Ola Miskow is our Alumna of the Month for October.
Ola left WHS in 2017 and attended Northumbria University where she studied Law for four years with Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). Following the completion of her Masters Degree and BPTC, in November 2022 Ola was called to the Degree of the Utter Bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, officially becoming a Barrister of England and Wales.
While studying for her Bar exams, which took longer than anticipated due to the pandemic, she worked at Ernst & Young (EY) as a Financial Crime (Client-Due-Diligence) Analyst. Ola was responsible for performing risk management procedures to ensure perspective and existing clients comply with UK’s Anti-Money Laundering Laws and Regulations. Her role at one of the “Big Four” as well as her academic qualifications opened up an opportunity for her to move to New York City to pursue a career in White Collar Crime.
Ola is based in New York as part of a Compliance, Litigation and Forensics Practice where she is helping her company set up new Anti-Money Laundering Compliance and Investigations Services department. Ola works with Lawyers and other Law Firms to help them design and deliver comprehensive compliance programs and internal controls as well as investigate and remediate civil and criminal financial misconducts. In a nutshell, she makes sure lawyers and their firms don’t ‘accidentally’ allow ‘dirty’ money a.k.a proceeds of crime, enter the US financial system.
Ola enjoyed all aspects of school but her least favourite subject was Maths. She said: “11-17 year old me would never at the time anticipate that my future career would be in the financial world. So, my advice would be to never discourage yourself from any subjects as you never know where life will take you. I love what I do now and the opportunities it creates for me, one of them being invited to the White House in Washington D.C. to attend a conference and tour for working with US Federal Laws and Regulations. None of this would be possible without the support of WHS Teachers. Special mentions go to my GCSE Maths Teacher and WHS Support Staff in particular Mrs Lizzie McGaffin (EAL Lead at WHS). They have done more for me than they will ever know!”
If you’re a past student, we’d love to hear what you are doing now to help inspire and encourage our current students. Please visit https://williamhoward.fireflycloud.net/alumni/alumni-form, so we can keep in touch.
