Laura Oakes | Executive Assistant | Vialto Partners
I got my law degree in 2014 and worked as a fee earner in a law firm dealing with injury and fraudulent cases.
Whilst at the law firm I went on to gain my qualification as a chartered legal executive. Whilst I enjoyed my work, I had always been interested in the PA/EA world and believed my skillset would be right for the job.
In August 2022, I started working at Vialto and have never looked back since. I love the diversity of my day to day work life; every day is different and I love getting to work with and connect with so many people because of my role. A couple of stand out moments during my time at Vialto so far has to be coordinating an Immigration seminar at The House of Commons for one my partners and also getting to travel to New York to assist in the running of a client conference.
My only regret is that I didn`t make the move sooner! I really do look forward to seeing where I can go in my career and at Vialto!
Kate Roughneen | PA to GEC Member | Royal London
As Executive Assistant to the Group CTO at Royal London, I support the strategic and operational leadership of the transformation function within the UK`s largest mutual life, pensions and investment company.
With over 15 years of experience as an EA in the financial services, insurance, and telecoms sectors, I have developed a range of competencies that enable me to deliver high-quality and efficient support to senior executives and their teams.
Marie Hall | Executive Assistant | Barclays
My PA/EA career started in 1997 as a team secretary initially working my way up to PA to the Finance Director and designated cover for the Governor and Deputy Governors offices before relocating back to the Northwest in 2014 where I was PA For the Deputy Agent in a Satellite office.
After 22yrs service I was headhunted and went to work for a Global payments/FinTech company, based at their Manchester office, where I spent 3 enjoyable years working with to the VP of Global Operations Solution Consulting and VP of Global Billing, as well as being the site lead support and having responsibility for colleague engagement across the Manchester office. I won the Michaela Ferguson Burns award (a business award initiative) whilst working here for outstanding contribution.
I was then offered the opportunity to come to Barclays where I support Managing Directors, Directors, and their teams, within the Chief Technology Office. Alongside this day-to-day role I help lead on colleague forums and employee resource groups as I am passionate about colleague engagement and mental health and wellbeing. I believe that as an Executive Assistant we can bring much more to the business, and I look for ways to showcase this.
My spare time is spent as a volunteer, in my local town of Warrington, where I am one of the Turnstile Operators at Warrington Town FC. I also cohost a monthly supper for the women of Warrington for a local charity that has a focus on all things wellbeing and mental health. I work with this charity to lead wellbeing walks for their members and am involved in an annual suicide awareness event that sees huge numbers of people walk from darkness into the night to help raise awareness. I am an advocate for mental health and wellbeing having come through my own personal struggles and believe we can all make a difference.
Antoinette Hamilton | Trust Digital Curriculum Lead | The Stour Academy Trust
Toni, serving as the Trust Digital Curriculum Lead at The Stour Academy Trust, has nearly two decades of rich experience in primary education, with a robust emphasis on harnessing technology to enhance teaching and learning experiences.
Her journey in education is marked by a passionate advocacy for inclusion, accessibility, and equitable opportunities, ensuring every child has the chance to succeed in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Beyond her role in the classroom, Toni has been instrumental in mentoring educators across various platforms, imparting her knowledge and expertise to drive forward the integration of technology in education. She has led numerous training sessions for teachers, shared innovative teaching strategies with school and MAT leaders, and extended her support to parents, reinforcing her commitment to a collaborative educational ecosystem where everyone is empowered to thrive.
As a recognised Microsoft Fellow, MIEE and a distinguished ambassador for renowned technology communities, Toni’s contributions reflect a profound dedication to fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. Her engagements are not just about imparting knowledge; they are about creating a dialogue, encouraging critical thinking, and inspiring others to envision and build a future where technology and education converge to unlock unlimited possibilities.
Toni’s ethos is centered around the belief that technology is not just a tool for education, but a catalyst for creating more inclusive, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences. Through her tireless work, she continues to shape an educational landscape that values and nurtures the potential of every learner and educator.
Bo Kelestyn | Associate Professor | Warwick Business School
Bo is a design thinking academic and practitioner with a diverse teaching and scholarship portfolio.
Bo is an Associate Professor and holds multiple student experience and educational leadership roles at the University of Warwick, Warwick Business School.
Bo has designed and led a number of interdisciplinary modules on design thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship, and leads on The Guardian Masterclass on design thinking. Bo is also the creator of the Warwick Secret Challenge, a problem-solving workshop with elements of design thinking, which has become a key methodology to tackle innovation challenges at Warwick through authentic student-staff co-creation.
In May 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bo developed a vision for an educational leadership programme. Partnering with the Ukrainian Leadership Academy, Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science and Ministry of Digital Transformation, Bo founded the first and only of its kind Masters level programme aimed at nurturing a cadre of educational leaders in Ukraine, supporting the rebuilding of the education system post-victory.
Bo holds several awards for her contributions to teaching and learning at Warwick. Having emerged into educational leadership from her doctoral studies, she was the first ever student to have received the Fellowship of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA), one of the youngest at Warwick to hold the Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and first at WBS and only one of three at Warwick to hold the Fellowship of Enterprise Educators UK (FEEUK).
