On 16 September, the University’s EA / PA Community of Practice hold its 4th Annual Conference at the Saïd Business School. Over 100 Executive and Personal Assistants attended the in-person event, representing more than 70 University departments and colleges. The aims of the day were to network, connect, and gain practical tools and takeaways for professional development.
Highlights of the day included an external guest speaker, Jess Preston, who spoke on “Communicating with Confidence”; a session led by Kate Kendall on “Perception of the Assistant Role” and Ali Carr presented on the University’s Workload Management Toolkit.
Hannah Simm, Events, Communications & Administration Assistant, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics commented about the day:
“Starting at Oxford as an apprentice, and now in a permanent role, I found the conference incredibly insightful for both career development and networking. I particularly enjoyed Jess Preston’s talk, and am excited to put her confidence-building techniques into practice. A big thank you to the organisers.”
Christopher Kerr, Executive Assistant to Andrew Stephen, Deputy Dean for Faculty & Research, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford added:
“Meeting the greater PA/EA community was incredibly helpful and insightful – thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion relating to integrating AI into our repertoire.”
Another participant said:
"A really useful morning of engaging and varied sessions that not only covered the points that we really need in our day-to-day activities, but also provided an opportunity for us to share our know-how through focused, well-thought-out workshops. It’s one of the best training days I’ve attended at the university – organised by the people who are experts at organising!"
And finally Pamela Parath, Project Manager, PI & Leadership Team Support, Department of Social Policy and Intervention said:
“It was such a treat to be invited, and I learned so much. I'm truly grateful to be surrounded by such a warm and supportive group of colleagues. The EA PA CoP Annual Conference 2025 was so valuable! It was empowering to meet others that share the same heartbeat for the love of the work we do. The speakers were impactful - bringing mindset awareness, emotional strengths and tangible tools and methods to empower us. The “Workload toolkit” was impressive and a clear path of assistance to all the background work. I am humbled to have met so many in-person for the first time and it was a privilege to network with so many incredible people.”