Ruth Guest | Lecturer in General Practice | Royal Navy
Having gone to medical school at the University of East Anglia I joined the Royal Navy as a junior doctor based in Plymouth before officer training at Dartmouth.
Deploying as the doctor on HMS RICHMOND I enjoyed combining medicine and adventure. During training to become a GP I had my two children and undertook some research around postnatal depression amongst servicewomen which led to Defence wide policy change including the introduction of self referral into mental health services for pregnant and postnatal servicewomen in the UK. Alongside my first job as a military GP I followed my interest around women’s health and medical education gathering further qualifications in these areas, training junior military doctors and running women’s health clinics before moving to be a lecturer in general practice. A career highlight this current job involves research and education and has enabled me to follow my passion of combining these to benefit women in Defence. An MSc in Health Research Methods and a PG Diploma in Community Gynaecology has allowed for research around female hygiene in austere environments, international collaborations, access to abortions in the UK Armed Forces and provision of bespoke women’s health clinics as well as training our future medical professionals, leaders and anyone else who will listen around women’s health.
EY
At EY, our purpose is Building a better working world.
The insights and quality services we provide help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. In a world that's changing faster than ever, our purpose acts as our North Star, guiding our 400,000 people — providing the context and meaning for the work we do every day. We help digital pioneers fight data piracy; guide governments through cash-flow crises; unlock new medical treatments with data analytics; and pursue high quality audits to build trust in financial markets and business. And now we've unified all our artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and development efforts under one platform, EY.ai, to help enable clients to efficiently access the benefits of AI. It is also intended to increase transparency, trust, and confidence in AI as EY seeks to use these new capabilities to serve the broader interests of society and contribute to a more inclusive, equitable future. Through our four integrated service lines — Assurance, Consulting, Strategy and Transactions, and Tax — and our deep sector knowledge, we help our clients to capitalize on new opportunities and assess and manage risk to deliver responsible growth. Our high-performing, multidisciplinary teams help them fulfil regulatory requirements, keep investors informed and meet stakeholder needs.
Amy Bray | Founder and CEO | Another Way
Amy Bray is a 22 year old marine biologist and CEO of environmental education charity Another Way which she founded when she was 16.
Through Another Way, she has planted over 30 000 trees in Cumbria, has given talks and awareness sessions on climate change, plastic pollution and sustainable living to over 14,000 people from schools, community groups, businesses and international events, inspiring pledges of behavioural change; organises community events such as talks with world-renowned scientists and has created numerous resources and certifications to empower people to live more kindly towards our planet. Another Way’s two zero-waste shops in Cumbria enable the local community to reduce their plastic use and their new Power of 10 movement is the first digital community for young changemakers, empowering them to take action. Using the media to communicate the challenges are world is facing and the solutions we hold as individuals to overcome them, Amy has presented a series of short documentaries on BBC Bitesize and appeared on CountryFile, BBC 5Live, Radio 4 and Good Morning Britain. Amy is a Patron of Friends of the Lake District, a committee member for the UN Decade of Ocean Science, a trustee of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, an Ambassador for The Tree Council and has received Cumbria Woman of the Year 2019 and the Prime Minister’s Point of Light Award for her work.
Becky Jones | Data Manager | Action Tutoring
At university I studied Geography, focussed on the human and political elements. I thoroughly enjoyed my degree and the trips it took me on.
I learned about the diverse experiences of how people shape, and are shaped by, the world around them, and the great inequalities that exist. Since beginning my professional career, I have worked in charities and social enterprises in the education sector, driven by an interest in empowering people from disadvantaged backgrounds. My roles have included Customer Success, Operations, Data and Insights. Through my experience I developed my problem-solving skills and my ability to simplify complex processes into accessible discussions. Achieving my Level 4 Data Analytics diploma strengthened my ability to generate insights and tell stories with data, helping me to make strategic decisions. My focus at work is on creating impactful systems and processes that improve experience for colleagues as well as the outcomes for beneficiaries.
Grace Harwood | Vice President, Partnerships, Sustainability & Impact, UK & Europe | RBC Capital Markets
My passion and career in the charitable sector began during university where I secured a ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ summer internship with Macmillan Cancer Support, responsible for the marketing and PR of the flagship fundraising event across East Anglia.
