Amy Whitehead | London Underground
After graduating from the University of Leicester with a 1st class honours BSc Mathematic, I applied and successfully joined the extremely competitive TfL’s Project Management graduate scheme.
Whilst on the scheme I have worked on a diverse portfolio of projects varying in size and complexity; including Cycle Superhighways (Feasibility), Fit for the Future (Concept Design) and Earls Court Development Project (Delivery/Handover). I also had a six-month placement in project sponsorship where I was accountable for 7 Commercial Development projects.
During my time on the graduate programme, I completed my MSc in Project Management at UCL (University College London). Juggling my studies with a full-time career proved difficult, however, due to my persistence, resilience and time management skills, I successfully graduated with a Distinction and was asked to present my dissertation findings at a RICS Conference in April 2018.
After the graduate scheme I became an Assistant Project Manager in LU (London Underground) Asset Development, which managed large scale enhancement projects with 3rd Party investments. I worked across several projects including Lillie Bridge Depot Facilitation Project, London Road Sidings Feasibility Study, Tottenham Hale Station Upgrade (£50m) and Colindale Station Redevelopment (£27m). I was responsible for the management of different workstreams within these projects as well as a stakeholder engagement during a difficult period for LU, where there were several significant organisational changes.
Due to my experience in delivering during the design phases, I became Acting Project Manager for Colindale Station Redevelopment in January 2018 and after a successful interview process, I became Project Manager in May 2018. I managed the project through concept design; successfully obtaining approval from the London Fire Brigade and LU discipline engineers for the use of Glulam Timber in the station, an unprecedented achievement for a LU station. I also led the team and obtained planning permission from Barnet for the station and the adjacent site development. One of the biggest challenges was to overcome the conflicting interests of the station and the adjacent site development in terms of interfaces with structure, delivery timescales and logistics.
Working on Colindale Station Redevelopment has provided me with the opportunity to challenge the norm and use my initiative to find project efficiencies, whilst ensuring that quality and health and safety is not compromised. One key example of this is the Construction Support Study that was completed as part of the procurement of detailed design. This approach had some significant positive outcomes including reducing the Estimated Final Cost by £6.9m and improving the construction sequencing, reducing the station closure period, by more than half, from 27 weeks to 12 weeks.
After being identified in March 2020 as a future leader within Renewals and Enhancements (R&E), I was invited and succeeded in applying for an Executive Officer role. This position gave me responsibility for leading key business improvement initiatives on behalf of the Head of Renewals (R&E 2021 Initiative) and provided exposure and input to senior leadership decision making. I was able to develop effective working relationships with Directors, Senior Managers and staff across LU and promote positive strategic relationships across R&E. I have been instrumental in ensuring that R&E wide initiatives are applied in the Renewals Programme and identifying any potential issues, and solutions, with the subsequent roll out.
I am due to start as Lead Project Manager for Infrastructure on the Safe Track Access, a high priority project with aggressive timescales.
Leading important projects and teams as a young female has been challenging due to underlying biases around younger people and females in the construction industry. However, due to my motivation and proactive approach to achieving projects, targets and business objectives, as well as constantly striving to challenge and look for efficiencies, I am able to overcome these barriers.
Hanna Osundina | Balfour Beatty Investments
I studied Architecture (BA) at the University of Sheffield and then went on to study Project Management in the Built Environment (MSc) at Oxford Brooks University and I am currently a Senior Development Manager for Balfour Beatty Investments.
I was inspired to enter the industry after reading ‘As Stars Shine Down’ by Sidney Sheldon. In this novel, the protagonist, Lara Cameron, is an Architect turned Property Developer and dominates a traditionally male industry. I read this book at 11 years old, and was inspired by the strength and determination of Lara, and understood what I wanted to achieve in my own career. I studied Architecture with dedication and pursued a role in Project Management to embody the change that I hope to see in this industry.
