Steve Collinson | Zurich Insurance
Steve has been with Zurich for over 30 years, in a career which has seen him drive and deliver major initiatives in HR, Communications, Finance and Operations.
Before taking up the role of Head of the People Team (aka Head of HR!) Steve was Head of Change and Internal Communications, where he embedded a refreshed focus on engaging employees in strategy, brand, business performance and change.
Steve is truly passionate about people. He works with his UK Executive team colleagues to shape our employee offering and find new ways to build engagement and connections with our incredible Zurich people. He has a particular focus on building diverse, inclusive teams and brings leadership, passion and deep business experience to his role.
Gareth Morris | HSBC
My name is Gareth Morris and I currently work for HSBC bank in our Premier and Wealth business.
As Head of Wealth I lead a team which helps our customers with financial planning advice. I joined HSBC 15 years ago and have really been impressed with how they have encouraged senior leaders to role model diversity and inclusivity within its business. My goal has been to try and lead by example, as I feel we have all at some time in our lives felt excluded, which in turn can have a negative impact on our confidence to truly express ourselves in the company of others. To help me with this and to learn from other peoples experiences I have taken on the responsibility of becoming a reverse mentor which I have found to be a very fulfilling, and helpful in leading D&I within my own team, and more latterly at a national level within HSBC. I'm married with two children and live just 50 yards away from the beach in a small village in North Wales!
Philip Baldwin | Gay Times Columnist / Trustee Ozanne Foundation
I am a 34-year-old human rights activist and writer, with a particular focus on equalities issues, homelessness, asylum and faith inclusion.
I am often in the media, commentating on LGBTQ rights, HIV, ethnicity and gender balance topics. I write for a range of publications, including my regular column in "Gay Times". From 2014 until 2019, I was a columnist for the "HuffPost". I am a Stonewall Role Model, which involves going into schools, where I speak about "coming out", HIV and faith. I am a trustee of a number of charities, including the Ozanne Foundation, whose objective is to make faith spaces more inclusive for LGBTQ people, but which has also had a large impact in terms of gender equality. As someone who is gay, HIV positive and Christian, I have experienced a lot of stigma. I confront stereotypes head on in my campaigning and in the way that I live my life. I take pride in using the platforms that I have to give a voice, in particular, to other people who have experienced prejudice or discrimination. I have spoken out vociferously for women living with HIV, have written about the female campaigners who helped nurture my activism and am also a trans ally. I take inspiration from the American civil rights movement, as well as the women's liberation movement. It is by standing in solidarity that we are going to challenge the (white and straight) patriarchal norms which still underpin our society.
Prior to becoming a writer and activist, I worked as a lawyer in financial services. I studied an undergraduate degree in Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford and a postgraduate M.Phil in History of Art and Architecture at Peterhouse College, Cambridge.
Christian Edelmann | Oliver Wyman
While studying banking developed my industry experience, studying law taught me a structured approach to thinking and problem solving.
I help my clients address the most transformational challenges in their businesses – often they've been grappling with these topics for a while. I help them rapidly adjust their business models by leveraging a solid fact base and building industry-leading analytical tools.
I am one of the two Executive Sponsors of Oliver Wyman Women's Network, WOW, which focuses on attracting, developing, and retaining talented women within the business.
I have lived and worked in countries all over the world, including North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. I love how working in diverse environments helps me develop unique client relationships and positively affects his own attitudes.
I currently live in London with my wife Florence and our 3-year old son, Julian. In winter, we enjoy travelling back to Switzerland, where Julian is starting to learn how to ski, a true passion of mine.
Millie Gooch | Sober Girl Society
In September 2018 - I founded Sober Girl Society which is an Instagram-based and real-life community for women who don't drink alcohol.
We run monthly events and meet-ups and as an individual I appear on panels and podcasts to talk about sobriety as well as helping with projects such as Club Soda's Be Rebel AF campaign in universities.
You can check out what we do at SGS here - https://www.instagram.com/sobergirlsociety/?hl=en
Carina White | Tongue Tied Media
Carina is Head of Business & Brand Partnerships, Head of Operations for the Best Of Africa Awards, BCOMS (The Black Collective of Media in Sport) Board Member, School Governor and Dope Black Mums Podcaster.
Carina started her career in football over ten years ago where she worked at a football agency Straight Ace Sports Management. With no experience within sports business, she learnt quickly on job and was responsible for player contract negotiation, player PR, crisis management and media training for clients.
Carina went on to join Tongue Tied Media, a sports management and production company from media agency MediaCom, and brought with her a wealth of experience in Media, Advertising and Marketing, Event Management and PR.
Carina was listed by the Voice Newspaper as one to watch for 2020 following a successful 2019 which saw her co-launch the Dope Black Mums podcast and initiative which provides a digital safe space for Black Mums.
Carina regularly takes parts in charity endeavours and initiatives which promote the positive welfare and outcomes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds
Lisa Marr | Barclays
Lisa Marr served 16 years as a Regular Army Officer with the Royal Logistic Corps.
She served with transport units, training establishments before taking up staff appointments in 1 (UK) Armd Div and UKSC(G). She deployed on operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. At her pension point she moved to New Zealand and joined up as a Regular Officer in the NZ Defence Force taking a Squadron Commander role with the Logistic Regiment based in Christchurch. It was during this appointment that Christchurch was struck with several catastrophic earthquakes and Lisa was selected to be the Mayor of Christchurch’s Military Liaison officer during the state of emergency.