It was a great introduction to the sector and provided me with invaluable skills and confidence to take forward into my career. Upon graduating with a degree in Sports Science with Management, I secured a role at the charity SportsAid, combining my interests of both the sport and charity sectors perfectly. Working in a small team meant I had great exposure to a range of roles, taking on increased responsibility year-on-year, including managing and growing major partnerships and developing new opportunities to drive revenue. Most recently, I have moved corporate side to work for Royal Bank of Canada, where there is a strong culture of supporting the community. I lead on the bank’s charitable activity across Europe for RBC Capital Markets. I have the privilege of working with a variety of charitable organisations, managing corporate donations, employee giving and volunteerism to ensure we can have a deep collective impact on the communities in which we live and work.
Hannah Benn | Senior Operations Officer | Get Further
I began my career at a small B2B events company operating globally, where I discovered my passion for improving efficiencies and implementing system changes.
As part of a micro-business consisting of just the two directors and myself, I had the opportunity to learn quickly and take on significant responsibilities. Just two years into my role, I was entrusted with my first major transformation project, increasing event output from two to five events per year. By the time I left, the company had grown to a team of 14, running over 13 events annually, and had been acquired by a larger events organisation. I then transitioned into the impact sector, joining a start-up at the forefront of carbon accounting, helping businesses manage their carbon footprints. Having recently been acquired by Sage, my primary role was to support the operations team through a system transition, ensuring a smooth changeover and assisting staff throughout the process. Now, at Get Further, I have found a role that truly aligns with my values. I thrive in an organisation with ambitious goals for the students we support. I take pride in ensuring seamless operational efficiency behind the scenes, allowing the frontline team to focus entirely on the mission.
Mahboobeh Rajabi | Co-Founder and CEO | DIPACT CIC
Mahboobeh Rajabi is a Creative Entrepreneur, Artist, Cultural Leader and creative producer from Manchester, originally from Iran.
She has been working in the UK and internationally since 2010, working with different communities and cultures. Her mission is to give a platform to untold stories and give voices to the unheard voices through the language of art and building creative sustainable businesses for communities.
Lydia Hawthorn | Delivery Director | Cprime
I started out within the cyber security and e-forensics space implementing software to help litigators and criminal defense and prosecution teams identified key assets to support their cases.
In these roles I really developed a love for delivery and tech transformation as I saw the positive impact I was having on how somebody went about their day to day. I self funded my Prince 2 and Agile PM qualifications and never looked back, quickly rising through the ranks as a Delivery Manager, into being a Delivery Lead and eventually Head of Product Delivery. In these roles I led company wide Agile transformations and led teams of Scrum Masters, coaches and delivery managers quite often building teams from scratch and embedding best practices into org structures that had very little base level agility. The experiences I gathered doing this in house led me into consultancy 2.5 years ago where I know have the ability to design and advise on transformations for a portfolio of clients.
Shauna Roper | Chief of Staff | HSBC Bank
I have built a 20-year career transitioning from the civil service into financial services, starting as a personal banker in a branch and now serving as Chief of Staff in Global Procurement at the world's largest global bank.
At every stage, I have driven meaningful impact, combatting money laundering, leading Brexit readiness efforts, supporting businesses through COVID, and spearheading a global diversity and inclusion strategy in response to a worldwide reckoning on equity. Now, as Chief of Staff, I apply my breadth of experience to drive change through supplier diversity, sustainability commitments, technology platforms, and the products we offer clients. My journey has been one of joy and accomplishment, but also challenge and resilience. At times, I was seen as too young to have a voice, outside the right social class to belong, or disruptive for challenging the status quo as a Black woman in leadership. These experiences fuelled my commitment to breaking barriers, leading me to found a leadership program for Black women in business. This initiative not only pays forward my learnings but also creates a network of sisterhood, ensuring the next generation thrives without carrying the same scars. My career has been defined by transformation, and I remain dedicated to driving change that dismantles systemic barriers and reshapes the world.
Lesley Sackey | Founder | Fight Forward CIC
Lesley Sackey is a pioneer in women’s boxing, social enterprise founder and most recently founder of tech start-up Pillow, a digital platform to power survivors to thrive.
Lesley was the first British woman to win gold at the EU Championships in 2008 on first entry and has represented England and Great Britain on numerous occasions. Following her success from competitive boxing Lesley began to use boxing as a tool to champion and empower women. First with The Boxing Boutique, a training business established over 10 years ago, and more recently, Fight Forward C.I.C, a pioneering social enterprise that uses boxing as a tool to improve the mental health of survivors of domestic abuse. Other notable achievements include: Co-producing an independent documentary with BBC Sport that explores female boxing in Ghana, shedding light on the challenges faced by women in the sport globally. She has also appeared as a guest trainer on Channel 4’s ”How To Get Fit Fast” and was an athlete on BBC 3’s ”Last Woman Standing.”