Debra Searle MVO MBE

A bit about Debra...

Debra Searle MVO, MBE is a truly inspirational woman; a professional adventurer, author, BBC presenter and gender equality advocate, Debra is also a keynote speaker par excellence and has addressed 1,000+ corporate audiences.

She was a finalist for Role Model of the Year Award for both the European and National Diversity Awards and in 2020 was voted into the World's Top 30 Motivational Speakers.

Debra first hit the headlines when she set out to row across the Atlantic with her husband, as described in her TEDx Talk. Unfortunately he had to be rescued so Debra, a novice rower, continued alone and rowed 3000 miles from Tenerife to Barbados. Debra’s story was front page news yet she is positive that had she been rescued and her husband completed the race, little notice would have been taken by the press. This, combined with Debra being the only woman on the board of a Royal charity, sparked her awareness of gender parity, leading to her join the 30% Club and co-found MIX.

In 2015 Debra got to combine her passions for gender parity and adventure, leading the LeasePlan Women’s Arctic Challenge. Debra took 12 ordinary businesswomen from the car industry and turned them into Arctic explorers as part of a wider project about unconscious bias & stereotyping.

Debra is the perfect choice if you are looking for a truly inspirational speaker, a speaker for a women’s event or someone to provide a story-telling all company introduction to Diversity & Inclusion and Unconscious Bias.

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Most popular speech topics

Choose Your Attitude: It’s not magic, it’s mindset; How to boost positivity and productivity in times of adversity; Level Up: Women as Leaders; How to challenge Unconscious Bias and make the unconscious, conscious; Confidence, Imposter Syndrome & The Art of Self-Promotion; Building resilience and bulldozing the blockages

Hayley Barnard

A bit about Hayley...

Managing Director of MIX, Hayley is a thought leader in how to create diverse and inclusive workplaces. Hayley 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.

She tackles issues surrounding unconscious bias and inclusiveness with humour, ensuring that her ideas have real value for audiences’ working lives. Along with search firm Invenias, Hayley 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.

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Most popular speech topics

Diversity & Inclusion; Unconscious Bias; Practical Inclusive Leadership; Inclusive Recruitment Practices

Shani Dhanda

A bit about Shani...

Founder of Diversability, the Asian Woman Festival and Asian Disability Network, Shani is passionate about inclusion.

Shani was born with a rare genetic condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), more commonly known as Brittle Bones, affecting one in every 15,000 people in the UK. Though fragile bones are the hallmark of OI, other medical problems also stem from this condition, the most obvious being a short stature and Shani is 3’10”.

In 2011, she graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in Event and Venue Management, and her dissertation around barriers to accessible leisure was published by an American charity. Upon graduation she was the first student in her class to be offered an event management job with a Royal Institute as well as winning an award from her University.

Having organised and hosted many events through her career, Shani is also an accomplished speaker delivering talks at hospitals to medical professionals, conferences, universities and schools as part of her efforts to challenge perceptions and change attitudes around disability, especially in Asian communities. With mainstream media throwing out images of unattainable perfection, lacking any social and cultural relevance to ethnic minority communities, raising awareness around disability and diversity is Shani’s passion.

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Most popular speech topics

Disability in the workplace; Intersectionality

Brendan Courtney

A bit about Brendan...

Brendan is one of Ireland’s best known and well-loved broadcasters and designers. His professional journey began as Ireland’s first openly Gay TV presenter. This coupled with his personal story has led to him becoming an inspirational advocate for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Brendan’s award winning TV documentaries on inclusive housing tackled ageism and health, triggering policy reform within the Irish healthcare system. As a result he is now on the Department of Health’s executive advisory board.

A leading and vocal public advocate of the 2015 Marriage Equality Referendum, Brendan consistently leverages his profile to campaign for equality. Last year he hosted Ireland’s first forum on Human Rights and Equality and has been prominent in the movement for greater recognition and protection of unpaid carers.

