Diversity and Inclusion Summit – creating an inclusive culture

Angie is an accredited Executive Coach, Event Speaker and Training Facilitator. She is skilled at helping others overcome unhelpful thinking that may be blocking their progress by focusing on their strengths to make sustainable change. She is described by clients as warm, empathetic, and positive.

Angie has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Paris, and London and says this has been invaluable in providing insight into multi-faceted business and diverse environments. Angie believes this experience has taught her the power of thinking differently and how much we must learn from one another.

Dr Scarlett Brown is Director of the Board Intelligence Think Tank, whose mission is to enable business leaders to create a fairer future. It does this through independent research, developing insights and collaborative action through its community of business leaders. Scarlett is passionate about helping organisations have better, evidence-based practice, and about helping every business being a force for good in society.

Scarlett was previously an independent social researcher and consultant, working cross sector on research projects into responsible business and corporate governance. This included a year leading the responsible business workstream at the CIPD, looking at HR leaders’ role in embedding people governance and responsible business, and working with the University of Oxford leading industry engagement for the Oxford Character Project. Previously she was Director of Research at Tomorrow’s Company, and a senior governance analyst at Grant Thornton UK. Her book, “Gender and Corporate Boards” was published last year, based on her PhD research into how non-executives are recruited, and the barriers to boardroom diversity. In her free time she is a non-executive director and a trustee, and spends an unreasonable amount of time listening to Prince.

Emma is Global Inclusion Leader for professional services firm Deloitte and leads delivery of the organization’s global inclusion strategy. Emma’s work in this role includes a focus on Respect & Inclusion (including the ‘Can You See Me’ campaign); gender balance (including the development of a series of interventions to enable Deloitte to meet its gender equality goals); LGBT+ inclusion (including actions to deliver on Deloitte’s commitment to the United Nations’ Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People]; and mental health (including the implementation of a mental health baseline globally and becoming a Founding Partner of the Global Business Collaboration on Better Workplace Mental Health). Emma’s role has also included the production of thought leadership aligned to this strategy, such as that relating to the impact of the Pandemic on women in the workplace.

From 2013 – 2019 Emma was Managing Partner for Talent for Deloitte LLP in the UK and sat on the firm’s Executive Committee, a role which she held alongside her client facing role as a Partner in the Financial Advisory practice. During this period Emma led a period of significant change for the firm from a diversity & inclusion perspective, including the firm’s award-winning approach to Respect & Inclusion - a culture change programme that under-pinned all of the firm’s actions on diversity. Alongside this focus on culture, Emma devised and implemented numerous targeted interventions aimed at positively impacting from a gender, LGBT+, ethnicity and social mobility diversity perspective – this included early voluntary gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting. Emma also led the UK firm’s approach on mental health, overseeing a period during which stigma was reduced and an array of support for those with mental ill health was introduced.

Emma is a member of the LACA Lead the Change board, a board established by the UK Government to take forward work to increase the diversity and inclusion at the top of the UK’s leading organisations, the UK Thriving at Work Council, and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership Employers’ Board. In 2021 Emma was awarded Honorary Membership by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales for her work championing diversity and inclusion of women and LGBT+ communities.

Alex Cole-Hamilton has over 20 years’ experience addressing organisational ethics and responsibility within the INGO and private sectors. Known for her breadth of applied ethics experience, she is breaking new ground by using power analysis to enable holistic and coherent organisational integrity. As part of this, she recently advised the UK Charity Governance Code Steering group on the inclusion of power dynamics within its Integrity Principle. To support the non-profit sector to develop shared language and frameworks for understanding power in relation to organisational integrity, she has just founded a non-profit, open-source initiative - Power & Integrity.

As former Head of Ethics and Compliance for Oxfam GB, Alex spearheaded the strategy in response to the safeguarding crisis of 2019, to bring its oversight and management of misconduct under one coherent framework. Prior to that, she set up the first corporate responsibility programme in the International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) sector so that Oxfam GB could better ‘walk the talk’ in its campaigning on business, human rights, and the environment.

With extensive experience developing strategies, policies, and frameworks, which integrate ethics whilst navigating the complexities of operational realities, Alex has a solid understanding of the need for an integrated approach. She addresses a broad range of ethical issues across operations, supply chains and partnerships and draws on a global perspective, having worked in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Alex is also a board member of the Sophie Hayes Foundation and sits on its risk and finance committee.

Twitter

LinkedIn

Sara studied law at the University of Cambridge and has spent much of her career working in the media sector for both publishing and television companies and as a writers’ agent. In recent years she has worked with professional bodies in the built environment and construction sectors as managing director of the Homebuilders Federation and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

She was appointed Chief Executive of the Association for Project Management in 2015, which was awarded a royal charter in 2016 and launched its new chartered standard for the profession in 2018. Sara is an Honorary Fellow of Kingston University, a board member of the Quality Assurance Agency and holds non-executive directorships in the private and charity sectors.

