Fariha Alauddin | Barclays
Fariha joined Barclays in 2017 on the Business Banking graduate scheme.
Throughout the duration of her programme, she has worked in multiple teams across the country, focusing on Strategy, Specialist Finance, SME Coverage (Creative Industries & TMT) and Wealth Management. She has helped shape new products and propositions in business banking, participated in additional workstreams leveraging new technologies to deliver customer-centric offerings and shaped client acquisition strategies. She is passionate about Sustainability and Social Impact and has a particular interest in the Longevity & Disability market. She brings together her experience in Healthcare with knowledge of Public Policy and Finance to leverage new technologies in the shaping of propositions to drive positive change in this market.
After winning the Barclays Social Innovation Challenge in 2019, Fariha joined the Intrapreneurship Incubator in Barclays Ventures. She is currently developing a platform focusing on the Disability & Ageing market. Her proposition brings together the public and private sectors, utilising machine learning and data to provide a more holistic solution for multiple user-groups aligned to this market.
Fariha is heavily involved in the Barclays diversity agenda and community projects, specifically with the development of the female pipeline. She is a committee member of the Northern Diversity Council and the WIN Juniors’ Hub. She leads the Think Tank initiative, a 3-month internal consulting project that tackles a business-led problem whilst developing the entrepreneurial and consulting skills of the pipeline talent at Barclays. This year, she is exploring how Barclays can further empower Female Founders across the UK.
She has been involved in multiple mentoring programmes both at Barclays and externally, helping females from diverse backgrounds pursue careers in Banking & Finance. In addition to this, she mentors early-stage startups focusing on Social Impact and is currently supporting the development of a VC fund for student-led businesses at QMUL.
Danny Pallett | Dark Horses & Badass.Gal
Danny is a senior creative at Dark Horses, a creative agency that works in the world of sport with brands such as Nissan, Puma and Just Eat.
He's particularly passionate about helping bridge the gap between the creative industry and education which is showed through his work with the Young Creative Council. He is also the Co-Founder of Badass.Gal, a platform that exists to elevate, celebrate and up-skill young female creative talent. To date, Badass.Gal has championed over 400 young women and provided 10 Adobe workshops thus far.
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.
Garry Samson | Nationwide Building Society
I am a Regional Director for Nationwide Building Society. I am responsible for The North Region which consists of over 80 branches across Scotland, Northern Ireland and The North of England.
I have been in financial services all my life having started working as a cashier in a bank straight from school. I am passionate about development and graduated myself in Dec 2019 from Loughborough University with a MSc in Leadership & Management.
In addition to my role as a Regional Director, I have become responsible for leading all our people development initiatives for our frontline colleagues. Whilst we have comprehensive leadership programmes for everyone, the senor executive team that I am part of is still not truly reflective of the people we lead. This year I have commissioned additional development aimed at our female and BAME leaders, early in the leadership careers.
Partnering with The Ivy House programme has been superb and already we are seeing our participants flourish. I aim to continue to give our talented delegates opportunities to grow and develop so that the senior executive team of the future, is truly representative of The Society we serve.
I am married with 3 grown up children, I coach a youth football team in my spare time and I enjoy sport, reading, holidays and going to music gigs.
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.
Wil Benton | ATI Boeing Accelerator
Wil is the Venture & Ecosystem Director at ATI Boeing Accelerator, a 3-month programme for world-class startups building industry 4.0 and sustainability enabling technologies, with the potential to bolster the growth and competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry.
Prior to becoming Venture & Ecosystem Director at the accelerator, Wil delivered similar programmes at the Ignite accelerator, directly supporting 38 companies in accelerator and pre-accelerator programmes. Wil is also a former co-founder and CEO of Chew, a music-tech startup that was acquired in 2017 after scaling to ~400,000 global users, and alumni of Ignite [Prog. 5, Winter 2014].
Wil is an active angel investor (15+ investments to date) and startup mentor. In his free time, he manages a chart-topping record label and DJs around Europe and the US.
Ranajoy Basu | McDermott, Will & Emery
Ranajoy Basu focuses his practice on structured finance with key experience in debt capital markets transactions.
He has a broad range of experience in international capital markets advising a wide range of participants, including arrangers, originators, servicers and trustees, in connection with the securitisation of a wide variety of assets in numerous jurisdictions, including emerging markets transactions.
Ranajoy has a particular focus on emerging markets transactions, and is recognised as an industry leader by both, Legal 500 and Chambers. He joins as the Head of the Firm’s India practice. He regularly advises on a broad range of capital markets and complex structured finance transactions including external foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and qualified institutional placements (QIPs) relating to India. He has advised banks on some of the largest corporate debt defaults and restructuring in India.
Ranajoy is recognised as one of the World’s leading lawyers in cross-border social impact finance structures, including social and development impact bonds, renewable energy and “green” structured finance transactions. Ranajoy has advised on some of the most innovative financial inclusion structures around the world, including the Educate Girls Social Impact Bond, which aims to improve the education of children in India, and the recent ground-breaking Utkrisht Bond, which is aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality. Ranajoy continues to advise foundations, governments, NGOs, impact funds and financial institutions on structuring social impact finance solutions. He recently advised on the ground breaking International Finance Facility for Education, which is the largest funding mechanism targeting education programmes around the world.
Ranajoy is recognised as a pioneer in impact investment. His work has included the market leading ‘Educate Girls’ bond which was the first development impact bond of its kind. His clients have ranged from GAVI, UNICEF, World Bank, IFC, to governments, financial institutions, funds, charitable institutions, NGOs and microfinance institutions around the world. He has been involved on ground breaking work for Wattpad, Theirworld and The Global Business Coalition for Education.
Ashkan Pitchforth | South Cliff Dental Group
Ashkan founded South Cliff Dental Group in April 2015 following his desire to create a group of practices which puts patients’ interests at its heart.
He is responsible for the overall strategy of the group and its focus. His extensive dental knowledge and experience is vital to the dental industry and the group. Ashkan qualified from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Dental School in 2009 with honours.
Between 2010 - 2015 Ashkan worked in a variety of NHS practices across Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex. After founding his own practice, he grew this in areas he has either stayed; visited; went to school; or had a significant interest in from a family perspective. For example, he stayed with his family in a Holiday Inn in Eastleigh, Southampton, in 2013 and went on to purchase a practice in Eastleigh 4 years later.
South Cliff Dental Group is one of the few groups of NHS practices which are open 6 days a week. The group intends to maintain good working relationships with colleagues who contribute to the overall care of our patients. For example, we are promoting the Kent County Council’s OneYouKent scheme in our Kent practices; working towards becoming Dementia Friendly Practices as part of the Health Education Thames Valley Scheme; strong promoters of Making Every Contact Count in our practices; and liaising with Health Visitors and local GPs to promote Dental Checks by 1 (DCby1) as part of the modified Starting Well Programme. We have increased recycling of materials by 53% over the last 3 years, and reduced our carbon footprint through simple methods such as staff car-sharing to travel to work. In our Westbury practice, we exclusively use Renewable Green energy from Engie UK. We also make use of energy efficient lighting, recycling waste bins, and sustainability posters on display for patient education.
Additionally, Ashkan is an Executive Member of the West Sussex Local Dental Committee, which strives to represent dentists on a local and national level. He also works as a Clinical Dental Advisor for NHS England South East (Kent, Surrey and Sussex). He has mentored younger dentists for Health Education England over a three year period.
Outside of work, Ashkan relaxes by watching films and visiting the gym. He loves spending time with his family, especially dancing with his children.