Joanna Abeyie | Hyden
“I’m driven by the passion to see real and lasting change. My mission is to continue to steer the diversity agenda and create a more inclusive environment in creative industry for people from a myriad of ethnicities and backgrounds. From the boardroom, all the way down to entry-level.”
Joanna Abeyie is in a class of her own, a new breed of business leader, she is an award-winning, agenda-setting Diversity champion and recruiter, social campaigner, TV executive, broadcaster and journalist.
Aged just 29, there are few under 30s that can claim similar achievements, one of which being among Broadcast magazine’s hotshots of 2016. Joanna founded the award-winning creative industry diverse talent recruitment business Shine Media in 2009, which recently morphed into Hyden (taken from the old English word for ‘hidden’), as part of leading global recruiter SThree PLC. Hyden is an Executive Search Firm and Diversity Consultancy Practice Having helped to place more than 3,000 people from diverse backgrounds in permanent and freelance jobs in the creative industries, it is Joanna’s efforts in improving the creative industry’s diversity that truly have made her stand out.
As a campaigner for diversity within the publishing, TV, Radio, Digital and Creative Industries, Joanna is regularly at the centre of the diversity agenda, leading conversations around inclusion and representation. She is often called upon to steer, lead, plan, create or participate in established industry events or radio and TV discussions around the diversity conversation. Joanna worked as a consultant and became a key diversity partner for the BBC, ITV, ITN, Channel 4, Sky and The Guardian among others.
Joanna grew up in South London to a Ghanaian civil servant father and English mother. It was a working class family and she regularly witnessed a dearth of opportunities amongst her local community. Following graduation from Reading University where Joanna studied English and Sociology, these observations continued into her working life as she worked in a string of roles at many of the big magazine publishers, going onto do a Masters in Magazine Journalism at London’s City University.
“I noticed that in every one of my placements, everywhere I went the workplace had little or no variety. Where was the working class, where were the ethnic minorities? I was 17 years old, and I decided I wasn’t going to rest on my laurels. I wanted to do something to help bring about change.”
Displaying a rare work ethic, creative vision and sheer drive for someone so young, Joanna co-founded employment charity Elevation Networks aged just 19 while studying English & Sociology at Reading University. The charity still exists today and is a multi-award winning youth employment charity that develops the leadership potential in talented young people.
Joanna’s story doesn’t end there. She also harboured a passion to tell stories that challenge preconceptions of stereotypes and unearth hidden social subcultures. This saw her set up own production company LH Productions in 2014. It has seen her produce and present programmes on children of alcoholics for ITV This Morning at the end of 2016, as well as segments on female ex-offenders struggling to find employment for BBC Inside Out. In 2016, Channel 4 gave Joanna her biggest commission to date with Hip Hop Millionaires, a series of C4 shorts co-produced by LH with Sugar Films, Big Head Productions and supported by The TV Collective.
“It was a really exciting time for me, to get my first big commission from Channel 4, my aim with my TV work is to create spiky factual content, it isn’t always comfortable to watch, but I feel I have to find those stories, those individuals that are hidden from the rest of society and help them find a voice.”
“Joanna is a really exciting talent,” enthuses Sugar Films managing director Pat Younge “She combines her important work off-screen with a growing portfolio of commissions on a range of stories and subjects. She is definitely one to watch.”
The final string to Joanna’s bow is being a multi award-winning journalist and broadcaster with over ten years of experience in current affairs, news and entertainment news both in the UK and America. Joanna has interviewed some of the business and entertainment world's most reputable and successful professionals, politicians and celebrities for the BBC, ITV, Sky News, The Times Online, The Mail Online, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC London, The Sun and Daily Mirror. Joanna also presents her own Sunday evening news and events roundup on BBC Radio London’s Dotun Adebayo show.
