Rudo Manyemba | London Stock Exchange Group
Rudo (She/Her) is a fellow chartered accountant. She also has qualifications in Project Management, Insolvency and Corporate Finance.
Rudo has over 14 years experience in financial services, spanning Audit, Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Commercial Banking and most recently Financial Markets Infrastructure. In her current role she is responsible for finance performance management for the Securities business lines within the London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) Post Trade Division.
She started her career in audit with PwC, working in Zimbabwe and then the USA, before relocating to Ireland to work with Deloitte and then the UK, where previous employers include Lloyds Bank and Columbia Threadneedle Asset Management. She enjoys partnering with the business to drive financial performance through aggressive change and transformation cycles.
She is a global lead of the LSEG Multicultural Network and lead of the LSEG Black Employee Inspired Network Group career progression pillar. Rudo co-established and is leading the LSEG Finance outreach initiative. This involves finance colleagues going out to schools to teach young children about careers in finance and managing personal finances . The initiative also funds life enriching experiences with Outward Bound for pupils from marginalised backgrounds. She also volunteers as a Co-Opted governor at a school in Dartford.
Sangita Birdi | Post Office
Sangita works as Service Design and Transition Manager at Post Office HQ where she is responsible for creating service design packages and managing the service transition of technology projects.
Previously she spent 10 years with the BBC in similar roles on some major transformational projects. She deals daily with senior stakeholders to ensure that new/ changes to existing services are bought into Production environments fully assured using ITIL aligned processes.
Graduating from Kingston University in Biomedical Sciences, her early career was within the NHS as a microbiologist. But her passion for learning and self-development led to postgraduate qualifications in Information Systems and CIM Marketing. Sangita has developed her career in IT with a route rich with experiences, challenges, mountains to climb, plenty of tumbles but great networks to support her. She knows the importance of self-development and continues to stay up to date within her professional remit.
She has always been active in networks whether on a professional or personal level. Two areas where she has invested a lot of time over the last 5 years has been in STEM as a STEM Ambassador with outreach work and as part of networks supporting women in their own self development. Having served on the BBC Women in Stem Board for over 3 years as the Relationship and Members lead, Sangita has been key in developing the strategy, transforming the service offering, developing and growing the network expanding it nationally with increased hubs, helping drive cultural changes at the BBC.
She has bought many key-note speakers from across the globe, delivering self-development courses and encouraging people on 1-2-1 basis both professional and personal, she has helped to inspire them to progress further in their own career goals. Her Network involvement continues at the Post Office.
As part of the national STEM network, she has visited many schools inspiring and promoting STEM as well as providing mentoring to school children. Currently collaborating on STEM initiatives for girls, she would like to roll out a series of events targeted at teenagers. She is also proactive within the diversity space and a firm believer that exceptional innovation is achieved by having diverse teams, where members can challenge one another and bring new perspectives.
Egbe Manton | Manton Legal Consultancy
I'm on a mission to disrupt the legal space and bring it into the 21st-century. I'm a lawyer at a global energy company and the founder of Manton Legal, a legal consultancy that offers simplified, affordable legal guidance to entrepreneurs and SMEs.
Working with freelancers, founders and executives in my consultancy, I empower women to pursue their passions and prepare their commercial offering for investment. I prepare and coach them for pitching their business for investment.
As a lawyer, I have worked across the UK, Europe and India with entrepreneurs, SMEs and FTSE 100 companies. Now, through Manton Legal I'm able to align my skills, values and passion into transforming and shaping the new generation of female startups.
I'm an educator, a regular in the media and a sought-after, dynamic speaker who creates positive impact by challenging convention, encouraging inclusion and championing social change in the investment sector. Clients and partnerships include: Natwest, Dell, Enterprise Nation, Found & Flourish, and We are Radikl amongst others.
Iona Gallagher | Covent Garden Family Law
I currently work as a paralegal at Covent Garden Family Law (CGFL). I am passionate about family law and I am in the process of applying for pupillage to work as a barrister.
I graduated from my law degree in 2015 and completed my LLM in 2018. I was awarded a major Exhibition Scholarship from Inner Temple and in 2019 I was Called to the Bar of England and Wales.
Prior to starting at CGFL, I worked at the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF). SEFF is a charity based in Northern Ireland that supports victims of The Troubles. I worked directly with victims based in England and Wales. In 2020, I presented to the Northern Ireland Select Committee on victims’ issues.
I am passionate about improving social mobility in law. In 2021, I set up a professional mentoring scheme with my old university to match aspiring solicitors and barristers with alumni who are practising lawyers. I am a volunteer at the Free Representation Unit and a mentor with The Girls’ Network. I want to make the law more accessible and diverse.
Kelly Knight | Reed Smith
I am a Senior Associate in the Financial Industries Group at law firm Reed Smith.
I advise a range of market participants including issuers, trustees, agents, account banks, and investors on structured finance matters. My recent experience includes the debt restructuring of a major Dutch corporate, advising investors in relation to sales of NPL portfolios, advising Issuers in relation to cross-border receivables financings, and assisting with the development of an innovative financing solution for the continued production of a key component in a malaria vaccine.
