Jessica Garbett | PwC
I work at PwC as a Manager within the People & Organisation Consulting team, working with clients from across sectors on their people challenges, including how to attract, retain and develop talent.
Through my role I have been able to work with clients on some of society's most complex problems such as preparing for the future of work, upskilling/reskilling, creating an inclusive and diverse workforce and more widely supporting their workforce and HR function transformation.
I am founder and Chair of the PwC UK Social Mobility Network, which comprises of over 900 members, and around 80 Social Mobility Champions who take a active role in driving Social Mobility in their regions and business units with the ultimate goal of maximising the impact that PwC’s Social Mobility initiatives can have on the communities in which we operate and raising awareness of Social Mobility. Social mobility is an area that is close to my heart personally, after growing up in a working class family, hence my passion to make a difference in this space.
Outside of work I am a Trustee of Mind in Brent, Wandsworth and Westminster and I have spoke at events within PwC to encourage colleagues across all grades to take on trustees roles as this is an area where I feel that we can make a big difference, and in particular where young people can bring diverse perspectives to boards.
I am a One Young World Ambassadors and previously co-chaired the PwC One Young World Network, which has a goal of empowering those who are Manager and below to drive change in areas they are passionate about and to raise awareness amongst this group of global issues. As part of this role our network organised a number of internal and external events such as Sustainable Development Goal coffee mornings, larger scale events on climate change and poverty alleviation.
I have been involved in organising annual volunteering 'One Firm One Day' activities for my team (with approx 300-400 participants) over the past few years, and I also participate in fundraising on a regular basis running London Marathon to support this.
Angelica Bagot | Bauer Media - Magic Radio / The Fempire Collective
Angelica is a Digital Content and Video Producer at Magic Radio.
Previously a Social Media Strategist and activation manager at Bauer Media.
To date, she has worked with number of brands in the social digital space such as Sky Cinema, Cancer Research UK, Oxfam, Gumtree, Empire Awards, TRESemme, Camelot, Talk Talk, Topman, Penguin Random House, The Brits, 1xtra Future Sounds and more as well as delivering commercial campaigns across Bauer's leading in-house brands such as Kiss FM, Absolute Radio, Grazia, Heatworld, Magic Radio and Closer.
Angie is a rising leader in social enterprise, the Founder of The Fempire Collective, an initiative created for female DIY entrepreneurs and creatives of the African diaspora to connect and build their brands with the help of experienced industry mentors.
I am also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Forum at Bauer Media and a founding member of the BAME team. In 2019 I led the first observation of Black History Month across all Bauer Media sites for the duration of the month. This included panel talks, mini markets, film screenings and workshops and fitness classes led by women of colour.
Kirsty McKnight | Oliver Wyman
Having studied Economics at the University of Cambridge, I joined Oliver Wyman as a Management Consultant in January 2019.
To date, my work has been mainly focused on the financial services sector working on a variety of different challenges such as leadership effectiveness, cyber security and anti-money laundering.
I have also played an active role in our community co-leading our campus recruitment sponsorships and our women's network external engagements, focusing on ensuring we hire and retain the best talent. Outside of work, I also volunteer as an Ambassador for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Charlotte Wibberley | Association of Professional Virtual Assistants
Charlotte launched the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants in January 2016 keen to support, nurture and champion the VA & Freelance industry, and to create a safe space for high performing online businesses to collaborate, knowledge share and continue their professional development.
She supports & trains aspiring and existing VAs & online business owners as their coach, mentor and chief- cheerleader for their goals and ambitions.
Founder and CEO of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants, Charlotte campaigns heavily to improve industry standards and engage with VAs and business owners alike around the true value of the VA and worth that they bring.
In 2017, she led the #timetoeleVAte campaign in partnership with IPSE to redefine the VA profession, change perceptions and improve how the freelance and VA industry is seen both by those inside and outside. She also ran the inaugural EleVAte conference which pioneered a conference for VAs focussing on them as business owners and entrepreneurs.
Through the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants, Charlotte has introduced a much needed accreditation to the industry and is working towards regulation and professionalising of the VA industry.
