Tori Ford | Medical Herstory
Tori Ford is the founder of Medical Herstory, an international award-winning youth-led non-profit on a mission to eliminate sexism, shame, and stigma from health experiences.
She is a feminist health researcher completing a DPhil in Primary Health Care at the University of Oxford funded by an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship. She holds a BA from McGill University in Gender Studies and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in Health, Medicine, and Society. Her work on advancing gender health equity has been recognized by the McGill Scarlet Key Award and the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Social Impact Award. Tori is an outspoken patient advocate and has been featured by UNWomen, The Harvard Public Health Review, Hunger Magazine, and Cosmopolitan UK.
Siona Lamble | NatWest Group
Siona is currently a director in the capital and pricing advisory team in NatWest Group, moving to this role in December 2022 to focus on strategic projects.
Siona had worked in Treasury for many years previously, focusing on liquidity risk and interest rate risks for the bank. Siona is a co-chair of the NatWest Group Gender Network which has over 9000 members and multiple hundred volunteers.
Siona started with NatWest Group as a Finance Graduate in Sept 2008. She is a Chartered Management Accountant and a Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and is particularly interested in breaking stereotypes on careers given her mathematical career.
Phoebe Waters | J.S. Held
I am a Director in the Global Investigations department of JS Held.
I am a senior investigator and a strong and influential female leader in the sector, specialising in complex disputes including high-quantum fraud cases and asset tracing and recovery exercises. Over the past eight years since embarking on my career, my clients have included law firms, high-net worth individuals, multi-national companies, financial institutions and governments. I have most recently worked at Schillings, managing multifaceted litigation-support matters, and Burford Capital, where I was case manager for investigations including a project in support of one of the top largest Awards (over USD 6 billion) ever handed down against a state by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
I am a law graduate, also with a BA in Russian and an MA in International Security. Most recently, this year, I obtained a qualification from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Sustainability Leadership: ‘Women Leading Change: Shaping our Future”. I speak Russian and Spanish.
I am Chair of The Female Fraud Forum, having been elected in February 2022 and re-elected in February 2023 (+ Membership Secretary for 2 years prior). The FFF is a multi-disciplinary non-for-profit organisation comprising a network of c1,5000 members/supporters in the fraud, asset recovery and investigations sector – an industry that has often been dominated by men. The FFF’s aim is to spearhead the fight for change so that gender equality becomes ingrained in the workplace and secured for future generations.
I mentor and coach females in the sector.
Jessica Heagren | That Works For Me
Jess Heagren is an ex Financial Services Director, mother of four, award-winning CEO of That Works For Me, and author of landmark report Careers After Babies.
Jess was Strategy & Distribution director for insurance giant DLG before having children and set up their first Diversity Committee, leading the gender and working families strand. After having her first baby, she returned to work on a flexible working arrangement but as the only female primary caregiver on the board, and managing some 600 people across the UK, she couldn't make the two work alongside one another. She left her career 10 months later.
Realising just how many women lose their careers after having their children she made it her mission to keep more parents in the workplace and set up That Works For Me shortly afterwards.
Jess now works with businesses to make them better employers for parents through the Careers After Babies accreditation programme and supports hiring through That Works For Me, home to thousands of parents seeking flexible work.
Jay Trestain | IBM
Jay is a global, senior leader for IBM, a multi-national IT services organisation where she is responsible for the sales portfolio of services and customer success IBM takes to market with some of its largest strategic partners.
Her career has enabled Jay to travel extensively, working with a diverse range of IBM customers and partners across all industries in a variety of technologies from large high-performance computers to the leading mobile device manufacturers. She is recognised as a ‘thought-leader’ in her area, is a regular external speaker and contributor to industry and technology publications and media outlets.
She is a passionate advocate for diversity and equality; she uses her experience to provide mentorship and coaching to women and all diversity groups across business, technology and not for profit.
Ifrah Shafiq | Al Mu'Minun (The Believers)
Ifrah Shafiq is the youngest female Faith Leader in Kirklees.
