"I've Never Followed a Conventional Path-and That's Been My Greatest Strength."
Business Engagement and Innovation Lead, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Founder, We Are GLOBAL Women | Chair, Cambridge Homelessness Charter Employment Pillar | Group Global Director Geopolitics and Education, London Diplomatic Association
“How can we push the boundaries to make this role more community-based, more connected?”
Fiona McGonigle never imagined she’d end up working in higher education or regional government.
“I’ve got what I would call a portfolio career,” she says. “I’ve worked in regional government, further education, consultancy and building many networks and now higher education.”
She founded We Are GLOBAL Women (WAGW), creating an international community connecting education, diplomacy, business and social purpose. She is recognised for creating ecosystems that enable universities to work beyond their institutional boundaries, bringing together academic expertise, policy, industry and civic leadership to solve real-world challenges.
Today, Fiona works in Business Engagement and Innovation at Anglia Ruskin University, helping connect education, business and communities.
Looking back, though, she can see the thread that has run through every role she’s held. It’s never been about following a traditional career ladder. It’s been about making a difference.
Wanting to help people
As a teenager growing up in Ireland, Fiona thought her future lay somewhere very different.
“I always wanted to be a counsellor in schools.”
Even at 14 or 15, she could see that not every young person had the same opportunities.
“I could see the injustice and the unequal society that young people lived in.”
She later studied Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), where she learned lessons that still shape how she works today.
“The biggest lesson I learned was how to sit in silence.”
During one training exercise, her tutor asked the class to sit quietly for almost half an hour without explaining why.
“You have to learn how to cope with people not speaking. You can’t force people to speak.”
She also discovered the importance of listening without projecting her own experiences onto others, a skill that has influenced the way she builds relationships throughout her career – and leads with empathy.
Following purpose rather than a plan
After moving from Ireland to Cambridgeshire, Fiona wasn’t following a carefully mapped-out career path.
“I wanted something where I could get out and engage with communities, with businesses. I wanted to feel like I was doing something impactful and different.”
She joined a further education college in a newly created business engagement role. From there, opportunities continued to appear for her next role.
“I was approached by the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) because they wanted somebody to help make the organisation more approachable and visible.”
Every role that followed was brand new.
“Every single role I’ve had since moving to England didn’t exist before.”
That freedom and autonomy allowed Fiona to shape each position around her own values.
“Whenever I look at my next move, I always ask, ‘What’s it going to give me? But what can I give the role?’ Can I add value? Can I give all of myself to it?”
Rather than simply carrying out a job description, she has consistently looked for ways to take roles further.
“I’ve always gone beyond what’s expected, as there is opportunity in everything, and sometimes you have to create those opportunities yourself.”
Then she smiles.
“I’ve always lived life on the edge of the grey area (not always the typical path), looking at how we can push the boundaries to make the role, project or event more community-based, more connected and more impactful.”
Whether working in colleges, regional government or universities, Fiona has focused on bringing businesses and education closer together while challenging outdated perceptions.
Learning from others and lifting others up
Throughout her career, Fiona has surrounded herself with people she could learn from.
“I always say I like to surround myself with incredible people.”
Some became formal mentors. Others simply became trusted people she met with regularly and learnt from.
“The best mentoring is a two-way street.”
She credits people like Stuart Gibbons OBE, Managing Director of Le Mark Group with recognising her potential early in her career.
“People connect with you because they see value in you.”
That support has shaped how Fiona works today.
“When people raise me up, I naturally want to do that for somebody else.”
Helping others succeed, she believes, creates a ripple effect that benefits individuals, organisations and communities alike.
Speaking up for young people
Ask Fiona what matters most today, and the conversation quickly turns to young people.
“I use my platform for good.”
At conferences, networking events and through her own professional networks, she regularly challenges employers to think differently about the next generation entering work.
She worries particularly about what she calls the “forgotten COVID generation.”
“Hybrid working is fantastic for people like you and me,” she says. “But young people don’t learn the cultures. They don’t learn the behaviours. They don’t have those water-cooler moments.”
Without those everyday conversations and informal mentoring opportunities, she believes many young people are struggling to develop the confidence and workplace skills previous generations picked up naturally.
“I do despair watching the challenges they’re facing and the constant decline of equity of opportunity for all.”
Rather than focusing only on qualifications, Fiona wants employers to recognise potential.
“I want businesses to grow their own talent and look beyond what’s written on paper.”
Reimagining employability
Fiona doesn’t just identify problems. She spends a lot of time thinking about and developing practical solutions.
“I’d love to see Centres of Excellence for training young people and adults, career changers and those that can’t get on the career ladder, regardless of age. The NEETs crisis measures young people from age 16 – 24, then it stops. Whose measuring those who go beyond that age? Whether they were counted in the NEETs numbers, then became of age and were no longer counted. The crisis is bigger than the data it measures; regardless of age or background, everyone should have the opportunity to succeed.”
She imagines dedicated spaces where young people and adults could build confidence through real workplace experiences before starting or changing employment. FE Colleges do elements of this, but a more holistic all-encompassing pathway is needed.
“They’d learn how to conduct themselves in meetings and boardrooms, how to answer the phone, write an email, how to speak professionally and respond to customers and clients. Workplace etiquette, mentorship, sponsorship and learned behaviours is what shapes individuals in a work environment, no matter what sector it is. Learning how to use new technologies, like AI, will help them stay informed and competitive. Having the opportunity to get things wrong, to improve, to test ideas, to hear other people’s thoughts and to contribute, is a huge confidence builder and what employers say is missing from those entering the workplace. Apprenticeships are few and far between and too competitive now, as there are not enough. Young people are expected to have some level of skills and knowledge, yet work placements are also not as readily available. Thus, having something that takes the pressure off more employers creating Apprenticeships, as there’s still not enough and young people applying with no luck. We need to be filtering these young people somewhere, so they don’t feel forgotten and years later still unemployed with less chance to gain employment.”
For Fiona, these are the foundations that help people thrive throughout their careers.
“They’re valuable skills in a highly competitive world.”
Building stronger communities
Networking has played an important part in Fiona’s own career, but she sees it as much more than collecting contacts.
“I’m raising the profile of the organisation I’m in, while also raising my own profile.”
She believes people should be generous with their knowledge, introductions and opportunities. Many people that I previously connected, supported or mentored have come back to me years later to say that I helped them in different ways. My response to them is to ask them to “pay it forward to others, so we continue the positive cycle.”
“We should constantly be connecting people.”
That philosophy extends beyond careers.
Whether supporting women in male-dominated industries, advocating for neurodiverse talent, helping career changers or promoting gender equity through her wider work and through We Are GLOBAL Women (WAGW), Fiona believes lasting change comes from collaboration.
“If people can’t even get in, and stay on that career path for something they know and love, then what’s the point?”
Looking ahead
Looking back, Fiona doesn’t see a career defined by job titles or promotions.
She sees a series of opportunities to create something that didn’t exist before, bring people together and open doors for others.
Her journey shows that careers don’t always follow a straight line.
Sometimes they’re built by asking different questions.
“What can I give this role?”
Sometimes they’re built by stepping into the grey area or the unknown.
And sometimes they’re built by making sure someone else gets the opportunity to step through the door after you, with you or because of you. That support is often unseen but felt significantly by others.
“I’ve never waited for permission to make a difference, and I don’t believe in staying in your lane – I believe in building new roads”