A serial entrepreneur, Brendan has started 4 businesses: 2 failed and 2 succeeded. His business story is a fascinating roller coaster of how to fail well and succeed better. He has co-written two No.1 bestselling books on confidence with his business partner Sonya Lennon, who is also his co-founder of their international womenswear label, Lennon Courtney.

Brendan lives between his homes in London and Dublin, his dog Nancy-Drew is based in Dublin.

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Most popular speech topics

My LGBTQ+ Business Story; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – Bringing men in; Unpaid Carers Rights

Sonya Lennon

A bit about Sonya...

Sonya Lennon has over thirty years’ experience as a creative director, designer, broadcaster, entrepreneur and strategic consultant and speaker. A multi award winning Social Entrepreneur, Sonya founded global not for profit initiative Dress for Success in Ireland in 2011 which has successfully supported over 3,000 women into employment and economic independence.

Sonya has campaigned at a European level for gender equality in the workplace by addressing the Gender Pay & Opportunity Gap. Since 2016, Sonya has led the highly publicised #WorkEqual campaign in Ireland, spearheading public awareness, highlighting legacy and cultural issues which prevent workplace equality, and driving forward solutions to address them. Sonya has presented to the Irish Government on this issue multiple times.

Sonya organised the #WorkEqual Conference which culminated in a post conference report titled Practical Steps to Workplace Equality, co-authored with Professor Michelle Millar NUIG. This document has been submitted to government as a framework to accelerate positive change.

Sonya is solution focussed, iterative and innovative but always grounded by a value in human relationships and understanding how to maximise the potential of business and people. Sonya lives her life and work with a profound sense of curiosity and joy matched with an infectious laugh and a razor sharp wit.

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Most popular speech topics

Your Company Culture - A Cocktail of The Decisions you Make every Day; Everyday Empowerment - A Toolkit for Behavioural Change; Repositioning - How to Change Your Story for Everyone; Think Like an Entrepreneur - An Everyday Guide to Fearless Action

Matt Keen

A bit about Matt...

Matt has developed training for some of the world’s biggest brands, including IBM, PWC, Barclays & 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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Most popular speech topics

Cross-generational working; Leading across the generations; Understanding Millenials and Post-Millenials; Personalities in the workplace; Agile HR; Building an agile culture; Performance and reward - an agile perspective; Leading in an agile environment; Agile - when and when not to use it; How communication goes wrong and what to do about it

Louisa Joseph

A bit about Louisa...

Former Group Talent Manager at Royal Mail Group, Louisa has an in-depth understanding of fostering an inclusive workplace and talent pipeline on a large scale. Louisa founded BAME to Boardroom in order to follow her passion for working with businesses to develop Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) talent into leadership roles.

Louisa hosts an interview series called “We Need to get Comfortable Talking about Race At Work”, interviewing people from BAME backgrounds about their challenges, successes and breakthroughs in their careers. As a result of this work she has developed a coaching programme for professionals aspiring to move up in their careers called “Be Visible, Be Confident”.

Louisa works with leaders in organisations to understand inclusive leadership and developed a “Race at Work Dialogue Programme”, touching on the challenges specific to being a Black person in the UK workforce; cultural and environmental factors. This insight supports better understanding of the value and importance of allies, mentoring and sponsorship for Black progression.

Louisa is a mum of three and grandma to two boys. Her life vision is to affect a million lives by connecting people to their true potential, to live lives they truly deserve.

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Most popular speech topics

The Power of Difference; Be Visible Be Confident

Dil Wickremasinghe

A bit about Dil...

Dil is a survivor of sexual abuse, rejected by her parents when she came out and became homeless when she was just 16 years old in Sri Lanka. When she was 19 she found her passion for media when she started working in Sri Lankan radio only to be fired based on her sexuality.

Like many LGBTQI+ people she immigrated in search of a country where she could be her true self. At the age of 25, Dil arrived in Dublin and within 24 hours of her feet touching Irish soil, she found herself dancing down the main street in broad daylight singing “It’s raining men!” Serendipitously, her arrival coincided with Dublin Pride and she knew she had finally come home.