She is the Women Empowerment Lead for Al Mu'Minun (The Believers). She believes strongly in educating women so that change can be bought about in society and gender disparity can be removed.
She holds an Alimah (Theology) qualification from Al Markaz Ul Islami and has completed the memorisation of the Qur'an (Hifdh) and is currently completing her BA Islamic Studies at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education.
She is involved in several projects advocating for women empowerment and has won several awards for her work.
Elaine C Walker | The GMA Group
I am Forbes featured and a multi award winning champion for women and children.
I started an educational consultancy 8 years ago when my children were two of the top 20 brightest children in the country. It was at that point i knew it was important for ther women to see me taking the lead in childrens rights in education and also women. I have also gone on on to create iniatives in the community to give children access to education opportunities at the top institutions in the UK. I also sit on the board of girl code Africa, to ensure that girls in afria have a chance of education in STEM. Our first project is now finished and it was building a coding lab in a countainer. I am also involved in assisting the First Lady of Ghana in raising money for her library hub projets. I am launching a foundation called The Ansaba Foundation which will be instrumental in paying school fees for great children here in the uk. Creating life transforming opportunities for them and creating black leaders of the future.
Dr Eleni Meletiadou | London Metropolitan University
Dr Eleni Meletiadou, Director of the Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Research Group, Senior Lecturer in Equality Diversity and Inclusion, researcher, and Course Director of the BA Business Management and HRM Course, is a fervent advocate for gender equality supporting women in the academy.
Her research aims to increase the visibility of inequalities faced by Female Young Researchers and Innovators (FYRIs) from a gender perspective and to promote a sustainable dialogue between FYRIs and stakeholders in the research ecosystem at the systemic level and at the institutional level.
Alanna Lee | Morgan Stanley
I am a Managing Director in the Legal and Compliance Division at Morgan Stanley.
I am the European head of legal coverage for Morgan Stanley’s Prime Brokerage business.
I have been a lawyer for 29 years and practised law in Vancouver, Canada; Tokyo; and London. Before joining Morgan Stanley, I was the European Head of Legal for the Lehman Chapter 11 bankruptcy estate, General Counsel for a European hedge fund and a partner at Allen & Overy (a global law firm). I an the Chair of the trustee for the Morgan Stanley UK pension fund and a trustee of the Temple Grove Schools Trust (a charitable organisation with a focus on primary school education). I am also a member of the Morgan Stanley Diversity Action Counsel and an active mentor (both informally and formally, including with the Firm’s programme with the Social Mobility Foundation and as the MD Sponsor for the Morgan Stanley Trainee Solicitor programme). I also co-sponsor the Firm’s Net East Asia network and the Step In Step Up Foundations in Finance programme. I live in London with my daughter, whom I adopted from Russia in 2010 (as a single parent).
Theresa Yurkewich Hoffmann | Policy & sustainability lead specialist | Microsoft
I am a global advisor in technology, working at Microsoft to help businesses envision innovation and navigate regulation – everything from cloud technologies to carbon tracking.
I have a JD and a BA, and completed innovation programmes through Cambridge and Oxford. I have lived in Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK.
I started my career path as a lawyer working in civil litigation , where I wrote several articles on the intersection of technology and regulation. After several years, I pivoted careers and began working as an account director in public affairs, specialising in fintech and other tech start-ups. It was here that I gained global exposure to clients across EMEA including Germany, the UK, Nigeria, and South Africa. I also started advising the OECD’s public governance unit on court modernisation and digitalisation projects, combining my legal background with my technology experience to support people-centred justice. Over the last few years, I’ve spent my career working at the centre of policy and innovation – both for the City of London Corporation (in delivering the first Digital Sandbox as well as our lawtech programs), and now, at Microsoft as a regulatory and sustainability specialist. I am passionate about current events and thinking about how we can solve global challenges in a practical way.
Outside of my career, I enjoy being active in my communities. I've been a Global Shaper, a board member of Jus Gentium, a Young Diplomats of Canada delegate, and a mentor for those looking to enter the technology space.