Brigit Douglas | Membership Director | Organisation for Responsible Businesses
I graduated in 2021 with a desire to do values-driven work above all else.
I took a look around me at a ‘green’ jobs fair and it was my conversation with Jill Poet, CEO of ORB, that struck me as a truly authentic one. I am proud to say I have always placed importance in the social realm as well as the environmental one, summarising its intertwining here: ‘it is not possible for a suffering planetary population to enable environmental flourishing, nor for human flourishing to persist on a suffering planet.’ Extract from my article The True Meaning of Sustainability. I write blog posts and informative newsletters about the ESG movement for small and micro businesses — each ESG aspect affects these smaller entites in totally different ways and ORB’s approach is never one size fits all. My bachelors is in English so writing and marketing skills have transferred over from that; I’m happy that I placed purpose over profit when using them.
Zainub Absar | Global Lead, HSBC Sustainability Hackathon & Commercial Banking Associate | HSBC
Zainub is an experienced corporate banker, innovator, and former technologist, currently working with HSBC.
Prior to joining HSBC, Zainub worked with IBM in the iX Studio, supporting the deliverance of digital transformation projects for multinational clients such as BP, Castrol, and Knorr. During her degree, she was awarded the BP STEM Scholarship and NUBS Student Achievement awards, joining Enactus Nottingham as the Vice-President of Engagement & forming the team that won Nationals in 2019 & 2020, representing the United Kingdom at the Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley. Joining HSBC as a prize of the Undergraduate of the Year Award for Innovation in 2020, she holds 3 years of corporate banking experience, most recently completing a year secondment with the UK Technology & Growth Lending team. During this time, she supported the UK acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank, the expansion of the £350m Growth Lending fund, and HSBC UK’s Technology sector portfolio alongside globally leading HSBC’s 1st Global Sustainability Hackathon, the bank’s flagship graduate initiative for bridging the ESG talent gap in innovative upskilling related to emerging sustainability challenges.
Nowadays, she leverages her sustainability leadership and technology background in strategising HSBC UK’s flagship sustainability plans, where she continues her global advocacy for the inclusion of young talent in the transition to net zero & supports the Senior Female Leadership Network in HSBC.
Aside from her day-to-day, she is passionate about forging accessible paths for recognising future leaders; she enjoyed hosting her eponymous radio show during COVID, & she currently enjoys rock climbing and international sailing!
Kelly Farr | Wellbeing Trainer | YourNorth
Kelly Farr is an award-winning entrepreneur and wellbeing trainer.
Kelly is the co-founder of YourNorth, a training company specialising in improving mental health and wellbeing and is also the co-founder of YourNorth Veteran Support CIC, a non-profit organisation offering wellbeing education specifically for the Armed Forces and Emergency Services communities, with a strong focus on supporting family members.
Kelly is a proud veteran, having served 17 years in the Royal Air Force as an Avionics Engineer. She is passionate about supporting the Armed Forces community and co-runs Caerphilly Veterans Support Hub, sits on the Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee (Wales) board and recently co-launched the Female Veterans Alliance.
Kelly is driving a positive culture change within society by empowering individuals to take ownership of their wellbeing and thrive, even with a diagnosed mental health condition. She is a mental health first aid trainer, coach, mindfulness teacher and an NLP Master Practitioner.
Lyndsey Stuttard | Digital Teaching & Learning Specialist | ACS Cobham International School
Lyndsey is an international educator with over 19 years teaching experience in the public and private sectors, having taught in the US, UK, UAE, and Italy.
She is an early years practitioner who is passionate about the purposeful use of Augmented Reality in education. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator and recognised as a Top 10 educator to watch by Apple. In 2023 she was named one of the Top 100 Women in Tech and was a Pearson National Teaching Awards Silver Winner for Digital Innovator of the Year. Lyndsey has spoken at multiple conferences about her integration approaches with Augmented Reality as well as the role creativity plays in the classroom to help students access their learning and share their understanding through choice.
Maria Violaris | PhD student | University of Oxford
Maria Violaris is a PhD student researching the foundations of quantum information at the University of Oxford, where she works with Chiara Marletto and Vlatko Vedral, after previously graduating with a First Class MPhys degree from the University of Oxford.
Her research interests include quantum thermodynamics, quantum measurement paradoxes, and the locality of quantum theory. Alongside her PhD, Maria works part-time with the IBM Quantum community team. She created a 14-part Qiskit YouTube video series to demystify quantum paradoxes using quantum computing, alongside blogs and code tutorials; made 1-Minute-Qiskit videos; co-hosted the seminar series; and lectured for the Global Summer School. She also writes for Physics World magazine; created and ran the IOP QQQ group “Quantum on the Clock Schools Video Competition”; and founded Oxford University Quantum Information Society. Previously, she did an internship with quantum computing software company Riverlane, where she built a Raspberry Pi Quantum Computing Lab demonstration and video. Maria frequently gives talks for a range of audiences, including researchers, school students, general public and educators, and has run many quantum computing workshops for young female audiences. She has won multiple awards for her research and science communication, and has published research on quantum education.