Diverse & Inclusive Leaders Podcast by DIAL Global: Recent Episodes

Leila McKenzie-Delis

Twice weekly podcast show, conversations with inspiring thought leaders of today, unearthing their unique stories of diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Advancing Diversity and Inclusion: Insights from Mark Lomas of Lloyd's of London

Join us on Inclusive Leaders as we sit down with Mark Lomas, Head of Culture at Lloyd's of London, to explore his inspiring journey and the impactful strategies he employs to foster diversity and inclusion across the organization. From meeting ambitious targets in leadership diversity to innovative initiatives like the Inclusive Futures program, Mark provides actionable insights grounded in evidence-led approaches. Tune in to learn how authentic leadership and a commitment to equitable opportunities drive cultural transformation and success.

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Navigating the Evolving HR Landscape: A Transatlantic Perspective

Join Leila McKenzie-Delis, founder and CEO of Dial Global, alongside industry leaders from Kearney, Pladis, MoCo Group, and consultancy firms in this enlightening webinar. Delve into the complexities of the evolving HR landscape, focusing on topics such as talent strategies, inclusion, equity, and resilience in a changing world. Hear insights on the profound impact of geopolitical tensions, technological innovations, and strategies to foster inclusive, diverse cultures.

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Inclusive Leadership: Siobhan Carr's Inspiring Journey at ODEON Cinemas

Join us on the Inclusive Leaders Podcast as we talk with Siobhan Carr, Group Head of Talent and Inclusion at ODEON Cinemas. Sivan shares her remarkable career journey from a cinema manager in Dublin to a strategic global role, discussing the critical importance of inclusivity, psychological safety, and the continuous improvement approach in leadership. Her personal experience with multiple sclerosis is also highlighted, providing an authentic look at resilience and the value of creating a supportive work environment.

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What happens when you blend personal evolution with professional excellence? Discover the remarkable journey of Sanjiv Gossain, who migrated to the UK as a child and navigated the complexities of identity, culture, and leadership. From overcoming the challenges of fitting in during the 1970s to embracing his unique identity in diverse environments like the US, Sanjiv's story is a testament to resilience and growth. He shares how pivotal experiences and roles, including his time as global CTO at Cambridge Technology Partners, shaped his path to becoming a prominent business leader.

In an era where AI and digital transformation are redefining industries, Sanjiv sheds light on the critical role of human connection and ethical leadership. Hear about the inspiring influence of a female leader whose inclusive approach made every voice count, emphasizing the need for vigilance against biases in AI systems. This episode does not shy away from addressing how technology can either challenge or reinforce societal biases, urging for ongoing dialogue and education to ensure AI's ethical integration into society.

Website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solutions

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Join us as we welcome Julie Abraham, the inspiring CEO of Richer Sounds, who shares her incredible journey of hard work, tenacity, and the power of mentorship. Julie’s remarkable story showcases how dedication and the right opportunities can lead to unparalleled success, even if you start without formal qualifications.

Our conversation unveils the unique ethos of Richer Sounds, a company that has thrived by placing people before profits. From transitioning to employee ownership to offering extraordinary benefits like holiday homes and an award-winning suggestion scheme, discover the strategies that have resulted in high employee retention and a motivated workforce. We discuss their hands-on leadership approach, the open-door policy that ensures every voice is heard, and the initiatives that nurture future leaders to secure the company's legacy.

Lastly, we explore the evolving landscape of leadership and CEO activism, focusing on transparency, purpose-driven leadership, and the importance of diverse representation. Julie’s engagement in social causes, such as improving retail staff conditions and promoting sustainable practices, resonates deeply with both employees and customers. Tune in to understand how ethical business practices and a commitment to social responsibility can drive economic growth and create a lasting impact on society.

Follow Julie:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-abraham-549a2a1a/

Check out our website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solution

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What if your brand could achieve both social impact and economic growth? Join us as we uncover the inspiring journey of Jess Weiner, a cultural expert and brand advisor who has taken the road less travelled to become a successful entrepreneur and CEO. With a rich academic background in theatre, women's studies, and classics, Jess's passion for storytelling and tackling social issues shines through. From founding a nonprofit theater company to giving advice to millions as a columnist for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jess shares how these diverse experiences paved the way for her influential work with major brands like Dove.

In this episode, we shed light on the crucial elements of "Building Long-Term Brand Purpose. Jess recounts her decades-long work across Dove's self-esteem initiatives and the proven impact of their research-driven approach.Learn from real examples such as Dove's multi-generational Campaign for Real Beauty and Mattel's body-positive transformation of Barbie. Jess emphasises the indispensable role of consistency, transparency, and long-term commitment in driving systemic change, and how internal leadership can make or break these efforts.

