Speakers

Lisa is a senior Financial Services lawyer with experience across top law firms and the banking sector. Currently Managing Legal Counsel at NatWest, she began her career at Dentons and Norton Rose Fulbright, and is a recognised expert in Trade and Supply Chain Finance. A regular speaker on legal, regulatory, and digital developments, Lisa’s influence extends beyond technical expertise into culture,

Laura is a humanitarian with a background in International Human Rights Law and a proven track record of building Equitable Inclusion for all. With International experience and a global lens, Laura has supported leading organisations in their journey towards Inclusion.

Her background and experience spans over a decade of research and knowledge-based practice within the civil rights space,

Charis (she/her) is Global ERG & Inclusion Manager at Imperial Brands, a global consumer-focused business with a distinctive challenger role in the transforming tobacco and nicotine industry. In her role, Charis partners with Business Employee Resource Group (BERG) leads from around the world to bring their initiatives to life; ensuring their work is both meaningful and aligned with Imperial’s global Diversity,

Mark Baker has decades of experience connecting business communities to accelerate change.

Mark founded Sircula Ltd to enable B2B communities to connect, learn and grow. In June 2018 Mark launched d&i Leaders to bring together global diversity, inclusion and HR related professionals. Since then, Mark and the team have established an annual programme of strategic in-person and online summits and conferences,

Chelsea grew up in Maine as the first in her family to attend university. Her career began in investment banking in London, followed by an MBA at Harvard Business School before joining BCG in 2022. She is now a Project Leader in our London office, working across Corporate Finance and Strategy and Consumer clients.

Chelsea is deeply passionate about diversity and inclusion,

Hardeep is a global Inclusion leader with over 20 years of experience in Inclusion, HR Business Partnering and Programme Management work across the Professional Services, Media and Travel industries. Currently at American Express Global Business Travel, Hardeep leads the global Inclusion and Culture agenda, overseeing the work of their Inclusion Groups and global Communities, alongside driving meaningful culture change across the business.

I’m Jacqui, and I juggle my Compliance Manager career, with a busy family household in Wales. I’m passionate about empowering women. I joined Women in Business (WiB) having gone through life and work changes and needed to re-establish belonging. I moved into an engagement team role which led nicely into the committee, and then an amazing opportunity to co-lead within DEFA (Domestic,

• Big picture thinker, who places a premium on creating new possibilities for and with people, working inclusively at all levels to build strategies and deliver the right outcomes.
• I am MBA qualified, Olin School of Business Massachusetts, with more than 20 years’ experience providing strategic leadership & insight – predominantly within the energy sector in large,

Sara is a Senior Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager at Sage, with over seven years of experience working in DEI in the technology sector. They are passionate about building inclusive cultures rooted in safety, respect and authenticity, and about empowering everyone to get involved in building a culture of belonging within businesses. As Senior Global DEI Manager for one of the UK’s largest tech companies,

Ross Hold is currently Director of Corporate Security & Resilience at Sage and is responsible for devising and implementing global strategies to protect the business’s people, places, and operations across its international footprint. This includes overseeing crisis management, operational resilience, corporate security standards, and building a resilience-aware culture. Before joining Sage in 2023, Ross was a commissioned officer in the British Army,

Cherron is a former civil servant and has undertaken leadership roles in various policy and strategic positions across Whitehall, including working with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

In 2012, Cherron took a leap of faith and left the Civil Service to follow her passion; staff networks. After publishing her book: The Incredible Power of Staff Networks,

Fiona’s varied career has spanned both 20 years in commercial roles in energy pricing, customer hedging strategies and front office trading analysis along with experience in HR roles in Leadership, Learning & Development, Recruitment and Workforce planning.

In 2009 she founded a Women’s Network at a UK energy company, which she built and successfully ran for 5 years.