Dil later founded Insight Matters with her wife Anne Marie Toole, with the organisation now supporting the mental health of 500+ clients per week. She was honoured with the Lord Mayor’s Awards for her contribution to civic life and received the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year Award for her work as a Marriage Equality campaigner.

Dil and Anne Marie have a 5 year old son called Phoenix and a 3 year old daughter called Xavier who continually inspire them to strive to create an inclusive and compassionate world.

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Most popular speech topics

Pride in the Workplace; Wellness in the Workplace; Mental Health Awareness; Inspiring Change in Self and Society; Unconscious Bias; Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace; Resilience Building

Gary Ford

A bit about Gary...

Gary has more than 30 years’ experience in the IT industry in Financial Services. Most recently, Gary was a Managing Director at JP Morgan (JPM), where he managed a number of enterprise wide software delivery programmes.

In 2016, Gary co-founded JP Morgan’s male allies programme for Women in Technology with Stephen Koch. Together they grew this network from a small group of people to a firm-wide network of allies across JP Morgan. This included developing an inclusion workshop that has been run over 200 times across 6 countries and trained more than 1800 allies. The ally network also organised a number of events with over 10,000 attendees within the firm.

Since leaving JP Morgan, Gary has started a consultancy business providing inclusion training and helping companies and organisations create ally networks.

Gary lives with his wife, Julie in Hampshire on the edge of the Meon Valley. They have 2 children, Isabella who is a Press Officer for the Department of Health and Social Care, and Lily, who is studying Theology at Cambridge University. He is also the chair of a local community group, Meon Valley Heartstart, which specialises in providing training in lifesaving skills in the area.

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Most popular speech topics

A White Man stole my job – engaging men in diversity and inclusion; Aligning Values – how to build your organisation so that people want to work with you; Pride & Prejudice – building a Male Ally network for gender equality; A Decent Human Being – how to be a leader that creates inclusive teams; Diversity Dialogues – bridging the understanding gap

Tom Crawford

A bit about Tom...

Culture-change expert Tom is our resident big thinker and astute questioner. As a former HRD at Deloitte and Head of Internal Comms & Engagement in several blue chip organisations, Tom has an in-depth understanding of how to implement diversity & inclusion strategies which actually work.

After making the decision to leave corporate world in order to protect his own mental health, he has gone on to consult with clients including Zurich, UBS, Chemring, Deloitte, Aga Khan Development Network and KPMG. Tom is passionate about mental health in the workplace and believes that an openness about mental health is often a litmus test for how inclusive and accepting an organisation is more generally.

An eloquent and engaging presenter, Tom hosts his own podcast, Hysterionics, in which he interviews friends and colleagues from across the corporate world about all things talent & leadership. He’s the author of two novels and has recently published ‘Breaking The Glass Floor’, which relates his own mental health journey.

Tom has lived in the UK, the US, Germany and India and is now based in France with his husband David and their dogs.

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Most popular speech topics

What is true inclusion and what does it take?; Building brands inside out through your people; Are you too fragile to agile? Have you got what it takes to build the workplace of the future?; Breaking The Glass Floor - my story of managing mental health as a senior exec

LaTonya Wilkins

A bit about LaTonya...

LaTonya is a coach, speaker and author who specialises in leadership, empowerment and inclusion. Her vision is that people connect better across differences, and that workplaces become more equitable and psychologically safe. Her book, Leading Below the Surface: Building Real Relationships with People That Are Different from You, is expected to be available in Spring 2021.

LaTonya is currently the President of the True Star Youth Foundation board, which is a digital marketing social entrepreneurship company run entirely by youth of colour that recently received a Google Impact Award. She is also a board member of the LGBTQ+ Alumni Association at the Indiana University and a Leadership and Teams Instructor at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. LaTonya also won a peer-nominated award for most inclusive HR influencers in 2019. She is also a board member (and co-chair) with the Leadership Forum Community.

LaTonya lives in Chicago with her partner and dog. In her spare time, she is always trying out a new recipe and is particularly interested in expanding vegetarian cooking in a pressure cooker! She also love the outdoors so is always finding a place to hike, bike, run or stroll.