Olivea Ebanks is a Learning and Development specialist with extensive experience in developing Leadership in senior managers and the Judiciary of England and Wales. With over 30 years’ experience in learning management she was the first to design cross jurisdictional training for judges in Unconscious Bias Awareness, Appraisals and Mentoring skills. She has also worked on high profile projects like the Mubarek murder recommendations for improvement of prisoner treatment, and the Lammy Review: an independent review of the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals in the Criminal Justice System (CJS); commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron and chaired by David Lammy MP.

She is experienced at partnering with stakeholders, senior business leaders and human resource managers to: encourage changes in behaviour, progress people management strategies that deliver organisational change, embed inclusive values into operating principles, and leverage diversity partnerships, all with a focus on commercial results.

Dr Johanne Grosvold is an Associate Professor of Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility the University of Bath School of Management. Dr Grosvold has worked in the field of board diversity for over 15 years and has published both academic and non-academic work on the topic of board diversity and won several awards for her work. Most recently she contributed to a report by Scottish Widows on cognitive board diversity. Dr Grosvold is an Associate Editor of the academic journal Business and Society and is on the editorial board of Corporate Governance an International Review. She is also serves on the Executive Board of the International Association of Business and Society.

Prior to her career in academia Dr Grosvold worked in the private sector, where she held the role of investor relations analyst for a FTSE 100 media company and before that she worked as a analyst for a tier one investment bank. Her experience from the private sector inspired her switch to academia and she has through her research, teaching and voluntary roles retained strong bonds to practice. Dr Grosvold is currently working on a project designed to understand what the impact of COVID-19 is on board recruitment and a diverse board talent pipeline. Dr Grosvold is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education academy and has a broad teaching portfolio which centres on corporate governance and the broader ESG space.

Justine Lutterodt is Managing Director at the Centre for Synchronous Leadership (CSL) - a leadership think tank, consultancy and membership organisation designed to research, activate and support corporate changemakers. She brings to her coaching practice 20 years of experience working with senior executives and has led numerous senior teams and entire divisions through cultural transformation. Additionally, her projects relating to race and ethnicity received awards in 2013, 2014 and 2018.

Outside of client work, Justine is a researcher, writer and international conference speaker. Her thought pieces on ethical leadership have been featured at the World Economic Forum and in several mainstream publications. More recently, Justine and CSL have collaborated with The Chartered Governance Institute to publish the Mindful Exclusion report. This features a quantitative study of over 300 governance professionals, board directors and senior executives and reveals key insights about effective governance in a post-pandemic world.

Before founding the Centre in 2010, Justine was the Director of Marketing at QTS, where she reconfigured the customer relationship and pricing strategy to prepare the business for sale. Before this, Justine was at Monitor (Deloitte), a management consultancy founded by strategy guru Michael Porter. Here she gained initial experience leading teams along with exposure to a broad range of sectors and methodologies.

Outside of CSL, Justine serves as NED for the nominations committee of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. She is also Chair of the Diversity Legal Awards, Patron of Bright Stars (a charity supporting young people with autism) and Co-Founder of the Africa Women’s Circle.

Justine was recognised in 2016 by BE Mogul as one of Britain’s Most Influential Black Entrepreneurs and in 2017 by Brummell Magazine as one of the City’s 30 Most Influential Female Industry Changemakers.

Justine holds a BA in Maths and Philosophy and an MSc in Organisational Psychology.

Rob was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’ and received his gong from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in May 2018. Rob was also the inaugural winner of Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in Nov 2018.

After two years at the DfE as Head of Culture Change and a total of 38yrs with the civil service, Rob departed the public sector to launch his own consultancy Krystal Alliance [KA] supporting organisations across all sectors to be more inclusive. In October 2021 Rob was included in HR Magazines list of fifty ‘Most Influential Thinkers’.

A professor, researcher, tech entrepreneur, Fulbright Fellow, and thought leader on Management and Social Justice, Dr. Latha Poonamallee is the Chair of the Faculty of Management and University Fellow at The New School. In her new book, Dr. Poonamallee presents a novel leadership model that is relationship-based and morally expansive—countering ascendant models that are narcissistic, self-referential, and irresponsible. She says we must “own our greatness while being brave enough to face our ignorant and ignoble impulses.”

With deep experience in researching, facilitating, and leading change, Dr. Poonamallee creates the structure for a transformative, whole person approach that considers leadership as a layered, complex phenomenon blending individual and structural transformation—direction the world needs now.

She is Co-Founder and CEO of In-Med Prognostics Inc., the first company to provide ethnicity specific neuro assessment reports, biomarkers, and surrogate endpoints relevant to all people, everywhere.