Charlotte has been quoted around the subject of women in self-employment on a number of occasions and was proud to be one of the key case studies for Dame Julie Deane’s Self- Employment Review in 2016.
Outside of work Charlotte is wife to fellow entrepreneur Andrew, and mum to Alex, 7 and Evie, 5 who are her ‘big why’ and keep her busy and out of trouble!
Emma Bennett | PwC
Over the last 3 years, my focus has been on driving the growth of PwC’s Financial Services Technology practice.
As a results-driven strategic business manager who enjoys working with complexity, I jumped at the opportunity to help set up and drive this emerging part of the business at a time when both the professional and financial services industries are evolving. Having started out laying the foundations of governance, defining our objectives, and establishing the strategy, I am now working across our Financial Services practice to embed technology into everything we do. Whether it is leading the development of strategies for areas such as FinTech, delivering integrated business, sales and marketing campaigns to pivot our brand, or running our development programme for Future CIOs, I remain focused on 'joining the dots' across what is a complex and multi-matrixed firm in order to drive growth whilst delivering the best experience for our clients.
Alongside my day job, I get involved in a number of activities around the firm: I play an active role in supporting the digital upskilling of those around me through my roles as a Salesforce coach and trainer; I act as a sales coach on PwC’s InsurTech and FinTech programmes, helping high potential start-ups to accelerate their growth by finessing their pitches for different audiences; and until recently, I led communications for PwC’s Disability, Ability and Wellbeing Network (DAWN), highlights of which include leading a webcast for World Mental Health Day which equipped over 250 people with practical tools for managing their own and others’ mental health, and representing DAWN at a Ministerial reception for the Disability Confident scheme.
Prior to joining PwC, I ran the business operations of a young public sector consultancy where I worked as part of the leadership team to strengthen the core foundations of the business and drive operational improvements that would unlock growth. Having joined the firm 4 years earlier, fresh out of university with a degree in English Literature and a fascination with the physicality of Anglo-Saxon words, I took huge value from spending my first year at the firm gaining a breadth of experience across all functions within a consultancy – from marketing, to proposals, to resourcing, contracting and even client delivery on a variety of projects for local government clients.
Outside of my work life I am passionate about food, fitness, and family, and not letting long-term health conditions win.
Hitasha Chandnani | IBM
Growing up in Malaysia, living in a home of Chilean and Indian background and moving to the UK for further education, I gained a 1st class honors degree in Management and IT at Lancaster University.
This sparked my curiosity in technology and created three passions that have shaped my career in IBM: Creating innovative solutions that solve complex business problems, creating environments of inclusions and building bridges between my company, its people, partners, and clients.
The solutions I have created solve the most challenging problems organisations face by bridging together IBM and its strategic partners. Utilising my skills in strategy and digital transformation, I lead the mobile propositions for our newly formed venture with Vodafone. This includes combining Vodafone's next generation 5G network with IBM’s mobile technology to create innovative solutions that redefine user experience and business processes in the palm of users’ hands. Presenting alongside senior executives to clients as an equal, I have been embracing my own identity and adding value with my “cultural” perspectives. The skills I have gained help companies in strategic partnerships understand the significance of blending cultural values to work together and achieve the same goal.
Harwinder Rana | Aon
Harvi is a Senior Consultant and Actuary at Aon who specialises in advising trustees of occupational pension schemes on funding strategies, corporate transactions and liability management.
Harvi started her career at HSBC where she undertook 5 years of actuarial exams after achieving a First in her Masters Degree in Mathematics from the University of Nottingham. She is now passing on her knowledge and has presented to female university students to encourage more females into the actuarial profession.
She is the Deputy Chair of the Pensions Lifelong Learning Committee at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) which has over 30,000 members in over 100 countries. Harvi uses her role to influence wider pensions learning for the profession.
In 2019, Harvi chaired the Annual IFoA Pensions Conference which had a 250+ audience, and was one of the youngest females to do this. Her confident presenting style has also led to her being selected to speak on other occasions.
Harvi uses her personable style to deliver messages in a clear and effective way. She proactively encourages firms to offer individuals more choices at retirement and emphasises the importance of ensuring each individual has access to the right advice to make this life decision. She also advises trustees on equalising historic pensions between men and women.
