Noa Epstein is named MBA Star of the Year at Women of the Future awards.
Gates alumna Noa Epstein has won a prestigious award celebrating the stars of tomorrow.
Noa was named MBA Star of the Year at the Women of the Future Awards 2011 in a gala event in London on 16 November.
The awards were created to unearth and recognise the stars of tomorrow across diverse industries, to celebrate high-achieving women aged 35 and under, who are inspirational in their professions.
Israeli-born Noa [2010] was nominated by the Judge Business School. She has just completed her MBA in Management which she studied with the aid of a Gates scholarship.
For her MBA Noa, who previously worked for Peace Now and the Peres Center for Peace in Israel, looked at ways of creating a social enterprise model that will not collapse in periods of economic hardship and encouraging cross border partnerships. Her aim is to use her management skills to understand the language of business better and promote peace through trade.
Of her Women of the Future Award Noa says: "I hope the award will enable me to open more doors for women in the Middle East."
She is currently involved in an initiative to set up a United World College in Israel, as part of the United World Colleges (UWC) network of high schools. Noa attended a United World College in Norway as a teenager.
She says: "UWC students are selected on merit and involvement in their communities and are given scholarships to live and study for two years with people from over 100 different countries. The first UWC, Atlantic College, was established in Wales and since the 1960s, 13 such colleges have been making incredible impact across the globe. I am now working to bring this successful model to Israel and the Middle East."