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Most popular speech topics

Representing While Underrepresented: Excelling as the Only One; Below the Surface Leadership: The Key to Building Amazing Relationships With People that Are Different From You; How to Be an Exceptional Ally; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Where Do We Go From Here?

Leela Bassi

A bit about Leela...

Leela has worked in multinational organisations such as British Airways, Avery Dennison, Peugeot Citroen and LeasePlan for over 20 years. During this time she has been exposed to many cultures, businesses and experiences bringing her closer to values, beliefs and practices; creating opportunities for growth and development in a more collaborative global community.

Having experienced Bullying & Harassment in the workplace and suffered from the impact it had on her personal health and self-confidence, Leela soon realised the importance of helping individuals to take back control of the situation and learn how to “Stand up, Step up & Speak up”.

Leela has acquired the Distinguished Toastmaster award for Public Speaking (Highest level of educational achievement- only 5% of members in the district have ever achieved this level).

Originally from India, Leela was adopted and raised in France where she studied Languages and Literature. Now living in the UK, she is married to an Italian and has two trilingual children hence her passion for Cross-Cultural Communication!

Leela speaks fluent English, French and Italian.

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Most popular speech topics

Dig Deep, dig deeper – A story of Resilience; From Discarded to Leader; Bullying and Harassment - The untold story; Stand up, step up and Speak up; Cross Cultural Communication

Fiona Daniel

A bit about Fiona...

Fiona is passionate about helping organisations to develop inclusive behaviours through an understanding of anti-racism.

She has been passionate about inclusion for over 30 years and has circa 15 years’ hands on experience of leading and growing the diversity & inclusion agenda for HSBC one of the largest global banking and finance service organisations in the world, including leading HSBC UK as the Head of Diversity and Inclusion.

Fiona understands that for many people, a conversation around race is an uncomfortable one. She helps leaders and employees face that discomfort and learn to talk openly, resulting in changing attitudes and behaviours. Her style is authentic and she is not shy in telling the truth and reality of the perils of driving inclusion which in turn makes her relatable to others. She actively listens, guides, educates, inspires, motivates and takes time to make everyone feel respected, accepted, valued and empowered.

Fiona is a highly sought-after practitioner, awards judge, speaker, panellist and thought leader, who advocates tirelessly for inclusion and belonging.

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Most popular speech topics

Let’s Talk About Race; Allyship; Colourblind vs Colour-brave

Carolyn Solanke

A bit about Carolyn...

Carolyn is a trainer and coach who has worked across various corporate, non-profit and community development initiatives before setting up her Leadership and Personal Development Academy & Consultancy, My Heritage, My World.

A qualified Accountant, who held strong leadership roles in the financial sector - in audit, investigation and customer service in the then KPMG Nigeria and Societe Generale Bank Nigeria Limited (SGBN) across West Africa.

She is also a certified John Maxwell Team Coach, Trainer and Speaker and a facilitator with LIFT Ireland (Leading Ireland’s Future Together).

Carolyn brings to the team her dynamic leadership skills and vibrant experience in advisory services to multi-sectoral and multicultural teams in the areas of governance, diversity and inclusion, community integration, cultural representation and personal development.

Carolyn lives by these values: Influence, Impact, Challenge and Equip (IICE) and amongst her interests when not working, you can find her mentoring youths, dancing or getting lost in a good book; She also serves as a board member on her local Credit Union amongst others.

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Most popular speech topics

Leading Multi-Cultural teams; Community Integration; Cultura Representation; Anti-Racism

Pete Mosley

A bit about Pete...

Pete is a trainer and 1-1 coach with quieter people and his book, ‘The Art of Shouting Quietly’, has sold in over 20 countries.

Pete’s practice is informed by intense personal experience. He was a shy and socially awkward child, his quiet nature shaped by a series of painful and recurrent illnesses. He worked hard to overcome these social limitations and has become adept at working with others – including working in high-demand training and public speaking settings. His focus is now on helping others do the same and working with organisations who wish to create a more inclusive space for introverts and others who find it hard to speak up. Clients include The Royal Institute of British Architects and The Worshipful Company of Wood-Turners.

