People
Staff from the School of Business and Management, and the wider University, are here to support your entrepreneurial goals.
People
Director: Dr Joanne J. Zhang is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, and a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge. Recognised as the ‘Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year’ (Triple E European Award, 2022), she also received the QM President and Principal's Education Excellence Award in 2021 (for QMSVF) and 2024 (for “Co-creating AI best practices with students and staff in HE”). The latter was shortlisted for the global OS Reimaging Education Awards 2024.
Joanne built the award-winning QM Social Venture Fund—the first student-led social venture fund in the UK investing in student-led social ventures—and the Entrepreneurship Hub from scratch in 2019. Drawing upon her extensive research and practical experience, she has pioneered innovative initiatives to foster entrepreneurship, enhance education, and support impactful social ventures. Previously, she held positions at the University of Cambridge (UK Innovation Research Centre Fellow), the University of East Anglia and the City University of London. She also founded start-ups in China and UK.
.jpg)
Gloria Appiah is a lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and serves as the Deputy Director of the SBM Entrepreneurship Hub. In this role, she supports various programs and activities aimed at fostering student entrepreneurship. Gloria is dedicated to helping new and small businesses thrive, with a particular focus on those that positively impact their owners and stakeholders.
Beyond her work at QMUL, Gloria is a co-founder of Ezer Mamapreneurs, a social enterprise that empowers Ghanaian women from disadvantaged economic backgrounds to start and grow their businesses. In addition to providing strategic oversight, she offers business coaching to help these women develop an entrepreneurial mindset and successfully manage their enterprises.
Faculty members: A number of staff members from the School of Business and Management have interest and experience in supporting entrepreneurial activities. Meet our academic staff members.
Advisory board: The Entrepreneurship Hub has an advisory board consisting of leading social innovators, serial entrepreneurs and alumni from the School of Business and Management. These include representatives from Affinity, The Big Issue, Trust for London, Six and Green Purposes Company.
The QM Business and Enterprise Society is a student-led society that allows students to explore their career options whilst building memorable and long-lasting friendships. They work to create a community of future innovators in business by organising a range of talks, workshops and social events, including the annual Social Entrepreneurship Summit. Students interested in learning more can follow the society on Instagram (@qmbes).
Entrepreneurial mentors: We are always looking for voluntary mentors to nurture student venture capitalists who take part in the Queen Mary Social Venture Fund.
Who: Experienced professionals with expertise in entrepreneurship and innovation, socially responsible and impact investment, or venture capital.
When: It is expected that a mentor would spend around 1 hour per week with their mentee, for four weeks, during semester B (Feb – April).
What: You will be mentoring and coaching a small group of student investors, as they work to find a potential student-led social venture, and organise a panel event on social entrepreneurship and impact. You will provide guidance and feedback on how students approach their tasks. The mentoring sessions can be done either face-to-face or virtually.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor for our student enterprise projects, please email ent-hub@qmul.ac.uk.