The 2021 IoD Women's Leadership Conference will be a celebration of success - of women in leadership roles and of the conference itself. In it's 14th year, this is the first time the conference will be delivered in a virtual capacity!
Our theme for 2021 is 'Great Leaders Rise out of Adversity' - particularly pertinent given the challenges that leaders have had to tackle in recent months, namely COVID-19 and Brexit. The virtual conference will take place as two virtual sessions on Friday 5th and Friday 12th March, each session lasting two hours (a purchased ticket will provide access to both sessions).
Thanks to our headline sponsor and global law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills. This conference is set to be another complete sell-out with world-class speakers, the 5th 'Pitch Perfect' virtual competition for a chance to win £4K for your business, and a chance to connect with a global audience!
to organise corporate rate tickets.
Nadiya Hussain MBE
Nadiya Hussain MBE won series six of The Great British Bake Off in 2015 and since has been honoured with an MBE for her services to broadcasting and to the culinary arts.
More than 13 million viewers watched her win the trophy and she later commented that she understood the importance of “being a brown, Muslim woman of faith who is in the public eye, because there aren’t that many of us”
A columnist for The Times Magazine and a children’s author, Nadiya has also signed contracts with the BBC for a range of cooking series as well as her own documentary. She has also been included as one of the 500 most influential people in the UK and featured on BBC News' 100 Women list.
Dame Stephanie Shirley CH
Dame Stephanie Shirley CH is a successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent philanthropist.
Having arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied child refugee in 1939, she started what became Xansa plc (now part of the Sopra Group) on her dining room table with £6 in 1962. In 25 years as its Chief Executive she developed it into a leading business technology group, pioneering new work practices and changing the position of professional women (especially in hi-tech) along the way. Her Dameship in the Millennium honours was for services to IT.She was awarded the Order of Companions of Honour in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2017.She served on corporate Boards such as Tandem Computers Inc. (1992-7), the John Lewis Partnership plc (1999-2001) and AEA Technology - previously the Atomic Energy Authority (1992-2000). Her philanthropy is based on her strong belief in giving back to society. She focuses on IT and autism (her autistic son Giles died age 35 in 1998).
Dame Stephanie was the first woman Master of the IT livery company; the first woman President of the chartered British Computer Society; and the UK’s Ambassador for Philanthropy in 2009/10.
Nagin Cox, Systems Engineer, NASA
Nagin graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering and a BA in Psychology and was commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force. She worked in F-16 Aircrew Training and received a masters degree in Space Operations Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
As a captain, she served as an Orbital Analyst at NORAD/Space Command in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs.
In 1993, Nagin joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has since served as a systems engineer and manager on multiple interplanetary robotic missions including NASA/JPL’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Mars Exploration Rover Missions and the Kepler telescope mission to search for Earth-like planets around other stars.
Dr Dennise Broderick, Managing Director and President, Galen Pharmaceuticals
Together with Almac Group’s Board of Directors, Dennise is responsible for all aspects of the pharmaceutical company’s operations, marketing and governance across its sites throughout Europe and the US.
Dennise is a highly successful, respected and inspiring Executive Business Leader, with an extensive career within the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently Dennise held the position of Country Manager, leading the Irish affiliate of IPSEN Pharmaceuticals and was responsible for all aspects of the business. Prior to this Dennise also held CEO/MD and senior leadership roles with Pfizer, Hospira, Zeneus, Viatris and other pharmaceutical companies both in Ireland and Europe.
Dennise is also very highly respected academically and remains on the invite list as a guest lecturer within the National Universities of Ireland having previously lectured part-time within their network.
Dr Jayne Brady MBE, Belfast Digital Innovation Commissioner
Jayne is an engineer at heart with extensive board/executive experience and proven track record within blue-chip corporations, start-ups and funding organisations. She has over twenty five year’s leadership experience and a diverse skillset including venture capital, due diligence, corporate governance, leadership and technical ownership across complex organisational structures globally.
Recent roles include Partner in £100Mn+ Venture Capital firm and co-founder of Artificial Intelligence start-up. She is deeply committed to delivering economic and social development through harnessing innovation and has recently been appointed to the newly established UK Government Innovation Expert Group and is an Entrepreneurial Advisor to Oxford University. She has a strong and established professional network and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Irish Academy of Engineers.
Brenda King, Attorney General for Northern Ireland
Brenda King studied law at the Queen’s University of Belfast and was admitted to practice as a solicitor in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
After qualifying as a solicitor she undertook postgraduate studies at the University of South Carolina, specialising in constitutional law, public international law and international relations. She then completed a Masters in Public International Law and European Law at the University of Cambridge before returning to practice as a solicitor in Belfast.
After a period in private practice, and then as a legal adviser with the Northern Ireland Office, she joined the Office of the Legislative Counsel, the office responsible for drafting bills of the Northern Ireland Assembly, in 1991. She held a number of positions in that office before being appointed to lead the office as First Legislative Counsel in 2012. Between 1997 and 1998 she served as a legal adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She has completed programmes of study at the US Federal Executive Office and at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
From 2017 to 2019 she was President of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, working with lawyers and law officers across 92 jurisdictions to improve the quality of, and access to, legislation.