Mel Liao | European Gas Option Trader | Macquarie
Mel joined the European Gas and Power team at Macquarie in 2020 in London as a structurer, having previously in the risk management function based in Sydney.
Mel quickly advanced in her career and started trading options in European and Asian gas and oil to help manage client’s risk and exposure to energy markets. During her time in this team, Mel was involved in the purchase of Societe Generale’s Energy portfolio. She worked to price analyse market, credit and funding risks associated with the portfolio pre-execution and assisting with onboarding post execution and managing residual market risks.
Mel plays an active role in supporting the Macquarie Early Careers team at University Open days targeted to females who may be interested to start a career in Finance. She is also a mentor in the Chartered Banker Institute Smart Futures programme that is aimed at providing paid work experience, interactive employability skills training and mentoring for Year 12 students.
Mel is passionate about helping other female students and those early in the career to help navigate their way through the workforce and challenges they may experience and find their true potential. She benefited from having a mentor whilst at university and it has a profound impact and is a firm believer on paying this forward in the hopes that she will have the same impact on others.
Maddie Laidlaw | Commodity Financing Analyst | Macquarie
I grew up internationally in Argentina, Kazakhstan, and Thailand before doing my undergraduate degree in the UK and masters in USA.
My background is primarily in geophysics where I interned at a couple private equity firms specializing in developing mineral exploration projects through my undergraduate degree. While I wanted to stay embedded in commodities, I became more and more interested in the financing of these projects and so joined an institution that works with clients in the energy space to manage their working capital, logistics, and risk management needs.
Liz Burlon | Senior Manager - Resources and Sustainability | Accenture
I am originally from Boston, (Massachusetts, USA) but have lived in Maastricht, NL and Cape Town, South Africa before coming to London in 2010 to complete a Masters of Science in Water: Science and Governance at Kings College London.
Since joining Accenture in 2012, I have gained 10+ years of experience in water utility and cross-industry sustainability and transformation, including working with the World Economic Forum WEF on accelerating Net Zero through the transition to a net zero grid and net zero carbon cities. I have experience in asset management, operations and customer service digital transformation for water and electricity utilities, specialising in complex programme management, process design and improvement and stakeholder management. My passion is water sustainability and resilience, and the practical implications for the electricity system, extractive industries and water supply companies of the water-energy nexus. I serve as a global cross-industry water sustainability SME for Accenture. Outside of Accenture I keep in touch with my colleagues in academia, and I have 4 publications on transboundary water management, virtual water management and the water-energy-food-nexus. I am on the Steering Board for British Expertise International`s Water Resilience Working Group. Last but not least I am Mum to two little boys!
Jacqueline Mathieson | Contract Manager | SSEN Transmission
I started out as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor with a Civil Engineering Contractor in 2013 whilst studying for a BSc in Surveying on a part time basis.
After gaining my degree, I progressed to a Quantity Surveyor role, mainly focussed on large building projects within the North East of Scotland which supported my professional development in terms of Technical & Management experience.
Having been enthused by the ’Pathway to 2030’ transition to Net Zero programme, and having gained significant delivery experience with a Contractor, I decided to take a leap into the unknown and join SSEN Transmission. I was delighted to be offered a Contract Manager role, specifically recruited for the procurement and delivery of Ofgem’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework.
Since joining SSEN-T I have been involved in the ASTI (HVDC - Offshore) Procurement event which has included significant supplier engagement, Framework award & Contract negotiations. Next is the exciting part!
As we move into the Early Contractor Involvement phase & delivery beyond that, I can`t wait to contribute to such an exciting time in terms of Energy Transmission in the UK.
Bring it on!
Jackie Rothwell | New Energy Portfolio Excellence | bp
A chemical engineer by background, I have been working on major projects within the energy industry for the last 10 years.
I have been fortunate to have a global career with projects across Angola, Azerbaijan, UK, Georgia, Russia and Indonesia. I`ve worked as a process engineer in FEED, a commissioning and start up engineer on new facilities and front end concept development engineering. A passion of mine, and thread throughout the last 5 years of my career, has been my involvement in GHG emissions reductions and the energy transition. Whilst working on front end projects, I took a lead role in developing our GHG forecasting methodologies and tools, performing low carbon evaluations and delivering training across the organisation. Most recently I have been in a New Energy portfolio role supporting a portfolio of hydrogen, CCS and biofuels projects. My role within the projects leadership team, has focused on developing portfolio tools and processes, improving ways of working and general performance management, all necessary to support a rapidly developing and fast paced portfolio.
Helen Owen | Delivery Strategy Manager | National Grid
A pragmatic, pro-active and innovative People and Culture professional with more than 29 successful years of global experience in complex, matrixed organisations across the food industry, facilities management, Government and utilities sectors.
A proven expertise in organisational development and leadership capability build, DEI, employee experience, culture change and transformation management. An excellent communicator and coach at all levels and cross culturally, who establishes outstanding positive relationships with key stakeholders whilst delivering exemplary levels of service.
Of my 29 years of working life I have always worked through a people lens ensuring wherever I have worked I have created an inclusive environment and also sought to develop my team and support the development of my colleagues. I worked 28 years directly in the People and Culture space but have recently taken a pivot into an operational role (1 year ago). However, with my background I am able to deliver operational transformation through a people lens which enables effective collaboration, more engagement, productivity and belonging.
