Kate Lehane
So far, Kate Lehane has attained fantastic marks in her Master’s degree programme (averaging above 9.0), something that she (strangely enough) did not state on her CV, but which was subtly mentioned in a beautiful letter of recommendation, which was written by a fellow student. She passed her Bachelor’s programme in International Relations and International Organizations with an average mark of 8.0 and her average mark for the pre-Master’s in Society, Sustainability, and Planning was 8.7. These excellent study results are there for all to see on her LinkedIn page, but not on the CV she submitted to the jury. Having said this, Kate is not modest. She starts her CV with a self-characterization, in which she describes herself as someone with a ‘strong academic background’ in International Relations and Spatial Sciences and who, thanks to participative research, has developed ‘a solid skills set’ in leadership and team work. Luckily, she more than lives up to this characterization, as set out in the rest of her CV and letter of recommendation. Her pitch about promoting inclusion through good spatial planning, illustrated from the perspective of wheelchair users in public places, clearly demonstrated her high level of social engagement, as well as her vision and expertise. Kate’s strong academic skills were particularly evident during the discussion after the pitch.
She has worked on various projects, such as the ‘Active citizenship through theatre for urban politics (Act Up!)’, the ‘This abled city’, and the ‘Enhancing quality of life stroke’ research projects. Furthermore, as a student assistant, she was deeply involved in the research exhibition of ‘Stories of this abled city: experiential dialogues on disability in urban life’. This resulted in numerous presentations, lectures, and workshops, including a presentation during the annual conference of the Royal Geographical Society in Birmingham, UK, partially funded by a GUF-allocated study trip grant for excellent students. Alongside these mainly study-related activities, Kate was also actively involved as a volunteer in an initiative of the Municipality of Groningen to house and protect two people (from Ethiopia and Lebanon) who were fighting to protect human rights (‘Shelter City Groningen’).
