The Laidlaw Scholarships profiles

Surayyah Sani Ahmad 

Reuben College
Nigeria

A successful exit founder, Surayyah is passionate about promoting economic growth in Africa's underserved regions by bridging the investment gap. Her new investment vehicle, Aduna Capital, focuses on female-led startups and regions with less than 15% funding, aiming to create jobs and empower women.

Mary May Furtado

Reuben College
United States

Mary is an experienced strategy and business operations consultant and has worked with startups from pre-incorporation through $80 million plus fundraising rounds. Mary thrives on creative, complex problem solving and aims to expand her professional bounds into higher level financial strategy.

Natasha Makhubele

Reuben College
South Africa

Natasha is a chartered accountant with experience in audit, accounting advisory and management consulting. Post MBA, she plans to transition sectors into social impact, focusing on enhancing the access to quality education. Through the scholarship, Natasha hopes to inspire more African women to pursue their dreams.

Ajibola Bolanle Olamide

Reuben College
Nigeria

Ajibola has transitioned from a consultant at PwC to an infrastructure specialist at Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. She believes that an Oxford MBA will provide the resources to amplify her impact and is honoured to be a Laidlaw Scholar. The Scholarship supports her dream of sustainable African development. 

Sonal Raj

Reuben College
India

Sonal is a social impact professional with experience spanning gender lens investing, social entrepreneurship and consulting focused on women’s healthcare in India’s last mile. She is passionate about building a future where gender-inclusive ecosystems and innovations can empower those in need.

Melissa Sanchez

Reuben College
United States

A former consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Melissa is a health policy and health technology professional with experience partnering with public and private institutions. At Oxford, she aims to help shape more equitable investment practices with global impact.

Harsha Sanyukta

Reuben College
India

Harsha is a social impact consultant with more than five years of experience in strategy and project management across key government, corporate and non-profit stakeholders. She aims to bring system-driven and market-based solutions for sustainable impact, focusing on education and gender.

Tracy Tang

Reuben College
United States

Tracy is a fourth-year medical student and occupational therapist pursuing an MBA to integrate medicine and business. Passionate about promoting the advancement of women in medicine and health equity, she aims to drive impactful healthcare solutions through innovation and strategic leadership.

Maya Tanous

Reuben College
Israel

Maya has built an extensive consulting career at Deloitte across diverse sectors. Oxford has always been her dream and a gateway to the luxury fashion industry. Passionate about racial and gender equity, she aims to empower minority and underprivileged women through her future career and ventures.

As recipients of the Laidlaw Scholarship, our scholars join the Laidlaw Scholars Network, a growing network of cross-generational peers from other leading institutions around the globe. The Laidlaw Scholars Network facilitates connections for leaders across industries who will reinvest their skills, knowledge and experience to help students, peers and colleagues.

Through this network, they have been able to share their stories and how the Laidlaw Scholarship will help them to become better future leaders. 

Listed below are some of our alumnae scholars. They are organised by the academic years the scholarship covered.

2023-24 cohort

2022-23 cohort

2021-22 cohort