As a development specialist, I have had the opportunity to work on complex mixed use regeneration schemes in London. In my current role as Senior Development Manager, I am seconded to the East Wick and Sweetwater project joint venture, an £850 million regeneration project on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In this role, I manage the feasibility, business planning, budget, design, programming and planning for c.1,800 homes and 20,000 sqft of non-residential floor space. I bring my skillset as a MRICS qualified planning and development professional to help achieve the vision for a community first neighbourhood. I additionally oversee eight internal staff members, including development managers, design managers and project managers, and over 24 different consultant teams, to help achieve the ambitious nine-month programme to submit the reserved matters planning application for c.1,600 homes across five phases. My previous experience includes Senior Development Officer and Development Officer roles at Linkcity (formerly Bouygues Development) and Peabody Housing Association, respectively.
I also founded Black Women in Real Estate in 2019 with the mandate to provide a community whereby Black women can effectively network, connect, empower each other and grow in the professional lives. Through my role on the Estate Gazette's D&I Content Advisory Panel, I am actively working with the industry to include diversity and inclusion in the workforce. In addition, I am the Vice Chair of the University of Greenwich's Construction, Property and Surveying Practices Industry Advisory Board, and sit on the board of E16 CLT: a community land trust in Newham, helping to make strategic decisions on the management of newly owned ex-council properties and the feasibility of future opportunities.
Emma Nicholson | SLC Rail
I currently work for a rail SME consultancy as a Development Project Manager and have recently worked on a major rail project in the north of England.
I am also the Founder of two LinkedIn Groups that support women in the rail and infrastructure, construction and property industries; Women in Sustainable Rail and Women in Sustainable Construction & Property. I have organised number events on topics of sustainability, healthy buildings, leadership, and diversity and inclusion with both LinkedIn Groups. Women in Sustainable Construction LinkedIn group has developed to over 1300 members since I formed it in 2011 and I founded Women in Sustainable Rail in 2020, which has been greeted with much enthusiasm and a growing following. I have 22 years experience of providing project management services to consultancies and have worked in the built environment, moving to the rail sector in 2019. I'm also a STEM representative with a STEM hub in York, and have undertaken numerous voluntary roles for the last 10 years to support schools. I'm a Board Trustee for the Women's Engineering Society and I'm supporting them with embedding diversity and inclusion within WES as Chair of their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist Interest Committee. I'm also a key member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Panel for the CIOB, and have produced blogs for the CIOB to support leadership i.e. my Board experience. I'm passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion matters and agreed to participate in a CIOB panel webinar for International Women's Day on 8th March 2021 to discuss the imposter syndrome, discussion breaking down barriers in the industry.
Tomi Ibirogba | AET UK Ltd
Tomi is a chartered HR professional with recruitment, advisory and generalist experience.
She currently serves as the HR Advisor for AET UK Ltd where she provides advice on all employee relations and personnel management issues for Europe. She spearheads the annual graduate internship program and she is also the regional Health and Wellbeing representative, where she plans regular events to support employees with physical, mental, financial and social development. Before AET, she worked at British Airways as an HR Advisor where she received 2 Excellence Awards within her first 7 months on the job for delivering above and beyond her daily duties.
In March 2020, she founded “My Career Couch” – a platform designed to help international black students, graduates and professionals with under 10 years’ work experience get into their chosen career paths. Since then she has:
• Mentored over 90 professionals on career development.
• Helped 15 jobseekers land career-defining roles in top companies including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Shell and Deliveroo – with several more making it to interview stage at various companies where they were initially unable prior to working with her.
• Spoken at 16 career events to 500+ people.
• Shared practical career-related content with over 5,000 people via her social media profiles
Through her platform, she is a powerful role model for these young professionals in diaspora, empowering them with the skills needed to advance in their careers through knowledge gained via an online community, workshops, mentoring sessions and tailored services.
Bukola Bayo-Yusuf | Excellerate Black Futures
My love affair with HR started in my final year of an Accounting and Management degree when I realised that I in fact did not want to become an accountant much to the dismay of my mum who wanted me to walk in my father’s footsteps.
HR was the elective module in my final year and I absolutely fell in love with it and went on to do a Masters and haven’t looked back since!
Today, I am a results driven Global Performance Partner focused on defining and developing the performance vision and strategy for a global company with over 89,000 employees. A critical part of my role is focused on developing an internal communications strategy in order to embed key messages as well as helping senior leaders enact performance management solutions in order to enhance colleagues’ and thus business performance.
I also have a strong track record in various facets of HR from large global matrixed institutions including Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Reward, Diversity & Inclusion, Strategic HR Business Partnering and Leadership Development.
