Gergana Argirova | London Music Box
Gergana Argirova is the Founder of London Music Box (''LMB'') and the principle ASD teacher there. She believes music should be available to all ages, all races, all abilities and disabilities and backgrounds.
LMB brings together mainstream students and people on the Autism Spectrum (“ASD”), without labelling and division. Her business aims to to smash the stigma and dispel the myth that ASD students are not as normal as “normal” people are and educate society that people should not be dismissed solely because they are on the Autism Spectrum.
Gergana’s passion for piano was ignited at age 5 when she first started receiving lessons. She has trained at some of the best schools and universities working with some of the best pianists across the world. From the outside looking in, Gergana’s path has looked easy and many assume she is from an affluent background. But this is far from the truth. Gergana comes from a humble background in Bulgaria and grew up with her family struggling to make ends meet.
Gergana was able to pursue piano because her school offered free lessons at the time. There were many times when she was afraid her musical training would come to an end due to finances and the only reason she was able to continue was through full scholarship funds, including her Bachelors and Master’s Degree at the University of Denver which were highly competitive. It was her passion for music that fuelled her determination in securing the funding she desperately needed to continue her education.
When moving to the UK in 2012, an acquaintance of hers had a son on the Autism Spectrum and had shared with her the troubles in finding a music teacher who would embrace a student on the Autism Spectrum and openly accept him as one. This prompted Gergana to create equal opportunity for all people on the Autism Spectrum to learn music. She has dedicated her life to this cause and her work has been recognised through both UK and international awards.
In 2018 LMB won ‘’Small Business Entrepreneur’’ with PickYourself UK.
In 2019, LMB won both the jury and the public award for ‘’Innovation business of 2019’’, as well as the ‘’Educational Business of 2019’’ in the Bulgarian Business Awards.
Gergana was a finalist in the 2019 Southwark Business Awards in the categories ‘’Entrepreneur of the Year’’ and ‘’Women in Business’’.
Sarah Otner | Imperial College Business School
Dr. Sarah Otner FHEA CMBE FRSA is a Research Fellow in the Department of Management at Imperial College Business School, and a Visiting Lecturer at ESMT Berlin.
She is also an Affiliate Fellow of the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London, and an alumna and current affiliate of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Dr. Otner earned a Ph.D. in Management (Organisational Behaviour) and an MSc.Res. in Organisational & Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an A.B. (cum laude) in Psychology from Harvard College.
Dr. Otner is a behavioral scientist focused on how individuals gain and maintain social status for themselves, and how they judge deservingness to allocate social status to others. Her research focuses on awards and prizes, and especially the design of, and the mechanisms that drive, competitions. Her current work involves peer effects among elites, and invisible status effects during blinded judging. She has studied the Nobel Prize in Physics, popular book awards, and innovation challenges. Her research has been published in The Journal of Management Inquiry, Psychological Bulletin, and Network Science. Dr. Otner uses the theories of status and competition in order to identify pathways to impact for society to solve its “wicked problems”, especially inequality.
Dr. Otner is part of the Innovation Caucus (a joint task force between the Economic and Social Research Council & Innovate UK), a charitable trustee of The Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust, and a member of the Rotary Club of Surbiton.
Kiran Satti | Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust - Holyhead Primary Academy
Education empowers. This underpins Kiran's why and her narrative, as a teacher and leader.
Kiran began her teaching career in 2010. She has taught across both KS1 and 2 and in Early Years. During this time, she has also taught in Tanzania and this experience still motivates her to ensure equity and equality weaves through her classroom practice. Over her 10 years in education, she has led Pupil Voice, Science and currently is fulfiling her dream role as English Leader, within the Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust - Holyhead Primary.
Kiran is a very passionate advocate of reading and its limitless impact on a child's learning journey. She reviews books for Just Imagine, supports Tiny Owl Publishers and talks readily at conferences centred on the purpose and power of reading for children.
One of Kiran's proudest achievements was becoming a Regional Leader for the grassroots movement, Womened. She has facilitates, presents and has curated events as well as working collaboratively to ensure women's voices are heard and strengthened through empowerment, sisterhood and support.
Clare Barnard | Dechert LLP
Clare is an associate in Dechert's global Trial, Investigations and Securities practice specialising in multijurisdictional bribery and corruption investigations, as well as being a qualified yoga teacher.
Clare studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University but had always considered a career in the Law. Clare taught windsurfing around her studies for the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course. In her mid-twenties, she left beach life in the Dominican Republic in order to start her training contract at the London office of a US law firm. On qualification, Clare joined their global disputes practice where she developed her experience in complex commercial litigation, civil fraud, investigations and financial regulation.
Clare moved to Dechert in order to specialise in white collar crime. She has most recently worked on the landmark Airbus SE case: a global investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, and subsequent coordinated settlements with the UK Serious Fraud Office, French Parquet National Financier, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of State.
Clare is co-chair of Dechert London's Global Women's Initiative, and seeks to collaborate with new and existing clients in diversity events and initiatives. She is also an Aspiring Solicitors Ambassador, having attended comprehensive schools and received a full bursary while at Oxford. In 2020, Clare received a Dechert Exceptional Teachers award for her mentoring of junior lawyers.
Clare loves to teach things that she loves to others. Clare trained as a yoga teacher over the course of a year in her spare time in order to fill the gap from no longer teaching windsurfing. She finds that yoga balances the more contentious aspects of her day job and brings a greater sense of mindfulness into her work. Clare enjoys teaching a free weekly lunchtime yoga class to her colleagues in the office, which is attended by all levels of fee-earners and staff. Clare continues to windsurf, has most recently developed her kitesurfing skills, and remains happiest in, on or under the water.
Denise Chippindale | General Assembly
Denise Chippindale is Marketing Manager at General Assembly.
Having worked there for more that 3.5 years, her work has spanned from partnerships, campaigns, events and community initiatives. She has developed over 400 events for the public, implementing free workshops and classes to make education accessible to all.
Denise believes in expanding the skillset of the London community and is quite passionate in helping individuals to pursue a career they love. She is co-founder of 'The 2030 Movement' which is a free, full day festival that hosts over 30 workshops for people to participate, learn new skills and having fun whilst doing it. Alongside her incredible team, Denise aims to strive to continuously create an inclusive and supportive environment when people walk through the doors of GA.
Previously, Denise was a graphic designer at a small education startup in which she took on the role of expanding operations across Australia and developing her skillset into sales and marketing. Denise previously was The Design Kids host in both Sydney and London, which has formed into a global meet up that helps individuals bridge the gap between students and industry. As you can see, her passion lies deeply in education in various forms.
Thea Osmund-Smith | No5 Chambers
Thea qualified as a Barrister in 2010 and specializes in Planning and Environmental law. Thea is consistently rated by Planning Magazine as one of the top planning barristers under 35 years old and was voted No.3 in 2019.
Chambers and Partners 2019 comments that Thea is:
“Really good with clients, really good on her feet and exceptional with detail. Her work ethic is brilliant.” “Incredibly thorough, incredibly focused and also a very engaging person. A great advocate.”
Thea has a busy planning appeals practice working mainly on behalf of Appellants, and is regularly instructed to appear in High Court matters on behalf of Claimants and Defendants. In 2018, Thea was appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel of Counsel (London).
Thea is a Committee Member for the West Midlands branch of Women in Planning, and passionately advocates the role of women across the planning sector. In her spare time, Thea loves to be outdoors, walking, climbing or cycling, and playing netball with her teenage daughter.
Anne Rose | Mishcon de Reya
Anne is an Associate in the Commercial team and Co-Lead of the Blockchain Group. She has experience in advising on data and privacy issues and a wide range of IT and commercial contracts including IP licences and assignments, franchising, agency, distribution agreements and sponsorship agreements.
Her clients extend across a number of sectors, with a focus on technology, sport, media and retail. She is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and holds a CIPP/E certification. She also has an interest in the use of blockchain and artificial intelligence, and has a diploma in Fintech from the Säid Business School, University of Oxford.
Anne founded a sub-working group of Tech London Advocates Blockchain, focused on legal and regulatory matters which is supported by the Law Society; is a member of thinkBlocktank and APPG Blockchain and has been nominated for numerous awards: in 2019 she was shortlisted for WeAreTechWomen, nominated as one of the most influential women in tech by Computer Weekly and was recognised by Legal 500 2020, noting her as a 'Rising Star' for Commercial contracts.
She has mentored a number of early stage businesses through various incubator programmes, including MdR Lab. Anne also sits on the M:Tech panel, responsible for overseeing the firm's M:Tech initiative and is a mentor for Walpole, the official sector body for UK luxury. In addition, to encouraging those in the tech and retail industry, Anne is committed to promoting and improving diversity in law and is a mentor for Aspiring Solicitors.
Emma Horsfall | Barclays
For the past 13 years I have worked for Barclays bank being branch based up until the end of 2019 when I joined the Digital Eagle team full time.
I have done various projects over the years, from working on the transgender working group, where I did various things like introduce Mx to customer and HR titles, removed the need for a GRC to change gender and various other things. I created a coding device to allow children and adults with disabilities to learn how to code, especially partially sighted people. I formed a work experience group for pwd to find work in environments they would normally be excluded from.
In the most recent months I have been introducing british sign language to people across the bank and teaching them the basics so that we have staff members who can use basic sign language with customers.
Joanne Monck | Evergreen
So, to tell you first about what I do. Everything I do is voluntary. I get no financial reward for any of it.
The reward I do get though is the satisfaction of knowing that I've made a difference towards the understanding and awareness of the LGBT community.
I am a hate crime ambassador and independent advisor to Sussex Police. I also serve as an advisor on the forces Trans External Reference Group, their Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel, the force Command Contact and Control Centre Department advisory group, and the Sussex Police LGBT reference group. I am also a public member of the Sussex Police LGBT Network.
I am a member of the South East Crown Prosecution Service Advisory group.
I am an independent Custody Visitor for the Sussex Police Crime Commissioners Office
I am a Stonewall Schools Role Model
I am the Bluebell Heritage Railways Equality, Inclusion and Diversity advisor and a regular event volunteer for the railway
I am also A National Diversity Mentor and founder of an International Lgbt Hate Support Group on Social Media.
I was born Male in 1955. I spent the first 58 years of my life questioning my identity. Trying to fight my inner self was tough. Doing the macho things, getting married, having children but never happy. Mental health problems and suicidal thoughts triggered my inner self to come out to the world, and in 2014 I changed my name by deed poll to Joanne I had joined the Sourh East Coast Ambulance Service as a volunteer community first responder and became a Diversity Champion for the trust. However in 2016 I had to leave the service due to a life threatening medical condition that I still have.
I diverted my passion for all things Diversity related Sussex Police where I was welcomed as an Independent Advisor and Hate Crime Ambassador, shortly afterwards joining as a voluntary member some of the Forces reference groups. Part of my role in these groups is to help the police become more transparent over diversity issues and enable them to be proactively seen as an inclusive workplace.
I also trained as a Stonewall Schools Role Model. I have given several talks in different schools to Students between the ages of 11 and 18 about my life, focusing on bullying and how it affected me. Education of youth about Diversity, is of paramount importance to the creation of a more accepting society in the future. I had Gender surgery in 2017 and became legally female. I have talked on local radio stations on many occasions when transgender issues pop up in the news. My honesty and integrity is always appreciated.
I've had several operations over the last few years but despite my ill health I rise like the Phoenix from the ashes to continue my passion for supporting the LGBT community and by being open and authentic with all the people I come into contact with I know I am making a difference to the understanding of what it's like to be born into the wrong body. Busting the myths surrounding it and being respected for doing so.
I am the Bluebell Railways EID advisor and regularly volunteer my time to help out at events. My mere presence has changed the attitudes of people towards the LGBT community.
As an independent custody Visitor for the police crime Commissioners office, I visit detainees to ensure they are being treated with dignity and respect.
Last year, after some vile hate on Social media that was directed towards me i decided i needed to do more. Rather than let the hate destroy me, I turned negativity into positivity and founded a private facebook group called International Lgbt Hate Support. The aim of this was to support anyone in the lgbt community who was suffering hate on any level.
I was asked to join the South East Crown Prosecution Services advisory group.
I am passionate about raising awareness and understanding about the Lgbt community. We are all human beings and should respect the values that we all hold. Diversity exists. There is a lot to do to get total acceptance but I believe that no matter how small it may be, I am making a positive difference
Catherine Cobb | Amey
I am a traffic signals design assistant engineer for Amey in Sheffield, I have been with Amey nearly 6 years and have worked my way up from trainee technician to assistant engineer in that time, I have worked in almost every department from street lighting design to highways until I settled in traffic signals.
Before Amey I have worked as a semi-skilled machinist, where I made the alternators for bus engines and before that I was a test and inspector for magnets that went in to missiles.
Before I started working for Amey I took a career break of 15 years to look after my special needs sister after both our parents passed away, in that time I did a mechanical engineering degree at Sheffield Hallam University, once I knew that my sister was settled in here new home and happy I went back to pursue my career in engineering.
The thing that makes my story different is that when I was 7 years old I lost my left leg to an osteocarsoma or bone cancer. I have struggled all my life to be an engineer, but I knew that was what I wanted to be right from the point I took my artificial leg to bits when I was 12 years old.