♀️Bath and Somerset’s Most Inspiring Women 2026 | Lauren Bennett

To mark International Women’s Day 2026, we’re celebrating Bath & North East Somerset’s most inspiring women.

Through our website and social media channels, we asked our readers which women in our community inspire them and created a list of 20. The list will be featured in our Spring magazine and every weekday throughout March we are profiling and championing each of these fantastic women online and via our social feeds.

Today we put the spotlight on Lauren Bennett.

Tell us about you and your work:

I am the founder of AMPLIFY, a student-led community at the University of Bath created to uplift and celebrate women.

Since its launch in March 2025, the community has grown to over 150 members and hosted six community events. The community aims to build a national movement to empower young women to unlock their confidence and champion their own success.

We do this through events and collaborations. Our most successful collaboration is with the B&NES Women’s Leadership Network, founded by Hannah Wilson. Their network of strong, successful female leaders has volunteered to mentor our younger network to enhance career and personal development.

What are you most proud of?

Learning how to manage a team.

Often, it’s easy to run events that empower women. This often feels outward-facing, where we can bring in amazing speakers to provide a strong, empowering message.

But, internally, learning to lead a team of young women and empowering them during pressured times has been challenging.

A year since building the team, many of them are more confident, independent and bold in their work, mainly because they have been given the space to prove to themselves and their capabilities, as they are trusted to deliver for the community.

How does it feel to be recognised as one of Bath’s Most Inspiring Women?

Powerful and beautiful.

To be recognised with other women who are leading in their field is really powerful. At 21 years old, it’s very easy to feel intimidated by the success of others, but this recognition has given me more confidence in the work I’m doing and only encourages me to work harder!

It has given me the courage to be more vocal about the success of my team in the hope of inspiring other young (and older) women to make their visions come to life.

Additionally, this recognition is not an individual achievement. It is a recognition of all my peers, mentors, employers, family and friends who have supported me in getting to where I am.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

The 8th of March is very special to me.

Firstly, we are celebrating women! Secondly, on this day in 2023, we cremated my beautiful friend and mentor, Catherine Thomas.

We met when I was running a sexual harassment campaign at my old school. Throughout the project, we met up for hot chocolates with whipped cream and marshmallows. Every meet up would fill me with a new level of courage and enthusiasm for life, and she was a woman I truly admired!

AMPLIFY is her legacy, capturing her infectious energy to empower and uplift every woman and is in partnership with Women’s Aid to honour her lifelong devotion to women’s safety.

This year’s IWD theme asks us to think about how giving benefits everyone. What’s an example from your work or community life where supporting another woman led to something meaningful in return?

My most recent experience is within our AMPLIFY team. Specifically, giving one team member the opportunity to lead on projects and work streams.

Over the year, this team member has taken on more responsibility and been eager to learn. She has blossomed in confidence and leadership. Watching her grow has filled me with pride and brought so much success and joy to AMPLIFY.

Kirsten, this recognition is for you too!

What piece of advice would you share with your younger self?

Be bold, be brave, be brilliant!

I was the confident, over-the-top, chatty, ambitious little girl – and I loved it!

As always, a few little voices made me feel like I was too loud, too confident, too ambitious. Thankfully, I had enough love around me to know that my true self was the only way to be!

The AMPLIFY branding is a perfect example of why this is important. In year 12, I bought my first pair of pink (fuchsia!) bottoms – I wore them all the time despite feeling a little nervous to stand out too much.

One time, a little girl a few years below me complimented my bottoms. From that day, I’ve become more confident standing out as I know there are other little girls who will aspire to be the same.

To this day, most of my wardrobe, personal branding and even AMPLIFY branding has become a strong, powerful pink to show girls that we can be bold and stand out!

Thank you to the little girl who gave me the boost I needed!

This feature is sponsored by Milsted Langdon accountants. Milsted Langdon are supporting this activity for a fourth consecutive year as they are passionate about supporting women in business and helping local communities thrive through their work with business owners, charities and not-for-profits.