I am passionate about early careers and have won several awards for recruiting diverse graduate talent including the ‘Recruiting Diverse Talent’ award from Race for Opportunity in 2014. It is from this passion that the Excellerate Black Futures initiative was born which focuses on enhancing the narrative around young black talent via a group talent programme and educational scale up events.
A family renowned foodie, I enjoy travelling with my husband and three children to experience new cuisines and in my (very little) spare time I lead a 6 week pre-marital guidance course for couples.
Anisa Aksar | Capdesk
With experience in working for firms ranging from 20,000 people globally to 25 people, my career in Talent Management is ever evolving.
Having had a poor experience with HR 10 years ago at one of my very first jobs in retail whilst studying, it became my mission to prove, not just to myself but also, to others that HR isn't just someone behind a screen policing employees or a threat to those that dare to be honest.
Most recently, I've developed and lead the People function in scaling from 45 to 100 people in 18 months which included developing forward thinking people practices and strategy, employee benefits, mental health, wellbeing, inclusivity, coaching, performance enablement and cultivating a culture to nurture employees and allow them to do the best work of their careers.
Annie Lummis | Barclays
After studying Psychology at the University of Warwick, Annie joined Barclays on the HR Graduate scheme and very quickly made an impact contributing beyond her day job by getting involved in various side of desk projects and supporting the Diversity networks.
Early on, Annie spent six months in the D&I team as part of a graduate rotation and made such an impact that she rolled off the graduate scheme early and into a permanent position in the team.
Since then, she has continued to make an impact in this space. Passionate about making a difference and contributing to change, within work Annie has been involved in incredible projects and campaigns, engaging with thousands of colleagues.
Outside of work, Annie recently launched The Inclusion Club, a community for people to learn about Diversity & Inclusion and all things related to it. Annie hopes to provide a platform for people to learn about D&I in an easily digestible way and to offer a safe space for growth. She has lots of exciting things planned for 2021.
Annie is someone who is constantly supporting others and giving back and her passion does not go unnoticed. She is always supporting others and giving back wherever she can.
Lauren Shute | Barclays
Lauren began her career as a parliamentary intern for the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP, working in the House of Commons before she started University.
She graduated from the University of Warwick in 2018 with a first class degree in Politics and International Studies, where she received the Susan Hurley Prize for her essays on Issues in Political Theory. Before joining Barclays Lauren was an Ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Future Fertility Trust, representing them at events and supporting with fundraising efforts. In 2019 she joined Barclays on the HR Graduate Programme where she has endeavoured to make a positive impact professionally and through her involvement with the diversity networks. She is currently a member of the Women’s Network (Win) Newsletter Team and London Environment Network Working Group and has previously been a member of the Win Male Allies Stream. This year she launched the Win Podcast, which shares the achievements and experiences of women and Win members at Barclays and aims to create a sense of community whilst many of us remain separated.
Farrah Ekeroth | EY
As Employer Brand Lead at EY, Farrah is responsible for the development and execution of EY’s talent attraction strategy across 18 countries.
In this role, she develops creative campaigns and communications strategies to attract, engage and retain exceptional talent. This has included programs to attract more early female talent to financial services and encourage young women to consider a career in technology.
Outside of her core role, Farrah is also Co-Chair of the EY Women’s Network. The EY Women’s Network is EY’s largest diversity and inclusion community with 3,200+ members across 25 UK locations. The network seeks to empower women to thrive in their careers at EY and enhance the firm’s culture through gender diversity and inclusion.
Farrah regularly speaks at industry events on topics such as gender equality, attracting diverse talent and empowering Gen Z in the workplace. Having lived and worked in multiple countries across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, she has a truly global mindset and thrives on working with different cultures and perspectives.
Asha Mohammed | NHS
Asha is an award winning second year junior doctor who graduated from Bristol medical school in 2019.
Asha is described as an activist and has made it her mission to tackle gender-based violence with a specific focus on female genital mutilation. Asha is a lead outreach worker for the charity Integrate UK which she works closely with on the subject of preventing gender-based violence through peer educational teaching. Asha has a passion for gender equality, promoting health for the BAME population and women's health and has extensive experience within a hospital setting as an NHS doctor.