I have worked solely through consulting and contracting but have also lead high performing teams globally. Currently I have a team of 12 delivering the biggest transformational project I have ever lead and my passion lies in ensuring my team are set up for success and that they are working in an inclusive environment and that they feel they can bring their whole-selves to work should they choose to.
Nara Norberto | Senior Analyst | Macquarie Group
I’m a physical logistics operator at Macquarie responsible to managing the flow of our most complex refinery deal. I am part of the internal Platform Network focusing on knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Born in rural Brazil to farming parents, who believed I could achieve more than my town could provide, they said, “even if you go to the best university in Brazil, it still not good enough”, we moved to London. Despite not speaking English at the age of 14, I performed well academically, achieving a master’s in chemistry from the University of Nottingham.
I joined Macquarie in back-office, onward to the Physical Logistics team. Within 2 years I not only manage the most complex refinery deal the desk finances, but I am also able to cover all the complex transactions the desk runs. I support the client’s operation and financial needs, whilst ensuring the risk and exposure are managed for the bank. I have also been instrumental in the implementation of new technologies to allow for straight through processing.
I am an active member of Macquarie’s Platform Committee, the Committee is designed to drive collaboration, commercial outcomes, and career opportunities. I co-lead two of the main initiatives; Lunch & Learns and Deal Highlights, both are educational initiatives designed to inspire members of staff, promote knowledge-sharing between business and drive future collaborations.
I give back via our Rise-to-it Programme, sharing my experiences at an inner London state school, taking time to speak to Year 12 students from low socio-economic backgrounds and under-represented communities.
Maria Rosa Torres Sejin | Culture, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Programme Manager | Bank of England
Maria is a strategic, innovative, and performance-driven Business Manager excelling in managing and implementing programmes globally.
Born and raised in Colombia, she has spent more than 11 years living and working overseas.
Currently works in Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Bank of England leading the delivery and implementation of one of the Bank’s Strategic priorities for 2024 - Building a diverse and inclusive Bank by creating frameworks and delivering initiatives including the monitoring and evaluation of the Court Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion plan.
Prior to working at the Bank of England, worked at AIG. Started in Latin America, moved to Europe to be responsible for driving migration programmes, process improvement initiatives and strategic shared services transformations across the globe. Promoted to be the Strategy Programme Management Office Head for Europe Middle East and Africa, supporting the planning and execution of the service strategy, footprint, and scale rationalisation of European operations.
Became a mum in 2018 and during this time she founded a project called -Zinu- inspired by her son and memories of her homeland. She launched a line of artisanal bar soaps where 50% of the revenue supported different charities in the UK.
Also have been involved in proving professional services at no cost, to Rent Start a charity helping local people in Elmbridge who are homeless or vulnerably housed and to the Brussels Childbirth Trust a network for expectant parents and families in Belgium.
Maria is constantly striving to learn and help others along her journey.
Kristina Tarkhanyan | Global Markets Management Lead | The Bank of New York Mellon
As someone who is passionate about and inspired by my interactions with people and by helping them towards successful outcomes, it will come as no surprise that most of my career to date I have spent in network and relationship management.
I have 15 years of network and relationship management experience in the securities industry. I previously worked in Deutsche Bank’s Investor Services (both in Moscow and London) and Renaissance Capital's team in London, where I worked closely with existing sub-custodians, clients and counterparts and supported them on various securities products. These included UK and CEE custody market products and another tailor made custody product, which provided clients with access to multiple other securities markets via a single window. Not only did the role enable me to work with sub-custodians, clients and help them towards successful outcomes for their specific challenges, it also allowed me to serve them as leading migration manager to the European Central Bank’s TARGET2-Securities (T2S) settlement platform for Eurozone securities.
Hena Naranbhai | Director Strategic Development | Barclays
Hena is Director of Strategic Development within Barclays, driving strategy and transformation for one of the UK’s largest providers of financial services, which has 48 million customers worldwide.
Being the first girl in her family to go to University, Hena graduated from University with a BA in Finance and Business and qualified as an Accountant in 2005.
Hena found her calling in Financial Services and has spent the last 13 years at Barclays, taking every opportunity to develop her skills and grow with the business, whilst having two children during this time.
In 2016, Hena was promoted to Vice President and in 2017 become Group Finance Testing lead on Structural Reform, writing and executing a risk based test strategy, for a regulatory requirement where all UK retail banks had to separate from the investment bank and other operations.
In 2020, Hena took on her most challenging role, home schooling two children, whilst being redeployed to run one of the Bank’s most critical programmes, Capital Outlook and Liquidity Transformation.
Hena is currently leading a Big Data Programme, phase one successfully implemented for 2022 Year End Reporting, and recently promoted to Director for Strategic Development, fulfilling her ambition to be more than a traditional Asian girl from a small town.
Passionate about Diversity, Inclusion and Equity for all, Hena leads on the strategy and engagement for Barclays Women in Tech. She is also the Wellbeing lead for employee engagement, creating a safe culture for colleagues.