Director of Sponsorship Responses

Semester 2, Issue 7 (Election)

Interviews with Tori Walker and Alisha D'Souza follow below.

Tori Walker
Question 1: What does the Director of Sponsorship bring to the character and functioning of the LSS? Why are you suitable for this role?

Sponsorship is the key to the running of all MULSS events and services. The Director of Sponsorship must bring an eagerness for networking and communicating, so they can strengthen our existing relationships with core sponsors but also foster relationships that accord with our goals as students and emerging employment trends in the legal industry.

I am the best candidate for this position! What I will bring to the role is an extremely personable nature, bucket-loads of enthusiasm, and commitment to benefit the MLS community. Also, my professional experience has put me in good stead to communicate effectively with a range of professionals.  

Question 2: If successful, what do you most hope to achieve, and do differently, in your term as Director of Sponsorship?

If successful, I aim to achieve two things:
Strengthening of our existing relationships – Our core sponsors are important! They are the firms that are financially capable of ensuring that we receive quality opportunities at MLS;
Fostering new relationships with other sponsors – I aim to reach more mid tier, specialised and boutique firms for their support at MLS.  

In short, sponsorship isn’t just about getting money (however, to paraphrase Biggie, ‘more money = more less problems’) – it’s about getting support for MLS, so students can take advantage of all the opportunities available to them. A range of relationships, even if not resulting in financial sponsorship, are important to allow students to have a breadth of knowledge about career pathways. If successful, I promise to do my best to ensure that the sponsorships reflect a true and diverse range of graduate possibilities.

Alisha D’Souza

Question 1: What does the Director of Sponsorship bring to the character and functioning of the LSS? Why are you suitable for this role?

The Director of Sponsorship has streamlined the sponsorship process. By being a single point of contact, stronger relationships have been built with organisations and more effective negotiations have taken place.

Given the word cap for this section, I highly encourage students to read my online profile on the MULSS website and public Facebook post on why I am an ideal candidate. There are many misconceptions about what the role entails, but online are what I know to be the key requirements and why I am suited to the role.

In short:

1. Strong people skills and relationships (having been this year’s Careers Director)
   
2. Experience – including drafting a 50-page prospectus and managing meetings/negotiations with 20+ potential sponsors
   
3. Core understanding of the LSS and student body (having been on committee for two years, one as an elected representative)

Question 2: If successful, what do you most hope to achieve, and do differently, in your term as Director of Sponsorship?

While there is always room for tech start-ups, small-mid tiers, and other organisations, we will always need the same big firms. Why?
Not just for Careers, but because their funds allow us to run comps, allow Women’s, ESJ, Queer and Environments to run their workshops and panels, and allow us to pay gratuity to our saviours - the STS tutors.
Accordingly I won’t promise to change the sponsorship mix without realistically knowing if that can happen. What I will promise is to effectively secure more funding than 2018 while equally ensuring that it’s not just organisations with money that can access students, but that I build partnerships that represent the cohort’s interests.

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