We also tackle "The Future of Inclusion and Diversity," spotlighting the measurable benefits DE&I initiatives bring to businesses, from improved recruitment to better retention. Jess discusses the shifting trust from governmental institutions to brands among younger generations and the importance of brands maintaining courage and consistency. Finally, in "The Human Connection Game," we explore the evolving work culture post-Covid-19, emphasising the significance of collaboration, flexibility, and human connection. Jess shares her personal insights on redefining success, balancing professional ambitions with self-care, and why having a North Star is more vital than ever. This episode is a must-listen for leaders aiming to create meaningful, lasting change both within their organisations and in society at large.

Follow Jess:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessweiner/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/imjessweiner/

Check out our website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solution

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Chris Williams, MBA, shares this fascinating journey with us, marked by pivotal moments that changed his life's trajectory. From the tragic murder of George Floyd to a traumatic childhood incident involving his brother's racially motivated attack, Chris recounts the powerful experiences that fueled his passion for fighting discrimination and promoting inclusivity. His story is not just about career progression but about the profound impact of personal experiences in shaping a mission-driven life.

The emotional toll of constantly advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion is immense. We dive into the delicate balance between energy-charging and energy-draining activities for DEI professionals. We discuss the risks of burnout and the importance of self-care, emphasising that the fight for inclusivity is more of a marathon than a sprint. It's a candid conversation on maintaining positivity and resilience while facing ongoing challenges in the DEI space, offering insights on how to sustain long-term advocacy effectively.

Chris’s role as an "architect of belonging" at CBRE is nothing short of inspiring. With a commitment to spending $3 billion with diverse suppliers by 2025 and engaging communities through various initiatives, CBRE is setting a benchmark for inclusivity. We explore the responsibilities of large organisations in fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces and supporting underrepresented groups. Chris shares invaluable advice on seizing opportunities, the importance of networking beyond familiar circles, and the essence of true success. This episode is a heartfelt call to action, encouraging us to approach challenges with renewed vigor and empathy.

Follow Chris:
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/chris-williams-mba-64426b15/

Check out our website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solution

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Ever wondered how a police officer's daughter rose to become the COO of a leading student property company? Hear Joanne Pollard's remarkable journey from her early days to the helm of Empiric Student Property PLC. Joanne opens up about her career path, spanning from Marks & Spencer management trainee to influential roles at Legal & General, Abbey National, and Bupa. This episode is a treasure trove for aspiring leaders, especially women balancing demanding careers with motherhood, as Joanne candidly discusses her shift to the student accommodation sector and its trajectory towards better standards and support for young adults.

We dive deep into the critical issue of increasing ethnic diversity at senior leadership levels. Joanne shares her insights on the systemic barriers that hinder progress and the importance of targeted initiatives like the Parker Review. Learn how authentic leadership and intentional recruitment practices can transform organizational culture. Discover the role of employer branding in driving meaningful change and how collaboration can significantly enhance diversity and inclusion efforts within industries, especially in the Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector.

Building a sense of community within organizations isn't just a buzzword for Joanne—it's a proven strategy for success. Using Empiric as a case study, she discusses how innovative approaches to student accommodation can foster supportive environments that boost customer satisfaction and commercial success. Joanne’s reflections on the importance of self-belief, determination, and mentorship provide invaluable lessons for anyone aiming for long-term success. Tune in for a compelling conversation that underscores the necessity of sustainability, diversity, and a healthy work-life balance in achieving both personal and professional growth.

Website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solutions

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What if your morning cup of tea carries a hidden history of colonialism and exploitation? Join us as we welcome Machel Bogues, the dynamic Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager at the Royal Town Planning Institute. Through his compelling narrative, Machel draws on his powerful family heritage of activism against apartheid and colonialism, shedding light on the profound significance of names and legacy. From his grandparents' valiant efforts in South Africa to his impactful work with Bernie Grant MP, Machel's story underscores the necessity of addressing historical injustices to create a more inclusive society.

In our conversation, we explore the surprising historical roots embedded in everyday British cultural practices. Have you ever considered how tea drinking, chocolate, or dining at Nando's might be tied to the painful histories of the slave trade and colonial expansion? Machel offers a thought-provoking examination of these connections, urging businesses and brands to acknowledge their origins and take social responsibility. By reflecting on these historical contexts, we stress the importance of honest conversations about the past to better understand their impact on our present and future.

We also discuss the dual nature of historical figures like Gandhi and Churchill, highlighting the need to recognize their complexities. Creative expressions such as art, music, and dance are revealed as powerful tools for engaging with history and fostering inclusive dialogues. This episode underscores the vital role cultural spaces play in preserving traditions and envisioning new possibilities. Additionally, Machel shares personal insights on the emotional labor of being a minority in professional settings and the importance of support networks. His narrative serves as a poignant reminder of the power of names, heritage, and continuous dialogue for true diversity and inclusion.

