Hayley Barnard

Specialising in Unconscious Bias, Inclusive Leadership and D&I Strategy

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Managing Director of MIX, Hayley is a thought leader in how to create diverse and inclusive workplaces. She is a professional speaker, consultant and media commentator on subjects including gender balanced workplaces, inclusive leadership, unconscious bias and inclusive recruitment. She is passionate about inspiring business leaders to adopt the principle that diversity isn’t about difference, it’s about excellence, always emphasising practical and applicable strategies for increasing inclusion in the workplace.

Hayley is currently advising the Irish government on the introduction of Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation and accompanying measures to reduce the gender pay gap. Along with search firm Invenias she has published a research paper into the role of diversity and inclusion in executive search.

Hayley’s professional background is in marketing and communications. After quickly rising to become General Manager of Sir Chay Blyth’s ‘Challenge Business’ at just 23, she took the decision to start her own corporate communications and sponsorship business with her twin sister of which she is still a director. 15 years later they went on to co-found MIX Diversity Developers.

In her spare time, Hayley is a marathon swimmer (she has swum the English Channel and around Manhattan Island) and serves on the Board of the Youth Hostel Association, one of the UK’s largest youth charities. She lives near the New Forest with her husband and their two teenagers.

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Debra Searle MVO MBE

Specialising in Unconscious Bias, Gender Balance and Women in Leadership.

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Debra has always been a successful woman in what has historically been a man’s world, having taken on some of the toughest conditions and events on the planet, including rowing across the Atlantic solo, about which a Hollywood movie is now in development.

She was also the youngest and only woman at the time to be appointed to the Board of The DofE, one of the UK’s biggest youth charities, working alongside HRH Prince Philip and HRH Prince Edward. This gave her ten invaluable years of experience of being the only woman at the boardroom table.

Debra was heavily involved in the formation of the Women’s Business Network Forum based out of Buckingham Palace and chaired by HRH The Countess of Wessex. The Forum brings together leaders of some of the biggest women’s networks in the UK including BP, EY, HSBC and Google to share best practice. Debra has also worked with companies such as Tesco, HSBC and eBay on developing female talent and seeking to stem the leaky pipeline of women to senior posts. She was a finalist for Role Model of the Year Award for both the European and National Diversity Awards and is proud to be a member of the 30% Club.

Debra has a long list of achievements as a professional adventurer and serial entrepreneur. Her expeditions have taken her around Antarctica, up to the Arctic Circle and everywhere in between. She has also launched five companies, is a published author, has presented 40+ programmes for the BBC and is a trusted corporate speaker. In 2020 she made the World’s Top 30 Motivational Speakers List.

Debra’s spirit of adventure gained her an MBE from HRH The Queen and she now enjoys passing on her adventure knowledge to her two little girls. She can be found most weekends surfing or stand-up paddleboarding with them and her husband along the coast in Devon, where they live.

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Stef Clifton-Sprigg

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Stef has been around since MIX’s inception and has helped us to grow from a small start up into the global consultancy it is today.

As part of our consulting team, Stef specialises in the design of internal EDI Comms, large scale global digital training solutions and project managing major cross-territory Strategic Consultancy projects.

As Digital Director she creates all of our e-learning and virtual classrooms, taking Diversity & Inclusion theory and turning it into beautiful courses and learning experiences that foster behaviour change rather than just knowledge transfer.

Stef’s expertise lies in communications and project management. She’s worked in production for TV and print media and has a First Class Honours degree in English. She lives in Devon with her husband David and beloved German Shepherd dog, Willow.

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Paul Helsby

Specialist in HR Policy

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Paul has 25 years’ experience working in Human Resources including heading up HSBC’s Employee Relations Policy Unit for over eight years. He has worked with many of the top employment lawyers and gained an excellent understanding of UK employment legislation and how companies can ensure their policies and procedures comply not only with the law but with best practice.

Paul assists companies of all sizes with both general HR and complex ER issues. He regularly undertakes audits of policy and procedures in relation to diversity and inclusion, providing clear guidance to organisations on necessary and recommended changes. Paul is a fully CIPD qualified HR Consultant, who can either work independently or alongside your existing HR team.

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Matt Keen

Specialising in D&I, Agile Working and Multi-generational Leadership.

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Matt has developed training for some of the world’s biggest brands, including IBM, PwC, Barclays and GlaxoSmithKline. Formerly he was Group Head of People & Organisational Effectiveness at tech company, Endava and Programme Manager for Personnel Transformation at John Lewis.

Matt has been part of the MIX team for the past 4 years, predominantly speaking and teaching on multi-generational leadership (especially Millennials and Gen X), unconscious bias and introversion/extroversion in the workplace.

Matt has an MA from Oxford, an MBA with Distinction from Cass Business School and is currently reading for an MSc in Executive Coaching from Ashridge (thankfully he’s very modest!).

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