Joanna’s social campaigning has seen her gain a seat on the NUJ’s Black Members Council, a role on the Board of Director’s for The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, The Media Council, Investor in People and the board of advisers for Ghana-based leadership and upskilling initiative Cedi Street. She has also been a judge for awards including Audio Production Awards, Professional Publishers Association New Talent Awards, Royal Television Society Awards to name just a few.
Joanna’s TV work stands out in that it will decidedly be away from the worlds of showbiz and entertainment, but instead the purpose of her content will be not primarily to entertain, but to educate and inform. This strategic mission to create, lead and inspire, in tandem with Joanna’s ambitions for Hyden, reveals a visionary approach.
“I feel that I have a social responsibility to keep campaigning for change. I am passionate about helping individuals achieve their full potential regardless of background. My ultimate goal is to facilitate social change through my work.”
www.hydentalent.com
Twitter & Instagram: joanna_abeyie
Charlotte Jackson | Ministry of Justice
I have been active in LGBTQI advocacy ever since university in the 1990s, when I lobbied Parliament for the repeal of Section 28, lowering the age of consent for gay and bisexual men, and campaigning for better support for LGBT students at a time when it was scarce. At that time, I worked in the infamous LGBT cafe/bar, First Out, and became involved in promotions and fundraising in Soho in the late 90s. I began my professional career in the voluntary sector where I spent 10 years as a Communications Manager working on campaigns such as reproductive and sexual health projects in Africa and Asia; community and social enterprise with economically-deprived UK communities; and welfare to work initiatives with lone parents and ex-offenders.
I joined the Civil Service in 2008 in the Home Office and then Victims and Witnesses Policy, establishing myself as an expert in assessing equality impacts of policy decisions.. In 2012 I moved into a corporate role in HR, where I work in Diversity and Inclusion. Since 2015, I have been voluntary Chair of Spirit, the MoJ LGBTQI network and on the steering board of the consortium of LGBT+ networks in the public sector. During my tenure I have helped drive LGBTQI inclusion in MoJ through reforming HR policy, developing LGBTQI guidance for all staff, nurturing over 70 LGBTQI staff and allies to share their stories, and leading MoJ from 204 to 13 in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index as well as achieving Gold status in the a;gender TIP measuring workplace trans inclusion. I also volunteer for the charity Diversity Role Models where I share my story as a LGBTQI role model in school to build LGBTQI awareness and reduce homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
When I first came out, following a difficult period of acceptance, I found a community of solidarity which me recognise that I could put this experience to good use in showing others that even though it is scary, we have the power to change culture and thinking by being authentic and part of a wider dialogue. I have never been in the closet at work. And this meant that I was the victim of banter, stereotyping and direct discrimination. However, I developed resilience and with each new job I pushed the boundaries further in incorporating LGBTQI inclusion in my work. I have always had the belief that you sometimes have to make it hard for yourself now to make it easier for others in the future. It has meant that I have led from a position of understanding and experience as I was there as some of the worst times when we didn’t have equality legislation to protect us. It means I can constructively challenge where I still see inequality happening.
Rachel Esilaba | American Express
Rachel is a tenacious and results-driven Global Procurement professional with over five years of experience working within global matrix organisations. She currently works as an EMEA Category Manager at American Express and co-chairs the UK Chapter of the Black And Asian Network. She is also one of the founding committee members of Toastmasters in the London office.
Christina Riley | Kier Group plc
Christina transitioned from male to female in the workplace in 2014 while working at Balfour Beatty in the construction sector. She graduated at the University of the West of England with a Building Engineering & Management Degree in 1993. Her career began working as an assistant site engineer at St Johns College Oxford, and went on to work on projects like the British Airways World Cargo Centre , where she was an Assistant Site Manager.
Christina moved into the Planning Department and moved onto more challenging projects including the Olympic Village ,Lakeside Shopping Centre and All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon. After 23 years with Gallford Try she moved to Balfour Beatty to work on 13 schools including a new secondary school in Reading.