Melissa has been working as a specialist in Inclusion and Belonging for the last 6 years, and prior to this, as a People Partner in Retail. Melissa focuses on embedding EDI into business priorities and the colleague lifecycle, and leveraging the links between a culture of belonging and high performance. Along with being an advocate for EDI,

Fernando is originally from Madrid. He began his career at PwC before leading country programmes across Africa and Asia for an international charity, working in countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, India, and Vietnam. Since 2016, Fernando has supported companies across five continents in aligning their strategies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He holds Master’s degrees in International Development and Human Rights Law,

Tim is Head of Product at Radius Networks. We have helped top global organisations develop their EDI ecosystem, in particular employee networks and their leaders, for many years.

Tim has a broad background in technology, media, and the arts, with previous UX design positions at Microsoft and Government Digital Service. He also has practical experience of founding and leading diversity networks,

Did Somebody Say… Just Eat! Behind this tagline lies a global brand powered by people. But what does inclusion and diversity have to do with that? And how can belonging drive culture and performance? Zakaria Milad leads Inclusion, Diversity & Belonging at Just Eat Takeaway.com, embedding ID&B into the company’s strategy and linking it to business goals.

As Managing Director of WPP Production Middle East & North Africa, Lucy Miller has been a driving force for women’s development. She co-founded WPP Stella MENA, a network supporting women’s careers in the region, growing its membership to over 800. Lucy also leads Born Brilliant, WPP Production’s women-focused ERG, and has launched mentoring programs like WOW (Women of WPP).

Brit joined NESO’s People Function in 2024 as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager, and has since been instrumental in embedding inclusive practices and driving representation across the organisation. With a strong foundation in DEIB leadership from her time at Warwickshire Police, Brit led initiatives that earned the force Armed Forces Covenant Gold status and strengthened relationships with local communities.

Parmesh has been chairing the Race and Culture Network at Kingfisher since its inception 5 years ago, alongside his role in Finance. The network not only creates a safe space for its members but also leads topical, balanced discussions that enable allies to develop empathy, understanding and be curious without fear of judgement. The network pioneered a reverse mentoring programme and leads our events programme in our Belonging calendar for cultural and religious events.

Stacie is an experienced leader within the retail industry who has always had a passion for equity in the workplace. Having spent the majority of her career at the John Lewis Partnership in various operational and transformation roles, she is now Head of Change & Delivery at Holland & Barrett.

Alongside her role,

Trudie is a strategic People leader dedicated to driving meaningful organisational change. Currently EMESA People Director for Diversity, Inclusion, Mental Health & Wellbeing at Boston Consulting Group, she leads the firm’s gender, ethnicity and culture initiatives across 50+ offices spanning Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.

Previously at KPMG, she co-led the firm’s D&I proposition and founded its Social Mobility Network,

Cheryl is a force for positive change, from crafting award-winning campaigns for global brands to championing inclusion at the highest levels. As the Global Head of Inclusion and Impact at WPP Production, Cheryl leverages over 20 years of marketing and advertising experience to create real-world impact. Her leadership of WPP’s Elevate UK program, which empowers Black women in leadership,

In this role I provide thought leadership and technical expertise to build impactful strategies, drive change transformation and foster commitment across the organisation to ensure a healthy inclusive organisational culture. As part of my role, I support our 7 people networks, including our Women in Business network where the domestic abuse community was born.

Sebastian is a Managing Director and Partner in BCG’s Düsseldorf office and a member of the People & Organization practice area. He is the Central Europe lead for the Future of Work and as co-lead for GenAI in People & Organization. In this role, Sebastian helps optimize the entire HR value chain to “make work work” – for office employees and deskless workers.

Georgina is the Global Inclusion & Impact Director at IHG Hotels & Resorts, leading the company’s global strategy on inclusion. With over a decade of experience across hospitality, finance, and professional services, Georgina has held multiple Inclusion and talent roles at LSEG, EY, and HSBC. At IHG, she has led transformative initiatives across inclusive leadership,