Past pupil, Dr Raji Ambikairajah has generously offered her support to the school, in the form of personal funding that she would like to attribute to a STEM based award for our Senior Cycle Chemistry, Physics and Biology students. Raji was a student of OLB until 1999 when, in 5th year, her family emigrated to Australia. She has always kept in close contact with the school since her move and continues to see herself very much as a Bower girl. She visited the school in 2010 and was very impressed by the facilities in the newly renovated building.
Raji holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and has spent most of her career in the technology start-up and venture capital sectors. She is also an Ambassador for Room to Read, a global non-profit organisation that provides children in low-income countries with access to education.
As a result of her tireless work with Room to Read, Raji was presented with the prestigious New South Wales Woman of the Year Award for 2018. The Award celebrated Raji’s efforts and acknowledged her deep-rooted belief that a quality education is the key to unlocking the door to potential and possibility.
Raji has recently been awarded a scholarship to study innovation at MIT, Massachusetts. This scholarship will help take her strategic innovation skills to a whole new level. She will study with world-leading experts and further develop her ability to drive innovation within her company.
She is the Chief Executive Officer of Folo, a digital social enterprise that enables people to generate donations for causes they care about by shopping online. Before Folo, Raji was the Chief Operating Officer of Women in Banking and Finance.
Raji says: “I want the products and businesses I create, and the work that I do to make a positive contribution to society”.
The school is very proud of Raji’s achievements to date and would like to extend our sincere gratitude to her for this wonderful initiative which will complement and build on the support we provide to girls in STEM.