I am what is commonly referred to as a ‘returner’. Following a ten year career break, I spent a number of years working in-house in financial institutions as senior counsel before joining Reed Smith as a temporary knowledge management lawyer via the Reignite Academy programme in 2020. In March 2021, I joined Reed Smith’s structured finance team as a senior associate. I decided to move into private practice transactional work because I enjoy working closely with a variety of clients in a fast-paced and intellectually demanding environment. Reed Smith’s structured finance team is relatively small in size but has a broad, high quality practice which means I am able to grow my practice in directions that interest me.
As a ‘mature’ returner (I am probably old enough to be the mother of at least half of the team!), I am passionate about the development and well-being of junior talent at the firm, acting as informal mentor for a number of trainees and NQs. I also am a keen participant in Reed Smith’s many pro bono and diversity & inclusion initiatives, including co-Champion of the firm’s Lawyers Without Borders team, assisting with KIND cases to protect children with unresolved immigration status, an active member of the firm’s Racial Justice Working Group, and volunteer reading tutor for year 1 pupils in disadvantaged areas of London.
I originally studied History at the University of Toronto and University of Cambridge and did my law conversion at Northumbria University in Newcastle. I have two teenage children and live in North London.
Lynette Wieland | Browne Jacobson
Lynette is an Associate in the Health and Social Care Advisory and Inquests team specialising in Court of Protection work and inquests at Browne Jacobson.
Prior to joining Browne Jacobson, Lynette completed an access course in Legal Methods at Birkbeck, part of the University of London, and went on to complete her LLB at the University at York. She entered the profession as an awardee of the Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme which provided sponsorship to complete her Legal Practice Course at the University of Law. She continues to support the Diversity Access Scheme as an alumna, volunteering to shortlist applications and as a panel judge for interviews.
Lynette joined the Inquests and Advisory team following 3 years’ experience as a paralegal handling clinical negligence matters for NHS Resolution and healthcare trusts. She completed her training contract at Browne Jacobson.
In her role in the Advisory and Inquests team, she regularly acts on behalf of NHS Trusts, CCGs and independent health and social care providers. She advises on obligations under the Care Act, Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act, including providing guidance as to best interests, deprivation of liberty and ordinary residence. Lynette has since been on a 10-month long internal secondment to a large NHS Trust, managing a large caseload of clinical negligence claims and inquests.
Aside from her role, Lynette is a passionate advocate for equality in the profession for people of all backgrounds. Lynette contributes to diversity and inclusion agenda as a member of Browne Jacobson’s Diversity and Inclusion group, ‘disability lead’ and founder of the Disabilities and Conditions network for employees at the firm. Additionally, she was appointed as a Social Mobility Ambassador for the Law Society and as a Champion for Neurodiversity in Law. Lynette was recognised as Champion of the Year at the Inspirational Women in Law Awards 2021 issued by Next 100 Years.
Having collaborated with a number of organisations aimed at promoting equality from a gender, disability and social mobility perspective, she has promoted greater inclusive practices for people in these communities. Lynette has also contributed via blogs, podcasts, news articles and articles she has written for the Law Society Gazette. She has also been a key speaker at a number of events discussing social mobility and disability.
Lynette was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyscalculia and Irlen syndrome whilst attending university. Lynette feels honoured to form part of an incredible community of solicitors who represent those with seen and unseen disabilities championing for greater visibility and diversity in the profession.
Molly Scanlon | The Wine Society
After completing my A-Levels, at 18 years old I undertook the role of Legal Administrator at Roche, the world's largest biotech company.
As an in-house Administrator I was able to take on a wide range of tasks from proofreading contracts and assigning training to more extensive work, namely acting as Data Protection Champion for the site and developing the first ever Roche Bursary Scheme.
After my year at Roche I began studying Law at the University of Kent, the first of many steps towards qualifying as a Solicitor. My extracurriculars were varied but most notably included rowing for the University's club, helping to run an on-campus foodbank for food-insecure students and providing pro-bono support to local domestic abuse survivors.
Upon graduating I started working as a Freelance Legal Consultant alongside my job in retail, offering Paralegal support upon request.
In October, I started working as Assistant Legal Counsel for the Wine Society, where I have continued to develop my skills and legal expertise.
Nazmin Akthar | Womble Bond Dickinson
Nazmin is an Associate at Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, specialising in residential development, estate management and general infrastructure.
She acts for with a range of clients including housing associations, small developers and national house-builders. Her day to day work involves a variety of transactions ranging from dealing with acquisition of land for residential development to road infrastructure agreements and estate set-ups for the sale of new homes. Nazmin is a firm believer that good quality housing and sustainable infrastructure are key to the promotion of good health and equality and eradication of poverty and abuse. She carries out her work with the aim that her role as a residential development contributes to the delivery of safe, secure, affordable and fit for purpose housing and communities. She regularly promotes the importance of housing for victims of abuse and has had articles published in Inside Housing and the Criminal Law & Justice Weekly on such topics.
