Henrietta Mbeah-Bankas
Cambridge Judge Business School
Age: 46
“Happy, God-fearing, family-oriented, hardworking go-getter. Thrives in supporting others through my networks and expertise.”
Hometown: Dartford, Kent
Family Members: Husband, three teenage daughters (14, 17 and 19)
Fun fact about yourself: I have decorated hundreds of cakes, including a cathedral wedding cake since age 15
Undergraduate School and Degree:
Undergraduate – BSc. (Hons) Nursing
Graduate – MSc Interprofessional Practice- City, University of London
Graduate – PGCert Leadership in Health. University of Leeds
Where are you currently working? NHS England, Head of Education Portfolio (Blended Learning and Educator Workforce)
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles
Voluntary Board and Committee
Trustee | Methodist Independent Schools Trust (MIST)
Advisory Board Member | Digital Media Lab, Imperial College London
Education and Training Advisory Committee Member| Orthopedic Research UK (ORUK)
Mentoring several people – particularly young girls and women from black ethnic backgrounds.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Interviewing Sir Gregory Winter, a Nobel Prize Winner. This was because we connected instantly as two people who are unapologetically themselves and straight talking. He was also humble with a great sense of humor and generous with his wisdom. The connection was strengthened by knowing that he spent his earlier life in my country of birth.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Setting up the NHS England’s blended learning program, which created the foundations to drive innovation in health professional education for the country. This also provided a case that supported two student funding policy changes in less than a year, to enable flexible delivery of undergraduate higher education in England. The program has further resulted in widening access and participation for diverse groups of people and locations and created strong global knowledge exchange partnerships.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is a really hard one, each professor brought me something unique. Frankly, I enjoyed every single lecture for different reasons: connection with the professor on values, personal characteristics, passion for delivery of their subject and content among other things. There were times I asked whether I was evaluating the course or my mood, as I was truly very happy with the professors and the delivery of their content.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I strongly believe that access to good education is key to social mobility and creating personal and society wealth, hence choosing judge which is one of the best business schools. Also, the format of delivery suited me as coming to Judge meant that I would not be compromising too much on my work-life balance, with two of my children in a secondary boarding school in Cambridge. This decision was strengthened after attending a conference at the school. I am glad I did because the school met expectations and more.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The biggest lesson I gained was the power of storytelling. I inherited a team that had a critical role in the implementation of a strategy that has impact on education and training of current and future health workforce in England. It became apparent to me very quickly that while the team were competent and had started implementation of the strategy, their inability to tell their personal and program brand story was impacting on delivery confidence. Investing the initial few weeks into establishing individual and program stories has provided team members with opportunities to showcase their capability and program achievement. Even more, it has also increased confidence in individual team members and the program delivery from senior leadership and stakeholders
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? I had to do this throughout the whole program, with some challenges some times.
On one of the residential weekends, there was a guest speaker who I really wanted to hear. However, I still had some preparatory reading for the course and meetings all day. I arrived at Judge on the Thursday morning to a Christmas fair with live music and found out that my headphones weren’t working. Hence, I had to find a secluded area to join my meetings including a Board meeting. I ended up in a room, which I believed was a quiet storage area after one of the facilities staff directed me there. Unknown to me, however, was that it was a waiting area to a professor’s office. This meant I was asked to leave, but had to stand outside the door to be able to make a contribution before going on mute and moving into another space.
I was able to join the guest speaker session late, due to the timing of my last meeting, which was amazing, inspirational and another key learning point during the Exec MBA.
When the day ended, I had to complete my preparatory reading and check my e-mails for any urgent issues that needed addressing. On my way to lessons the next morning, I had to pass through my daughters’ boarding school to give them things they had requested that I bring them from home. While juggling all of this, I was having to support my eldest in completing internship applications and managing the disappointment from unsuccessful applications.
I finished the day with some bad news from a close friend on my way to our formal dinner, which impacted on me enjoying the Christmas dinner and had to go back after dinner to support her. Thankfully, I had my husband on the phone for support and managed to spend the Sunday with my daughters before leaving Cambridge.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Please don’t wait for everything to be right in your life or work to pursue it. In fact, the Executive MBA can offer you solutions to the things that you may be worried about. You just have to back yourself and take the bold first step and other steps will follow. It does all come together and there’s never a perfect time for everything.
What was your biggest regret in business school? That I did not do the course sooner.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? It is Chris Whittaker because. despite his physical disability, he always gave everything his all. This made me feel that despite the so many things I had to contend with, I really didn’t have much to complain about. What I have also come to admire about him is how he’s grown in his confidence and owning his achievements, following my encouragement, even encouraging others to do the same. So proud of him!
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I chose an Executive MBA program to sharpen my commercial skills in preparation to successfully set up my own business in the future and in the interim, develop knowledge and skills to be an effective senior leader or an executive when prompted. I am a strong networker and thrive on creating new networks to support the communities I am part.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? I applied for various scholarships, including every single scholarship the business school had and successfully received a couple from the business school. I managed to get some contribution from my employer, a little from fundraising, funding from research and consultancy activities and from borrowing from children’s savings.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My ultimate goal is to work for a UN organization and set up a business advising governments on creating skills ecosystems to develop fit for purpose workforces.
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