King's Promise Graduates ready to step into the future

As part of the Spring 2025 Convocation, the second graduating class of the King’s Promise crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. In the months and years to come, King’s and the greater London community will see the benefits of the King’s Promise.

This year’s King’s Promise graduates include:

• Cassandra Antunes
• Loretta (Laurie) Gibson
• Morgan Lake
• Kyra Patterson
• Imran Siddiqui

Launched in fall 2021, the King’s Promise guarantees meaningful employment within six months of graduation, and for those who do not secure a job, King’s provides additional undergraduate courses and career preparation tuition-free for a year post-graduation. The King’s Promise prepares students for the workforce by offering a range of programming created or supported by King’s that helps students build their LinkedIn profile, improve their interview skills, and develop their networks. This includes one-on-one career coaching, skill-building workshops, networking events with employers, real-world internships and volunteering opportunities.

Morgan Lake, graduating from the Bachelor of Social Work program, enrolled in the King’s Promise program because she valued the unique professional development opportunities it offered her as a student. Lake says her King’s experience was enhanced because she was able to participate in a variety of activities, such as job shadowing. This allowed her to network with social workers from several different organizations, helping her to better understand those areas of social work she is passionate about.

She now feels well-prepared to enter the workforce with the resume writing, interview, and networking skills necessary for success. “The program has prepared me for the next steps in my life/career as I feel that I have developed the career skills necessary to feel confident entering the social work field,” she says.

Lake will be returning to King’s in the fall as part of the Master of Social Work program. She hopes to practice social work in the health care system with the goal of enhancing the quality of care that patients and their caregivers receive. 

Kyra Patterson, graduating from the Criminology and French Language and Literature programs, says she feels very fulfilled and proud to have completed a degree alongside a secondary program. She learned about the program while in high school, at a time when she felt unsure about her career path and knew the King’s Promise could help her explore potential options.

“The fact that the program allows students to return enticed me as well, because it shows how King’s truly wants to support students and help guide them towards success. The program helps students rather than leaving them to struggle on their own,” says Patterson.

The King’s Promise allowed Patterson to practice skills essential in her job search, such as building resumes, developing a LinkedIn profile, and participating in mock interviews. She says it allowed her to identify the skills she wants to bring into her career.

Patterson will be attending teachers college at Western in the fall in their intermediate/ senior program with teachables in French and law, with hopes of becoming a high school teacher.

Loretta Gibson, graduating with an Honours Specialization in Social Justice and Peace Studies, learned much about career and job skills, but enjoyed knowing that the King’s Promise offered the promise of tuition support should her goals not work out.

Gibson says she learned a lot about networking and navigating LinkedIn. She says she enjoyed making many strong connections through the program.

“Because of King's Promise, I know more about practical career navigation skills that I haven't had the chance to develop. I still have things I want to learn, but I'm farther ahead than I would be otherwise,” says Gibson. She will be starting on her Master of Education, specializing in Curriculum Design, at Western’s Faculty of Education.

The core of the King’s Promise program is the success of the students, but it also benefits the community by developing change-makers and thought leaders who will positively impact London. Local employers also benefit from a better understanding of the skills King’s students bring to the workforce.

The King’s Promise received praise from former London Mayor Ed Holder, who stated, “The benefits of the King’s Promise Program are immense and extend far beyond the institution and the graduates themselves… All Londoners reap the rewards of the positive impacts these graduates inevitably wind up making here in our community.”