She brings the same enthusiasm to her hobbies outside of work which include indoor rock climbing and recently abseiling the ArcelorMittal Orbit outside the Olympic Stadium for a cancer charity.
Kirsten Alexander-McGarry | EY
Kirsten grew up in a small peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland where she achieved many successes in Championship Highland Dancing, Performing Arts and Public Speaking, before moving to Glasgow to study for her Masters in International Business with Modern Languages.
Kirsten took part in several initiatives during her time at university, joining societies throughout her studies, working as a youth worker for the Iona Community in her spare time and volunteering for the Glasgow Women's Library - the only accredited museum of women's history in the UK. At the age of 19, Kirsten was offered the opportunity to join the Board of Directors for Glasgow Women's Library, as a representative voice for young women. Kirsten has been an active board member for the past 4 years and continued to commit time to the organisation even throughout her year of study in Lyon, France. In 2017, Kirsten was selected as one of Entrepreneurial Scotland's Saltire Scholars, through which she undertook a 12 week placement with the Cultural Enterprise Office in Glasgow, where she researched and reported on the Diversity & Inclusivity of the Creative Industries in Scotland. Kirsten was also named UK Management Undergraduate of the Year in 2017, which gave her the opportunity to work for the UK's largest car rental firm in London as a Diversity & Inclusion Talent Acquisition Intern. Kirsten was inspired by the Women's Network which she worked alongside at this organisation and so, during her Masters year at the University of Strathclyde, she founded and led the Strathclyde Women in Leadership Network. The network that she created built a community of over 60 young women in its first year and was named Overall University Society of the Year, Community Society of the Year and also won Campaign of the Year for the #NominateHER campaign which Kirsten launched and led. The #NominateHER campaign was part of the wider International Women's Day celebrations for the University, which Kirsten revolutionised, creating an awards process and ceremony celebrating the past, present and future women leaders from the University of Strathclyde - the first event of its kind at the University.
Kirsten joined EY in September 2019, following her graduation from the University of Strathclyde with a Masters in International Business with Modern Languages. Since joining the firm, Kirsten has worked with some of their largest clients on Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, primarily in the area of Women's Empowerment. Within her first six months at EY, Kirsten has already been awarded the International Women's Day 2020 Rising Star Award - a UK wide recognition of her continued dedication to gender parity. Kirsten is a committee member for the Scotland Central Belt EY Women's Network and continues to give back to her community more widely through youth work, mentoring and her position on the board at Glasgow Women's Library.
Georgia Leadbetter | IBM
I am a technologist, in a world where computers are ubiquitous, and it is an exciting place to be.
I studied Computer Science and Business Management at the University of Birmingham, and had the opportunity to captain their 2nd Lacrosse team to promotion. I then followed my passion for sport across the world, volunteering at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Degree in hand, I joined a sports tech start-up. In 2017 I moved to IBM as a consulting graduate, aspiring to bridge the gap between business and technology - combining my technical skills and love of working with people, to achieve collective success. I began in the public sector, as a Testing Manager, where I gained the trust of senior leader’s to migrate critical national systems that process $178Bn a year.
“…as customers our first choice across the board was for Georgia to be involved.” – Client Lead Architect
Having built client rapport I led a workstream stabilising IT operations, reporting to the CTO. We improved Major Incidents by 95% in 4 months. After promotion, I took on my next challenge as an Executive Assistant, broadening my business awareness and supporting our European Gross Profit agenda.
I have had the pleasure of growing our Cloud graduate community from 10 people to 100; creating a brand and leading events to share experience, alongside mentoring new graduates.
The highlight of my career, so far, is being voted by my peers as ‘The next UK General Manager’ … I hope I live up to it!
Kiren Bhardwa | Capgemini
Kiren is a management consultant with a background in International Business, specialising within transformation and business change.
She has worked with a range of clients within Financial, Public, Energy and Defence sector. In addition to her main role, Kiren is the Chair of the Capgemini UK BAME Network and co-lead for Active Inclusion within Business Transformation Services. She has partnered with Central HR and Centres of Excellence to develop, review and implement strategic communications, events and inclusive practices into learning & development.