Since her transition , Christina has become an ambassador for the company and has given over 35 industry talks on Equality, Diversity , Inclusion , Fairness and Respect. As well as talks on mental health support in the workplace.
Christina became chair of the Balfour Beatty LGBT and Allies Network in 2015 , and has been recognised with a number of awards including the British LGBT Awards Corporate Rising Star. Christina lead the network to win at the CECA Civil Engineers Contractors Association Awards in 2016.
Christina is also a CITB Construction Ambassador , giving talks in schools on careers advice.
Her volunatary work over laps with her day job, and has been invited to a number of high profile clients to speak on Diversity and Inclusion , and transitioning in the workplace. Christina works closely with Executive Sponsors on the Balfour Beatty board, raising awareness of greater diversity and inclusion in the Construction industry.
Linda Esilaba | Barclays
Linda is currently working as a Business Manager in Barclays for Macro with a focusing on Regulatory Implementation for the front office. Her team plays an integral role in providing commercial guidance and client-focus on Regulatory projects impacting the business. Most recently, she supported the delivery of MiFID II and GDPR, ensuring challenges for the business as a result of these two new regulations were identified, well understood and the eventual handover to BAU owners was planned for, communicated and executed.
Prior to this, Linda worked in Risk and Finance Change and Strategic and Regulatory Change, gaining a broad knowledge of large-scale regulations including IFRS9, Spanish Market Reform and Target-2 Securities. Her professional experience covers project management, business and functional requirement analysis, stakeholder management and governance.
Linda graduated with a First Class Honours Master of Engineering degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from Loughborough University. She joined Barclays after graduating in 2014 and completing a summer internship with the firm in 2013. Linda has also held prior internships with Google, Goldman Sachs and Nomura International.
Paige Horton | Citi
Paige is a Diversity & Inclusion Advisor at Citi specializing in BAME, disability and LGBT+ inclusion. During her time at Citi, Paige has worked on award winning projects and was selected to be part of a small innovation circle for the HR department. Paige is a committee member of the Citi Pride (LGBT+) Network in London, where she acts as the Trans* representative and D&I Advisor. Outside of work, Paige is the youngest member of the Gay Women’s Network steering committee and runs monthly networking events in Canary Wharf for LGBT+ women and non-binary people. She is an alum of the Stonewall Young Leaders programme and a volunteer for Diversity Role Models, a UK charity which aims to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. She graduated from Lancaster University in 2015 with a BSc in Business Studies.
Lauren Seaman | Deutsche Bank
After completing a Business Science degree at the University of Cape Town, I moved to London and joined The Royal Bank of Scotland. Two years later in 2009 I moved into Structured Finance at Deutsche Bank (DB).
While at DB I was nominated to join the department's Sports and Social Committee, later chairing the group, and also the Global Transaction Banking (GTB) Connectors Committee. Both leadership groups aim to bring employees together through social, sporting and charity initiatives. In addition, the latter provides a conduit between senior management and staff fostering open communication and inclusion.
Throughout my time in GTB I was keenly involved in charity initiatives; contributing as a fundraiser, volunteer and being a department representative for the bank's charity events. In late 2017 my career took an exciting turn when I was giving the opportunity to join DB’s Corporate Social Responsibility team (CSR). I now run DB's Born to Be youth engagement programme. In the UK, Born to Be helps less advantaged young people reach their full potential through education initiatives.
Whist still working in the business in 2016, I was approached to join the Steerco of Deutsche Bank's disability network - dbEnable. Made up of 15 employees across Deutsche Bank UK and Ireland, the Steerco's objective is to enable an inclusive and supportive workplace where all people affected by disability or illness can flourish. Becoming part of dbEnable was a transformative step in my career. It exposed me to the diversity landscape and ignited a passion to create a more inclusive environment in the banking sector.
dbEnable arranges numerous awareness events throughout the year on topics such as Autism, Dyslexia, Stammering, Mental Health, Physical Disability to name a few. We engage with staff and senior management internally and are part of various external disability and mental health forums such as “This is Me in the City”, Purple Space and Wharfability.