After 15 years as a mentor in the Creative Industries he undertook further training to Postgraduate level in Business & Personal coaching in 2007 and has a Professional Certified Coach credential with the International Coaching Federation.

Pete is a tutor on Barefoot Coaching Limited’s acclaimed ICF/Postgraduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching. He also writes for Psychologies Magazine/Barefoot Coaching Life Labs channel.

When Pete isn’t working, he patiently restores old acoustic guitars.

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Most popular speech topics

How to Include and Empower Introverts and Quiet People; The Art of Shouting Quietly - How quieter people can gain confidence, tackle blocks & fears, and find their voice

Joanne Lockwood

A bit about Joanne...

Joanne specialises in providing Transgender Awareness and support to organisations and businesses, providing keynote speeches, developing allies’ programmes and assisting in policy and LGBTQ+ inclusion strategies.

She was a contributor and featured in a Channel 4 (UK) documentary called “The Making of Me”, broadcast in February 2019. This documentary was filmed over a 3-year period and detailed her own personal gender transition and its impact on those around her.

She is an Advisory Friend of The Institute of Equality & Diversity Professionals, a member of The Rotary Club and The Professional Speaking Association. Joanne sits as a subject matter expert for School of Health Sciences at Southampton University. As a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, she believes passionately that “people are people” and, no matter who they are, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Joanne lives by the mantra of “Smile, Engage and Educate” in order to promote awareness and understanding to overcome people’s fear of getting it wrong, because the world isn’t only black and white!

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Most popular speech topics

Building Belonging in the Workplace - Transgender Inclusion - LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Chris Jay

A bit about Chris...

Chris is a recognised and prominent voice on the topic of disability awareness. Born with cerebral palsy, Chris has been a wheelchair user for over 20 years, and is an accomplished training facilitator, public speaker, guest spokesperson and writer on the topic of disability awareness.

In the past Chris has worked as a Training Facilitator and Project Manager for the disability awareness charity- Enable Me, where he developed and delivered training programmes for businesses, universities and schools. He was later appointed as the Executive Chairman of the charity for three years where he steered the organisation back to its core mission of helping to raise awareness of disability in local, educational and business communities.

His role as a Disability Awareness Trainer has allowed him to develop considerable knowledge and experience in assisting and supporting businesses and universities to develop organisational awareness through unique and bespoke training packages.

He has worked with various organisations in numerous areas of business such as the banking and finance sector, (including Coutts Bank) and in the retail, education and the hospitality industry (including Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton Universities). His support and staff development programmes, interactive modules and workshops have provided workforces with a firmer understanding of disability and its organisational benefits.

Based in Southampton, Chris is a Director of Great Ballard School, near Chichester- an Independent co-educational prep school. He is also a Freeman of the City of London through the Worshipful Company of Educators and a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Chris has an MSc in Global Security and a BSc in Politics from the University of Southampton.

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Most popular speech topics

Disability in the Workplace - How to build inclusive teams - Disability Awareness

Sophie Williams

A bit about Sophie...

Sophie is a leading anti-racism advocate, activist, and the author of two – Anti Racist Ally (October 2020) and Millennial Black (April 2021), both from Harper Collins.

Sophie is a regular panellist, speaker, consultant, and workshop facilitator with a focus on anti-racism, and Diversity and Inclusion. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, Bustle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Refinery29, Ella, and Grazia.

Sophie regularly hosts presentations, workshops and training sessions for businesses such as Apple, The Rio Ferdinand Foundation, UK Civil Service, Sky, and Cambridge University.

Before beginning writing, Sophie had a career in advertising, particularly in social agencies, where she has held the position of COO. In 2019 Sophie left traditional agencies in order to create her own business, working with clients such as Netflix on projects combining her professional advertising experience with active anti-racism work.

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Most popular speech topics

How to be a Workplace Ally - Anti-Racism - Intersectionality at work