Returning to the UK Lisa joined 4 Bde as the Head of Engagement for the Yorkshire and Humber region, responsible for engaging with businesses on behalf of service leavers and veterans, publicising the benefits of signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant and the ERS Awards. Being a diverse area a large part of the role was also to engage with hard to reach communities. Lisa excelled at connecting with these communities and became a much loved figure in the region; often developing relationships in areas where the military had found it difficult to connect. She was able to build excellent relationships and through her work in the region was recognised and awarded a commendation from the Consul General of Pakistan.
Lisa has a real passion for helping women and children and breaking down the barriers they often face in these communities. She joined forces with Opening Boundaries a charity which through cricket connects communities and advocates on behalf of women. Lisa devoted a lot of her own time to work with this charity and used the vehicle of cricket to expose these communities to the military, breaking down perceptions on both sides and showcasing the benefits that playing sport brings in both the physical and mental aspects. Through this collaboration she organised a joint event held at Headingly for a cricket match between the UKAF Ladies Team v’s Asian Inspirational Ladies Team. Bringing in the local community this was to showcase women’s sport and the opportunities in the military for people from all backgrounds. The match was a huge success and is now an annual event. The initiative saw Lisa and the Opening Boundaries initiative winning several awards both local and national – White Ribbon Award, British Muslim Awards, Leeds White Ribbon Awards and being selected as one of 3 finalists in the Women’s Sport Trust Game Changer Awards under the Inspiring Local initiative award.
Lisa joined Barclays to run the outward facing VETS programme, by the time of these awards just over a year ago, and has breathed new life into it and set the conditions for it to grow into a huge asset for the business and the veteran community. Her list of achievements in such a short time are remarkable, but to name just a few she has: increased the number of new VETS partners; created connections across the business, raising awareness of VETS and the Military and Veterans Outreach (MVO) team; created – and delivered – from scratch a brilliant, pioneering spousal employment pilot; overseen an exponential increase in numbers of mentors and veterans using the platform and worked tirelessly to ensure collaboration is taking place across this space to ensure the very best service and advice is provided for the service leaver, veteran or spouse wherever they may live in the country.
Virginia Stuart-Taylor | UK Civil Service
Virginia is an EU Negotiations Advisor in the UK Civil Service, a Digital Ambassador for global children’s charity Plan International, and an Ambassador from two One Young World summits in Johannesburg and Dublin.
She's also been selected by the Future Leaders Network as Head of the UK's Delegation to the G7 Youth Summit in Washington DC in June 2020. She currently lives and works in London, but has lived in 6 other countries across Europe, South America and Asia, has visited over 65 countries, and writes the award-winning travel blog www.TheWell-TravelledPostcard.com.
After graduating with a degree in Spanish, Italian & Portuguese from the University of Exeter, she started her career in the private sector by joining O2/Telefonica's European Graduate Scheme, working in the CEO's Office, Global Partnerships and Digital Strategy roles in London and Madrid. She then led a team of International Citizen Service volunteers on a 4-month sustainable development project in rural Nepal following the 2015 earthquake, for the charity Raleigh International, before obtaining a Double Master's degree in European Politics, Society and Culture at universities in the Netherlands and Sweden, using her thesis to research the impact of Brexit on EU27 citizens living in the UK.
Inspired by her experiences at One Young World summits and volunteering in Nepal, she followed her growing passion for tackling global and societal challenges at the international level, by leaving the private sector to join the 3-year Civil Service Fast Stream, specialising in UK-EU relations. Now in the public sector, she's worked on UK Government foreign policy, trade policy, international negotiations and diplomatic engagement at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Department for International Trade; and the Department for Exiting the EU.
She's passionate about tackling gender inequality in the UK and abroad, empowering young women to reach their potential through mentoring, organising Women in Leadership events, public speaking, fundraising for Plan International and raising awareness of their campaigns to advance girls' rights and education in developing countries.
Louise Littlefair | GSK
I started at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) after graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a first-class degree in Biochemistry.
I decided to move from science into business after completing an amazing summer internship with GSK though the Saltire Foundation. My first job was business planning co-ordinator within the global manufacturing and supply team, this gave me great insight into supply chain at GSK and gave me breadth of experience. From here, I moved into supply chain procurement, buying a range of materials for our manufacturing sites, from colours and dyes to mint oils. This was a fantastic experience and the global nature of the role incentivised me to gain work experience outside of the UK. In 2018, I applied for the GSK PULSE programme which offers employees to take a 6-month work assignment at a NGO/charity to do skills based volunteering. I moved to Tanzania to work for Amref Health Africa, working with them to improve their procurement process. After returning to GSK, I was ready for my next role and was successful in securing a role in the audit and assurance team as an audit manager looking at supply continuity. Throughout the 6 years I have worked at GSK, I have always been lucky to work with and be mentored by successful women leaders. As I have progressed through my career, I have been keen to give back by mentoring internally at GSK and actively participating in external mentoring programmes.
M&G plc
M&G plc is as leader in the provision of retirement income, savings and investments, managing investments for both individuals and for large institutional investores, such as pension funds in 28 markets globally.
As an active long-term manager of cusomters’ money, we invest in a very wide range of asset classes and markets around the world. And, in keeping with our long history and tradition we have never stopped innovating for our customers.