At the start of 2018 I was nominated for the role of dbEnable Co-Chair. We strive to embed a culture of inclusion in the workplace and continue to drive awareness while at the same time have a keen focus on the bank's disability and mental health policies. dbEnable is the bank's go-to group on disability, mental health and illness matters and I am extremely proud to be leading it.
Rania Svoronou | IBM
Design for me was never just an option – it is a way of life. I've studied abroad in UK and hold a BA on Graphic Design and an MA on Human-Computer Interaction Design. I've started my career 7 years ago at a small local print agency in Athens, Greece and after working in start ups, small design studios, Ad agencies, and global corporations, I am now the Lead Designer for a major client at IBM Interactive Experience - a new division within IBM, which has been named the largest digital-agency network in the world. I've joined IBMiX two years ago and I am an active speaker, a guest lecturer, an industry mentor, and get invited as a judge/mentor at multiple hackathons and design events across Europe. I am passionate about design & digital and one of my missions is to empower more women into design & technology and help connect the gaps between design education and the tech industry.
Maya Dibley | Lancashire County Council
Maya has a background in publishing management and digital product development, and later economic development and building technology business clusters. She is currently working in Economic Development at Lancashire County Council, while also studying part-time on the Lancaster MBA.
Maya's passion lies in building the capability and productivity of the North of England. At The Landing In Media City, she led the development of business support and incubator programmes to support growth in digital and technology SMEs as well as building a network of private partnerships to ensure the business ecosystem in Salford is sustainable.
She is currently leading the curation of the Northern Power Futures conference, a 2-day event powered by the Northern Power Women network, presenting talks and debates on the economy and society, all with speakers (men and women) under 35. She is passionate about finding ways to support younger leaders to find their voice and strength, and to this end has also sat on the national board of Girlguiding for the past 4 years. In this role she has contributed to a full programme overhaul, projects to improve governance and accountability, and is the trustee lead on the organisation's digital transformation work which recently saw the launch of a new member CRM system for 100,000 volunteers.
Maya began her career at Hearst Magazines UK where her understanding of young audiences and commercialising digital platforms saw her rise quickly to become one of the company's youngest publishers at the age of 26.
Elsewhere, Maya is a Director and Trustee of The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster, a Non-Executive Director of a small technology start-up, HE Inventions, and sits on the Industry Advisory Board for Lancaster University's school of computer science, advising on curriculum development to suit industry.
Zena El Farra | Barclays
Zena has been a powerhouse in developing Barclays’ strategic response to Open Banking, a key industry inflection point for both Banks & Fin-techs, which is forecast by some experts to drive a £1bn boost to the UK economy.
In developing the vision, which will form the basis of how Barclays’ will respond to this exciting new opportunity, she has demonstrated outstanding visionary thinking & laser focus on the emerging external landscape. She consistently leverages cutting-edge technology & best in class digital experience to deliver for emerging customer need.
Zena’s approach is truly customer-centric, consistently co-creating with customer groups to ensure the best outcomes. She has also played a critical role in educating both colleagues & consumers around the risks & opportunities of data-sharing in an Open Banking world – whilst championing the value of innovation & competition to the industry and society.
In parallel, Zena is passionate about supporting women in technology, being an active speaker & contributor at early-career events to inspire young people to explore careers in tech. Further, she also launched a Barclays UK citizenship initiative reaching 20,000+ children across the world, focussed on developing early strategic thinking & numerical skills through competitive chess!
Zena joined Barclays as a graduate in 2013 and soon became the youngest person to be promoted to VP. Growing up she launched a number of small, student-led businesses supporting different charitable causes and ultimately helping fund her travels around the world prior to undertaking her undergraduate degree at LSE.
She is the daughter of Arabic self-made single-mum who left her war-torn country to make a fresh start in the UK and continue to provide critical support to her family & wider community back home.