Nazmin is also the Co-Chair of Muslim Women's Network UK (MWNUK), a national multi award-winning charity that works to promote equality and social justice; in this role she has appeared in front of the Women & Equality Committee, Law Commission and UN CEDAW Committee to give evidence and seek legislative change that would support victims of abuse and discrimination. Notably, she was part of MWNUK's campaigning team which saw the end to the Home Office's repatriation policy by which victims of forced marriage used to be required to meet the costs when rescued from abroad and brought back to the UK. Nazmin is currently campaigning for a change in marriage laws that will assist Muslim women stuck in abusive marriages, and seeking better support for victims of intimate image based abuse.
Nazmin has also recently co-founded Nisa Global Foundation, an international charity set up to support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals globally. As well as being responsible for overseeing legal and governance matters, she is also responsible for NGF's housing and infrastructure related projects. Nazmin is also committed to supporting diversity in professions, especially the legal sector. In 2019 she acted as Commissioner of Fawcett's Society's 'Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood' with the aim of highlighting and removing the barriers which may appear in childhood itself and deter individuals from a career in law. She has also made a number of television and radio appearances to discuss the issue of discrimination in workplaces as a barrier to career progression.
Yinsey Wang | BlackRock
Yinsey Wang is an in-house lawyer at BlackRock. She has worked on strategic projects such as Brexit and regularly advises on outsourced chief investment officer mandates. She trained at a magic circle law firm and has worked at other international law firms.
In her previous private practice roles, she accumulated extensive experience advising a mix of corporate, investment management and banking clients. She has been involved in various clients’ Brexit planning, regulatory projects and MiFID II implementation. In addition, she has worked on numerous international financing deals and due diligence projects.
She was shortlisted for the Law Society’s Junior Lawyer of the Year Award in 2020 and was highly commended for her contribution to diversity by her previous employer in 2018 through her initiatives with its Multicultural Network.
Yinsey is also a member of the British Museum Friends Advisory Council and volunteers with Intermission Youth Theatre. She is also passionate about sharing stories about individuals’ contributions and regularly writes for East and Southeast Asian-focussed magazines such as Resonate and Fête Chinoise. She also has written for Amber Magazine, which focuses on showcasing inspirational women from different backgrounds. She interviewed gamechangers Chanel Joan Elkayam, one of the youngest people to showcase collections across major Fashion Weeks and Maryam Lawal, founder of House of African Art, an organisation and exhibition-curator which focuses on African and diaspora artwork.
She also participates in mentorship schemes and experience days through organisations such as Big City Bright Future.
Furthermore, Yinsey co-founded Voice ESEA, a non-profit organisation focussing on tackling racism against East and Southeast Asians (ESEAs). Achievements of Voice ESEA include gathering over 22,000 signatures for a petition to the Government and Parliament relating to the increase in COVID-19-fuelled prejudice against ESEAs. Voice ESEA published their findings from Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests to over 40 UK police bodies on police-reported hate crime against ESEAs in 2019 and 2020.
In her spare time, Yinsey is also a hobbyist artist and a co-founder (alongside Lillian Liu and Bella Kotak) of the Enchanted Asian Day initiative which celebrates Asian creators around the world. She was also part of an artwork that became a non-fungible token, “The Empress”, alongside Lillian Liu, Nett Gray and Victoria Leanne. It raised over 4,000 USD on the Foundation platform with 100% of profits being donated to the AAPI Community Fund, supporting communities impacted by anti-Asian hate crimes (fuelled by pandemic-related prejudice) in the United States; and Carbon 180, an NGO dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and supporting renewable energy technologies.
Emily Friend | Centrica
After studying Law and Spanish at university and qualifying as a construction solicitor in Yorkshire, I spent 7 years in private practice before joining Centrica PLC as an in-house solicitor.
I wanted to move in-house before that but was labelled as a construction lawyer and overlooked as unsuitable for commercial legal roles. I am now a general commercial lawyer and a success story that changes in legal practice are possible.
I spent 7 years advising developers, contractors, banks, pension funds and landowners on all aspects of construction and engineering projects and as a newly qualified solicitor undertook a mix of transactional and dispute work. I have a proven track record of delivering strategic, pragmatic and practical advice.
Since moving to Centrica PLC, I have gained broad commercial experience advising on a range of commercial agreements as well as intellectual property, competition and data protection issues. I love the mix of work that an in house position brings and joining in the successes of the company, seeing the benefit of my hard work. After only a short period at Centrica, I was promoted to Senior Legal Counsel and more recently I was promoted to Lead Counsel.
As I start to take on more leadership responsibilities I am taking an active role to help shape the future of our business and the legal profession through my participation in various committees and industry initiatives. This is of personal importance to me, having been bullied in my youth, having spent time living abroad as part of my degree and experiencing life as an outsider and having worked in a male dominated environment as a young lawyer. I whole heartedly embrace and emanate the principles of the O Shaped Lawyer - being open minded, innovative and pragmatic. I am passionate about transforming the legal profession to shake off the perception that lawyers are risk adverse and business blockers.