Speakers
Bola Tinubu, Founder, The Cece Yara Foundation
(London event only)
Bola Founded The Cece Yara Foundation, a child-centered non-profit organisation established in 2016 to prevent child sexual abuse. She is responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation and is an ardent promoter of gender equality and diversity, and supports young women to take upper management levels in organisations.
Jess Phillips, MP for Birmingham Yardley
(Birmingham events only)
Jess Phillips is a Labour Party politician who became the MP for the constituency of Birmingham Yardley at the 2015 general election.
Jess has committed her life to improving the lives of others, especially the most vulnerable, and spent five years working for Women’s Aid supporting and defending women. She became a councillor in 2012 through the Labour Future Candidates Programme.
Since becoming an MP, Jess has continued her fight to support those who need it the most and has been appointed to the Women and Equalities Committee, the Backbench Business Committee and Chair of the Women’s PLP. Jess has earned a reputation for plain speaking since being elected, unfazed by threats and calling out sexist attitudes as she promotes women’s rights.
Samuel Kasumu, Managing Director, Inclusive Boards
(Birmingham, Cambridge, Newcastle and London events)
Social entrepreneur Samuel Kasumu is currently Managing Director of Inclusive Boards, an agency that supports organisations seeking to improve diversity at board level. He is the youngest member of the Prime Minister’s Race Disparity Advisory Group, and Chair of the African-Caribbean Alumni Network (A-CAN).
Rebecca Long Bailey MP| Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(Manchester event only)
Rebecca Long-Bailey is a British Labour Party politician from Salford. She has been the MP for Salford and Eccles since May 2015. Since February 2017 she has been the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with responsibility for business support, the UK’s industrial strategy and R&D strategy, energy policy and tackling climate change. She previously held the position of Shadow Chief Secretary and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. Before becoming an MP Rebecca worked as a solicitor, specialising in commercial contracts and property law.
Mandy Fowler
(all events)
Mandy Fowler has 25 years commercial experience in some of the UK's largest marketing and media companies. Her role is to support and challenge leaders and teams on their Journey of Trust as well as have responsibility for the Foundation’s business development.
Richard McKenna, MD, Inclusive Employers
(Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and London events)
As a commercially astute "Inclusioneer", Richard develops inclusion and diversity strategies that are rooted in the business/ organisational objectives and have successfully embedded these as 'business as usual' activity to help companies measure the success and reap the rewards of a truly inclusive culture. Richard is also the founder and director of Strudel, a 15 year old creative communications agency in London that works with organisations committed to positive social change.
Thomas Duncan Bell, Managing Director, The Kingsman
(all events)
Thomas Duncan-Bell otherwise known as ‘The Bipolar Businessman’ runs two businesses and is also diagnosed with bi-polar and personality disorders, and has balanced his mental health issues while developing his start-ups through the growth journey. Thomas is a proud campaigner for mental health in business and works closely with the IoD to share his experiences with others.
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO, Consultancy 20-first
(Cambridge event only)
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is CEO of consultancy 20-first. 20-first works with progressive global companies interested in gender balancing their leadership teams and optimising 100% of the talent pool and 100% of the market. She helps CEOs, Executive Committees and managers build ‘gender bilingual’ organisations.
Irene Afful, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion expert, Leadership Development & Well-being Specialist. Professional Coach & Consultant
(Manchester event only)
Irene Afful has had a hugely successful career to date including becoming the
first ever black female Inspector in the history of Merseyside Police. Her career
incorporated critical incident management, professional standards and
specific responsibilities for gangland murders. During this time Irene has received
many accolades and commendations and has recently been shortlisted
for a Northern Power Women Award.
Griselda Togobo, Mphil, ACA
(London event only)
Griselda is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, engineer and chartered accountant. She uses her vast experience with multi-national businesses to assist small and medium enterprises on ambitious growth targets. She trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte LLP and holds an MPhil in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management from Wolfson College, Cambridge University.
John Blakey Founder – The Trusted Executive Foundation
(all events)
John's role in the Foundation is to inspire and motivate senior leaders through delivering thought-provoking, pragmatic keynote sessions based on the best-selling books ‘Challenging Coaching’ and ‘The Trusted Executive’, as well as working 1-2-1 with CEOs as an executive coach to help them build the habits of trust and challenge in their day-to-day leadership roles.
Jennie Moore, Inclusion and Representation Manager, Jaguar Land Rover
(all events)
Jennie Moore is Diversity and Representation Manager at Jaguar Land Rover leading activities that support Jaguar Land Rovers commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive and gender-balanced culture that is representative of its customers and the society in which we live. Jennie has a background in talent, people and organisational development and has a passion for creating working environments where people are able to fulfil their potential.
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Author, Lawyer, Public Speaker, Journalist & Women Rights Champ
(all events)
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu has a broad area of specialism and interest in Leadership, Diversity, Gender Equality, Women Empowerment & Rights; Corporate Governance; International relations & Diplomacy; Law & Society; Politics; Business & Entrepreneurship; and Education. She is deeply passionate about diversity, socio-legal values and mentoring people to be visionary and achieving their goals, and has recently been nominated for Diversity Champion Award: Charity Sector in the Excellence in Diversity Awards 2017. She is also a Women4Africa Awards 2017 finalist; shortlisted for Author of the Year and Career Woman of the Year.
Neil Tomalin, Managing Partner, Saintclair Partnership
(all events)
After a traditional career in financial services, including sales management, product design and consultancy roles, Neil formed his own practice in 2002. Initially focusing on risk management - getting boards of directors to understand how and why their businesses can fail, it changed in 2011 when he qualified as a Business Coach, training with Meyler Campbell.
Jonathan Richards, Founder & CEO, Breathe
(all events)
Jonathan Richards is the CEO of breatheHR. Set up in 2012 it now has more than 2,000 customers. Richards co-founded the company with Gareth Burrows and focuses on delivering effective simplicity to their customer base.
Andrew Owen, National Consultancy Manager, Premier Companies
(all events)
I have over 30 years’ experience in financial services, working in senior advisory and management roles with some of the country’s leading financial services organisations. I am a Chartered Financial Planner. My specialisms are At Retirement planning, Wealth Management and Estate Planning for individuals and business owners.”