Many congratulations to Laura Avetsiyan who recently graduated from the MA in Global Financial Journalism programme at City St George’s, University of London, supported by a scholarship from the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation. She was awarded the honour of giving a speech at the graduation ceremony for the course.
Laura Avetsiyan’s route into financial journalism has been shaped by both determination and circumstance. After moving to London from Nagorno-Karabakh to study Politics at UCL, she became a refugee when the Armenian population of her home region of Nagorno-Karabakh was displaced in 2023. Following her undergraduate degree, she worked in business intelligence before applying to study Global Financial Journalism at City St George’s, University of London to better understand the relationship between finance and politics. Crucially, a scholarship from the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation enabled her to pursue the master’s, removing financial barriers and supporting her transition into journalism.
While on the course, Laura secured a highly competitive internship at Bloomberg, where she reported on topics including censorship in Russia. At the end of the programme, she was offered a permanent role. Now working on the bonds desk, she continues to apply her political background in her reporting. Laura’s journey highlights the impact of the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation’s support in helping talented students access industry-leading training and launch careers in financial journalism.
She writes about her speech:
“I felt a great sense of honour when I was asked to give the graduation speech. To address the talented cohort of my fellow graduates, their excited families, and our excellent faculty was no easy task, but one I felt extremely fortunate to do.”
“In my speech, I wanted to do two things. First, to acknowledge the challenging world we are graduating into, and the uncertainty many of us feel as we begin this next chapter. But I also wanted to share a message of hope and remind us that even in difficult circumstances, we still have the ability to shape our own paths. I hope that message got across and I am sure that our cohort will be able to do many great things in journalism and beyond!”
Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation 