Giulia Olayemi | Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Giulia Olayemi is presently a 2nd year Medical Student at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
She previously graduated from Queen Mary University of London, with a 1st Class Honours in Biochemistry. Asides from her studies, Giulia advocates empowerment and supports her local community. She has multiple roles, one being the current Vice President London and is part of the first ever trilogy of women leading Barts and the London Students Association. As President of the African and Caribbean Society, Giulia led the organisation of the biggest UK University Black-owned Business Fair, with 50 Businesses in attendance! Giulia was crowned the Miss EBONY Ambassador UK 2019 and will be travelling in Nigeria this year to deliver her voluntary project. Her desire to constantly push boundaries has propelled her to do everything she does and make real contributions to society.
Hannah McNamara | Citi
After finishing school at 18 I attended a Further Education College to study an HND in Computing and Systems Development.
I was one of 3 women in my class for the 2 year course. I found that Women in STEM subjects, especially LGBTQ+ women were underrepresented and I decided to run for the Students Union elections. I was elected as SU Secretary from 2012-2014. During campaigns against budget cuts, I got involved with NUS-USI, the student movement in Northern Ireland and in 2013 I was elected as Further Education Officer. I championed campaigns against budget cuts, to improve student mental health and welfare, for LGBTQ+ inclusion and women in STEM subjects. I held this role until 2015.
During my time in NUS-USI, I got involved in politics and joined the Green Party in Northern Ireland in 2013 and was elected as chair of my local constituency group aged 19. I held this role for 2 years. In 2014 I graduated from college and joined Queens University in Belfast to study BSc Hons in Computing and IT. I was out out during this time, although I campaigned strongly for Marriage Equality in Northern Ireland in my roles within the students union and the Green Party.
In 2017, I was elected as Local Representative for my local constituency for the Greens and worked towards securing a Local Council seat in the 2019 elections. In 2018, I came out publicly as bisexual to highlight the erasure of bi+ people in society and especially politics. I was elected Chair of Queer Greens and we continued to campaign passionaltely for Marriage Equalty in NI, despite having no government to lobby at this time. I narrowly lost the council seat election by 70 votes after a notable battle against a former DUP councillor who left the party after he supported LGBTQ+ inclusion by voting for lighting a local town hall in rainbow colours during LGBT awareness week in NI.
Whilst studying and college and uni, aged 18 I joined the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and worked there part time for 5 years whilst studying. I first worked in the Emergency Control Room and finished in the Resource Centre after I graduated university in 2017.
After graduating I secured a graduate position at Citi and joined their Technology Academy. Shortly after joining Citi, I joined the Citi Pride Network in Belfast as a member of the steering committee. We spearheaded campaigns for marraige equality in NI within the corporate sector, working with Love Equality to create Businesses4LoveEquality. Citi were the lead signatory on a letter to the government supporting marriage equality. I am currently the Co-Chair of the network and it is now part of my day job to promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
Evlynne Smith | IBM
Evlynne joined IBM as a graduate 8 years ago and started to work in the retail industry as a delivery project manager.
Over the next 4 years, Evlynne grew her portfolio of projects, programmes and clients to manage multi-million pound opportunities and became recognised for her delivery excellence.
As part of a restructure Evlynne was asked to move from Retail to Travel and Transport and focus on improving the delivery on focal clients. One year later, she was asked to reinvent her self in to a sales role and excelled signing 3 new logos to the landscape in a year. She joined the Go To Market team within her sector at IBM and now splits her time between sales and delivery for large travel and transport clients.
Evlynne is passionate and driven and this shines in the work she delivers for her clients. She is passionate about people and mentors a number of individuals to excel in their careers. Previously nominated as a finalist in the Everywoman in Travel Awards, Evlynne is not just seen as an SME within T&T in IBM, but is developing her eminence in the market as well.
Patrice Gordon-Mantey | Virgin Atlantic
Patrice is a Chartered Accountant, qualifying with PwC in 2009 before moving to specialise in Commercial finance within the Airline industry.
She recently moved into the Commercial team lead the Joint Venture with Delta Air Lines & Air France & KLM. She has always had a passion for people and is also a qualified executive and life coach seeking to help people be their best selves.
Susan Keir | British Army
My eighteen-year career has seen me serve exclusively within the Royal Logistic Corps of the British Army.
In that time, I have gained an excellent knowledge across the defence logistics spectrum, progressed as manager and leader and developed other skills outside of my vocational field.
As a logistician I have been employed in both first- and second-line accounting departments. I have managed stand-alone accounts throughout this period where effective forecasting, provisioning and delivery in-barracks and on Operations to high customer satisfaction has underpinned each role. Each role has been different and each account dynamic, with the complexity of work reflecting each promotion I have gained. This has culminated in my present role that sees me as a Warrant Officer and as such a logistics middle manager of all general equipment for three Very High Readiness and one Extremely High Readiness Medical Squadron working to 16 Air Assault Brigade. I now provide Subject Matter Expertise to assisting the logistics manager of all general and medical equipment on Operations and exercises over an extended supply line. I act as an advisor to the Command Team on all technical accounting procedures and liaison on logistic matters with military and civilian outside agencies on behalf of the logistics manager (Quartermaster).
My progression from Private Soldier to Warrant Officer in the space of eighteen years has meant I have had to develop my management and leadership skills in line with my vocational role. I have achieved this through the formal military Command, Leadership and Management syllabus. The final part of which has allowed me to develop my report and essay writing skills, my understanding of the theory of management has given me a comprehensive framework with which to manage and develop the soldiers under my command. However, the experience I have gained from having a varied and challenging career has also meant that I have been entrusted to ‘step up’ to carry out tasks of the rank above my current position that has seen me successfully attend and brief meetings at the senior command level.
Complementing my military experience has been my participation in the numerous activities that have been made available to me during my career. A keen sportswoman, I have played representative sport in in Athletics, Boxing, Netball and Football. Very much in line with my professional development, my sporting development has witnessed me go from team member to team organiser and mentor. This has given me the opportunity to produce formal written work outside of my vocational field. I have also represented the Royal Logistic Corps on the Corps Netball and Recruiting Team where my ability to present articulately and succinctly to a diverse and demanding audience was developed. This has stood me in good stead throughout and helped underpin the skills I have used to brief during my military career.
As a manager, I have had to set directions and inspire others to work together to achieve challenging outcome; I have fostered a good team relationship based upon an honest work ethic and respect for others. As the team changes with the assignment plot, new members are inducted into the Regiment and the department as a matter of course. I hold weekly briefs where tasks ahead and the standard expected are outlined and discussed to ensure that best practice is always achieved. I monitor progress with regular updates provided by the relevant team member. This allows for early intervention if a task is going astray as well as developing junior members of the team in their oral and written communication skills.
Saskia Demeyere | Transport for London
Following a career break after having worked in investment banking for some years I joined Transport for London about 5 years ago.
As a complete novice to the industry I started out as a bus station controller and worked my way up through to a Regional Support Manager and then on to my current role as a Service Delivery Manager in Surface Transport. The job role includes managing Walthamstow Bus Station and the team that work there. Walthamstow is the 3rd busiest bus station in London and brings with it many operational challenges. The other aspect of the role is working together with several stakeholders to help mitigate the impact of roadworks and events on the bus network within Waltham Forest and Epping. Managing a large geographical area with dispersed staff keeps things interesting and no two days are alike. I have a keen interest in raising mental health awareness within the operational environment. My home life is also extremely busy as a working mum to 4 children but if I do get some rare spare time I love to read and catch up with friends.
Vivien Yip | Transport for London
The last few years have been such a whirlwind of activities and emotions. However, I'm proud of what I have achieved to date and I'm flattered to be recognised in my current new role!
I first moved to the UK at the age of 13 where I completed my GCSEs and A levels in Surrey, followed by a BSc Biomedical Science degree at the University of Kent. My initial plan was to proceed with studying medicine however decided against it and went for a Sales Executive role which I fell in love with. This role allowed me to speak to international delegates in industries such as Oil & Gas, Infrastructure and Construction, Mining, Energy Trading etc. which I found fascinating! I was very quickly promoted to a Sales Manager, managing and mentoring a team of people where I have gained a great amount of experience, particularly in how to work with people with different beliefs and backgrounds. I then decided to move to a larger sized company to continue my development however I fell into a deep depression which prevented me from work and even my day-to-day tasks. Mental well-being is crucial and I knew I had to take time off for myself. During that period, I have made a lot of changes in regards to my personal life as well as how I would like to progress in my career, which led me to applying for Project Manager roles and into TfL. I've never looked back since and I believe this is no doubt the best choice I have made to date!
Vicky Ager | Amey
A bit about me! I am a Senior Project Manager working at Amey Consulting within the Rail Design Central team, I didn’t start my career intending to join the Transport and Logistics world.
Graduating with a History and German joint honours degree, I was interested in teaching, however my career aspirations changed when the Transport and Infrastructure industry caught my eye. Working for a company that impacts 25% of the UK population through a diverse range of services daily, was something I wanted to be part of. Having worked at Amey now for almost 8 years I have never looked back!
As part of a Management Graduate Programme I undertook rotational roles across our business and loved the variety and the challenge; from Commercial Assistant working on a Highways Operational Contract negotiating aged debt and measuring work, to project managing schemes on a TechMAC in the West Midlands. The most memorable post I had was mobilising and working on one of our major FM contracts, then managing the FM operations of over 200 buildings across central London.
Since then, I have worked in several roles, all quite different but very rewarding. I moved to Group Procurement following the Graduate Scheme and spent time running bids and mobilisations for the function. Here I thrived amongst the fast pace of mobilisations and enjoyed the challenge of negotiations!
In the last 4 years I have worked as Business Improvement Manager within Highways Design, rolling out a Lean Business Improvement Programme across Amey and achieving a best in class scores at Highways England Lean Maturity Assessments. Prior to my current role, I acted as Demobilisation Manager for some of our contracts coming to close in the UK, and formed part of the management team during a large integration of a new business that Amey welcomed.
I am always looking for new opportunities and hence the move to become a Rail Design Senior Project Manager was welcomed in 2018. Since then I have worked on projects in the UK and internationally, this has provided me with a clear understanding of and adapting to different cultures and their working methods. Going forwards, I continue to search out challenging opportunities that will push me to excel both within the business and outside.
Christina Chinnian | Highways England
After achieving my degree in biology at the University of York, I joined the water industry as a graduate management trainee in 2003.
During my time in the water sector, I focused my career primarily on asset risk management, utility regulation, business planning and capital programme delivery. I gained asset management and operational experience and led teams responsible for investment programme management, capital efficiency and regulatory business planning. Latterly I led the Programme Management Office for my previous company’s £2bn capital investment programme.
Giving something back is important to me and during this period I was an active ambassador for the charity WaterAid, colleague mentor, STEM subject ambassador for North Yorkshire and company speaker. During this time, I also became a full-time working mum of two boys, now ten and eight years old, who keep me young, fit and busy outside of work!
After 15 successful years in the water industry, I realised that it was time for a new challenge in a new organisation. I won’t lie – at the time changing industry and employer was a pretty scary prospect but something I personally needed to do. I joined Highways England in 2018 as a Team Leader in the Strategy and Planning Directorate and I'm delighted to say that I haven’t looked back. In my current role I am responsible for leading the Client Sponsorship team for Highways England. Acting as a strategic sponsor, I carry out a key monitoring and compliance role; working with the wider business to understand progress against the company’s multi-billion pound investment programme and providing specialist support and advice. My remit also includes working with, influencing and reporting to external stakeholders such as the Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road. I am looking forward to many more years in the roads sector; leading, developing and helping people to grow in an industry that provides such an important public service.
Shona Clive | Babcock
I've around 24 years experience in marketing and communications primarily in the rail sector but also in the power and communications infrastructure markets.
Specifically, I have experience of bidding, business development, internal communications, employee engagement, external communications, change communications, branding, communication and engagement around mobilisation of major contracts, TUPE in, TUPE out, culture change programmes and much more. I have worked in a limited company, a small PLC and a large FTSE 250 PLC and have gained a wealth of experience from each.
I am fascinated in people and what makes them tick. Using creativity to engage with people is something I take great pride in. I also like being challenged to think differently and get a new perspective on things and that is why diversity and inclusion interests me so much. I was delighted to be appointed as Chair of Women in Rail Scotland, not just because I wholeheartedly support addressing the gender imbalance in the rail sector but also because diversity and inclusion is the right business approach to take, not least because a diverse and inclusive business generates better results; better financial performance, better innovation, higher customer satisfaction among many other benefits.
Flying the flag for diversity and inclusion in the Scottish rail sector is a privilege and Women in Rail provides a great platform from which to grow an even stronger voice, working with like-minded organisations across the industry. I also am the lead for the Women's Group in the Land sector of Babcock International Group PLC and I am on the steering group of the Rail Systems Alliance Scotland Social and Wellbeing group.