Dr. Poonamallee is a Founder of C-Suite for Justice, a community of senior executives committed to making their organizations more inclusive, just, and equitable.

She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 2006. She invites you to follow her on LinkedIn.

Robert Richardson FIH is an award-winning Hotelier and Hospitality Professional who assumed the role of CEO for the Institute of Hospitality in Q2 of 2021.

Roberts’ career has seen him working at senior levels within major hotel chains including Hilton Worldwide, IHG and Ramada Jarvis. Most recently Robert was General Manager of an Independent, luxury boutique hotel & golf resort in Kent.

Robert is a recipient of several Industry recognised awards including the Southern Enterprise Awards’ Boutique Hospitality Manager of the Year 2019 & 2020, the Shaw Trust Employer of the Year Award (for his work developing hospitality employment strategies for people with disability) and the Institute of Hospitality Judges’ Special Achievement Award. In 2020 Boutique Hotelier Magazine recognised Robert as a “Young Trailblazer” on their annual Hoteliers “Power List”; a list of the 50 most Inspirational and Influential Boutique Hoteliers operating in the world today.

In November 2021 Robert led the Institute to being recognised at the Chartered Governance UK&I annual awards, winning their “Diversity & Inclusion Strategy of the Year” award.

Regularly featuring in the national press, radio and industry podcasts, Robert is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and also sits on the Kent Police Business Crime Advisory Group, representing hotels.

Samira is Head of Academies Governance and Governance Professional to Trustees at Academies Enterprise Trust, a multi-academy trust with 57 schools. Prior to that, she served as Regional Governance Officer at Ark Schools for four years. Before moving to the UK with her family in 2010, she was a criminal defence attorney and spent 12 years representing clients on California's death row in their post-conviction proceedings.

Asif is the Senior Vice President at WarnerMedia for Equity and Inclusion, International, he was previously the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at adidas and has a long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space with senior executive roles at The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police. He is a board member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of the board of advisors for Hedley May. Over his 20-year career he has worked in Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Asif has been credited with impactful global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities and programs across organizations, that have created a strong sense of belonging for all and resulted in truly diverse workplaces. He has been key in building synergies between internal and external D&I efforts within organizations, ensuring diversity and inclusion is embedded in all elements of a business, resulting in innovative, creative and inclusive products and services.

He is a Multi-Award Winning Diversity and Inclusion expert with a proven track record in D&I, Sustainability and Social Impact, being listed as one of the most influential Global D&I Leaders by Hive Learning, the CIPD’s Top 20 Power list and a LinkedIn Influencer. He is winner of numerous awards including the highly commended Head of Diversity Award at the European Diversity Awards and was honoured with an MBE in 2017 by the Queen and granted the freedom of the City of London in 2016.

For almost 30 years Laura has worked as part of the third sector in service delivery charities with a focus around challenging injustice – around disability and gender. She is driven by a desire to see our society a fair one for all.

She was lucky enough to work in an environment she really enjoyed; as CEO for GFS (Girls Friendly Society), a children’s charity with a mission to address gender inequality for girls and young women. They work with girls across England and Wales in areas where research says they do not have the same life opportunities as their peers – to inspire and empower them to live their best lives.

GFS is an exciting charity that we are proud to be caretakers of. The history is extraordinary as GFS is one of the longest running charities in England and Wales, devoted solely to meeting the needs for girls and young women.

From an early age, girls are well aware of the far reaching gender inequalities that exist for them. We are focussed on building a fair society one girl at a time by inspiring the girls to think beyond their own experience and empowering them to have the confidence to live the life they want to. This takes hard work and dedication by the volunteers who deliver sessions each week for the girls.

Lanre is a coach who is passionate about building inclusive cultures to enable teams and individuals to thrive. Lanre’s expertise in the Inclusion and Diversity field has helped organisations drive business performance and employee engagement. He works with organisations to implement key I&D related metrics, practices and initiatives around performance, recruitment, retention, and promotion.

Lanre runs programs to build diverse representation across all levels, create diverse teams, embrace difference, and break unconscious bias. He has vast experience in setting up and growing Culture and Diversity networks to provide peer support to colleagues and leverage diversity to meet overall business objectives.

Greg graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering before going on to achieve an MSc in Engineering Management. He joined Rolls-Royce in 2006 and worked in multiple technical roles within the Civil Aerospace sector. In 2015, Greg was instrumental in the launch of Prism, the Rolls-Royce LGBT+ employee network, which he led until 2021. Following the success, he has overseen with Prism, and combined with his passion for diversity, inclusion and belonging, Greg accepted the role of Group Inclusion and Diversity Lead in 2020, allowing him to support the global Rolls-Royce inclusion strategy. He was shortlisted in the category of Exceptional Inclusion at the 2021 British LGBT Awards.