a familiar face to many, having been part of our Ambassador Community since first meeting Anne Bailey in 2014, even before Form the Future began!
She has supported a diverse range of sectors in a wide variety of roles throughout her working life, so is the living embodiment of the “wiggly career path” that we are keen to illustrate as a norm to young people.
As we shine the Spotlight in her direction, she shares how support from teachers and peers when she was young helped her evolve from a place of low confidence to someone whose wealth of experience and immense adaptability has enabled her to embrace the many career opportunities that have come her way. Now she’s paying it forward, giving young people “confidence that they can keep developing beyond school.”
Name: Simone Castello
Current position: Knowledge Transfer Facilitator & Web Developer (currently)
Organisation: University of Cambridge
What other jobs did you do, before this one?
I started in charity fundraising in London in 1994, worked in market research, moved to banking in the City, journalism, graphic design, advertising copywriting, digital marketing consultancy, research communications at the University of Cambridge and now doing knowledge transfer and building websites. I even taught marketing and social media.
Skills are transferable and I learned on the job. I also acquired skills through volunteering: Drive for Youth, Women in Publishing, SureStart/NHS, NCT, CAP/Form the Future, reading recovery in local schools, storytelling in libraries, Healthy Walking Leader, Newcomers and Visiting Scholars (NVS), Business and IP Centre at Central Library (business talks), U3AC, Transition Cambridge…
Complete this sentence: “When I was growing up, I wanted to be..."
“When I was growing up, I wanted to be a ballerina, then a writer.”
Best piece of career advice you have ever been given?
I owe a lot to my French teacher in secondary school who encouraged me to study languages and to other teachers who encouraged me to write.
When and why did you start volunteering with Form the Future?
I started with Cambridge Area Partnership (CAP) back in 2014! I found an email by Anne and Michaela. I continued and it became Form the Future.
What do you like most about being an Ambassador and/or what keeps you coming back?
I like to empower children; they can achieve more than they can imagine if they work hard.
How do you know that volunteering with Form the Future makes a real difference to young people (do you have a story you can share, that illustrates this)?
I particularly like doing the entrepreneurship events and the mock interviews. This is because you see a transformation from the beginning of the activity when the child might be shy or not confident with a stranger and suddenly their face lit up and they contribute. The best feeling is when a teacher is surprised to see that a child they have written off has talents in other ways, that were not spotted within the academic curriculum.
Putting aside the benefit to the student, how else has volunteering with Form the Future been a beneficial experience for you?
I was a child with low confidence because of my working class background and feared public speaking for many years. I was the first in my family to get a Diploma (equivalent to A levels), let alone going to university. I owed it to teachers and people I met professionally to have given me confidence and drive.
What would you say to someone who’s wondering whether to sign up as an Ambassador with Form the Future? (or) Why would you recommend volunteering with us to a fellow professional?
The world is changing so rapidly because of the AI revolution, jobs are vanishing and are recreated, children are confused about their future. Things have changed rapidly for our generation due to the advent of the internet: we can show children how to navigate the world of work and give them confidence that they can keep developing beyond school.
We share the Ambassador Spotlight in our monthly Ambassador Update emails, as well as on our website and social platforms. It’s a wonderful way to raise the profile of your own volunteering whilst supporting Form the Future in a new and different way.
If you’d like to feature in our next Ambassador Spotlight, email Dawn, our Ambassador Engagement Manager and she’ll send you questions to respond to.