Aimee Betts-Charalambous | Manager | KPMG
Of mixed Cypriot-English heritage I was lucky to grow up around the world, experiencing different values and cultures.
With parents from working class backgrounds, I have seen first-hand the importance of working hard to realise your dreams and have used those values to develop a professional and personal work ethic to strive for more and support those around me to know they can do the same.
Following a law degree, I decided to specialise in energy and natural resources. My career has spanned both public and private sectors but always with a focus on clean energy and climate change. Having started my career developing a range of innovative and cornerstone energy policies, I am now working with industry to implement them. Supporting clients within KPMG`s ENR team to be at the forefront of the energy transition and decarbonise.
In my spare time I run a range of charity fundraising events, combining my love of sport and music with a desire to help those in need. In 2023 alone I helped raise over £19k.
Alina Kuzmich | Energy & Decarbonisation Consultant | Mott Macdonald Ltd
For over 5 years Alina has held an impactful career across the energy and technology sectors.
Started as a sustainability consultant, helping organisations account for their emissions and developing net zero plans, Alina soon transitioned to a newly formed energy-sector startup, focussing on energy digitalisation and decentralisation of the energy networks.
As a certified renewable energy expert, Alina became a Head of Electric Vehicle Solutions, promoting transport electrification and charging infrastructure in the UK with clients spanning airports, ports and fleet operators.
With the technical background in energy systems and certification in project management, currently Alina is championing decarbonisation for the large industrial clients and delivering city-scale energy masterplans, delivering on UK`s net zero ambitions. At her current job she has also been nominated as a champion for digitalisation within her work unit, promoting energy sector innovation.
Alina actively participates in the energy industry and EDI events, including international routable organised by International Energy Association, women`s network via Climate KIC and international conferences.
Alina has a personal dedication to empowering the next generation of young people and supporting immigrants in the UK. Alina has volunteered for RefuNet as a science tutor for refugee children, and has recently started community outreach to help Chinese immigrants practice English and connect with the local residents interested in Chinese language, facilitating language and cultural exchange.
Claire Huxley | Interim Revenue and Settlements Senior Manager | National Grid
Claire has had a broad career in National Grid, starting in 2014 on the graduate scheme in Procurement.
This provided her with a fantastic foundation of commercial understanding, working with lots of different stakeholders and project management. Her real passion was to work at the heart of the energy industry, so when an opportunity came up in the system operator it seemed like an opportunity she couldn’t turn down. Since joining the ESO in 2020, she has lead on regulatory delivery of new frequency response products, delivered multiple commercial code changes, led employee engagement for the organisation and introduced an ESO office dog, supporting the training and office socialisation of a trainee Guide Dog. She has recently started a new role in the CFO function leading the Revenue and Settlements team which processes £9bn of charges from across the industry.
Holly Mather | Engineering Manager | Enable
Holly completed a Master Degree in Materials Engineering at Swansea University and started her career as a research engineer in the field of metrology.
After progressing her career technically, she took a sideways steps into people management and leadership, managing a team of research engineers specializing in data engineering, data science and software engineering.
She then took an opportunity at ASOS as an Engineering Manager, managing teams of software engineers and QA engineers in the fintech space. Following her time at ASOS she has joined SaaS startup, Enable as an Engineering Manager and is paving the way internally for female engineers.
Since joining Enable Holly has been focusing on building and driving forward a DEI strategy within the Engineering department. She has created and influenced a more accessible and diversity-centric approach to their engineering recruitment and onboarding processes.
Holly is empowering and connecting with the Enable’s female engineers, building a community for these engineers to come together across the globe, creating opportunities for them to share challenges and solutions, exploring mentoring opportunities and focusing on building empowerment from within.
Holly is also a voice of diversity and leadership outside of Enable, speaking on podcasts, writing blog posts, delivering talks at events, supporting and celebrating other women within tech through mentoring, and as a UN Women UK delegate.
Jessica Harwood | Financial Services Strategy & Consulting Manager | Accenture
Jessica is a Technology Consultant in Accenture’s Strategy and Consulting practice.
Jessica sits within the Financial Services division, aligned to the Banking Industry. She has 9 years of consulting experience and has worked with UK tier one banks to solve complex business challenges and implement new technology systems.
For the past 5 years, Jessica has worked specifically within the Cloud technology space and has helped clients with a variety of Cloud initiatives, from shaping strategy to executing Cloud activities to help clients deliver value and meet business outcomes.
Outside of her client role, Jessica leads the Northwest Diversity and Inclusion team in the region and is passionate about creating an inclusive and diverse community across teams. Regional business growth is also a key focus area for Jessica, since starting her career she has been passionate about development in the Northwest. Jessica is now working with the business development community, Pro Manchester to connect and collaborate with local businesses in the north.
Outside of work, Jessica lives just outside of Bolton with her recent husband Dominic and likes to spend the weekends doing something active and outdoors. She will either be at the gym, a Hyrox fitness class or walking mountains. She loves to socialise, loves a holiday, and skiing.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.