Website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solutions

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Imagine transforming your career from an Executive Assistant to a leading advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion within a major company. Our guest, Sarah Munday, ED&I Wellbeing Manager at Britvic Soft Drinks, did just that, and she joins us to share her extraordinary journey. Sarah opens up about her personal battles with mental health and how those struggles ignited her passion for fostering workplace well-being. You'll hear how small initiatives like exercise classes and healthy breakfasts blossomed into comprehensive well-being programs, thanks to Britvic's unwavering support.

Discover how embracing diversity can elevate business success through enhanced employee engagement, productivity, and morale. Sarah sheds light on the complexities of integrating different workplace environments, such as headquarters and factory sites, to bridge gaps and foster a unified, inclusive culture. Authenticity in leadership takes center stage as Sarah delves into the profound impacts of creating a safe space where employees feel comfortable being their true selves.

In the final part of our conversation, Sarah offers invaluable insights on overcoming imposter syndrome and the power of genuine mentorship. We also touch on the importance of empowering women in business, stepping out of comfort zones, and the transformative power of support and collaboration. Stay tuned until the end for a special mention of the upcoming Pride event and the importance of celebrating workplace achievements and connections.

Website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solutions

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What does it take to transform lives through social impact and food sustainability? Join us as we engage in a heartfelt conversation with Joseph Mullings, Director of Programs for Social Impact and Food Sustainability for North America at ISS. From his humble beginnings in a preacher's household in the UK to his impactful endeavors in Canada, Joseph's journey is a testament to the power of community service and resilience. Hear how his father's relentless dedication to helping others shaped Joseph and his siblings, and the stark educational challenges they faced due to institutional racism.

Discover the profound benefits of investing in employee development, particularly through language programs for frontline workers. Joseph shares compelling examples of initiatives like the English language program for janitorial and reception staff, revealing how these investments lead to higher employee retention, service consistency, and reduced recruitment costs. Learn how these strategic investments not only drive business performance but also foster cross-generational loyalty and community ties, while promoting supply chain diversity and inclusive hiring practices.

Lastly, we explore the critical role of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) in advancing diversity and inclusion within a global organization. Joseph discusses the unique challenges of navigating privilege and responsibility as a British professional in an American company. We examine how ERGs serve as 'critical friends' to leadership, driving accountability and representation, especially in leadership roles. Reflect on the cyclical nature of corporate interest in D&I, and be inspired by iconic role models like John Lewis, whose perseverance continues to light the path for future generations. This episode promises to be an enriching experience filled with insights on justice, leadership, and the true essence of social impact.

Website:
www.dialglobal.org

Join our membership:
https://www.dialglobal.org/membership

Our DEI solutions:
https://www.dialglobal.org/solutions

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Embark on an enlightening journey with us as we sit down with Nicola Grant, Chief People Officer at Hiscox, who opens up about climbing the ranks in the complex sphere of global human resources. Breaking through the confines of a homogenous upbringing, Nicola became a pioneer for her family by venturing into the world of academia and emerging as a champion of diversity and inclusion. Our conversation takes a deep dive into the pivotal moments of her life, from supporting her husband through career and health hurdles to seizing the helm of her own professional odyssey, illustrating the profound impact of embracing opportunity and positivity.

In a candid exchange, we unravel the often-overlooked concept of psychological safety and its indispensable role in the workplace. My personal anecdotes from the contrasting corporate cultures of New York and Amsterdam enrich this exploration, highlighting the trials and triumphs of nurturing an inclusive atmosphere amidst diverse backgrounds. The narrative underscores how allyship and the nuanced, invisible facets of diversity shape the fabric of belonging within a company. Nicola's insights into the transformative influence of a supportive CHRO lay bare the truth that diversity is not just a moral choice but also a cornerstone of successful business practice.

As we wrap up our episode, we delve into the transformative nature of leadership, celebrating authenticity and the power of individuality at the office. Nicola and I ponder the value of enlisting a myriad of perspectives and creating a space for equality and honest conversation. We acknowledge diverse leadership as both a commercial necessity and a key to winning over customers' hearts, stressing the significance of authenticity and humanity in today's leadership roles. Our discussion on personal growth shines a light on the importance of lifelong learning, the impactful nature of feedback, and the journey to a fulfilling career—reminding us that the steps we take towards our own development can lead to profound satisfaction in our professional lives.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app: https://community.dialglobal.org/
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org

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From the gritty streets of a low socioeconomic childhood to the corporate halls of Grant Thornton, Jenn Barnett's journey is a masterclass in resilience and vision. Her story isn't just about overcoming odds; it's about transforming them into a ladder for others to ascend. As a psychologist turned champion for inclusion and diversity, Jenn unveils the intricate dance between personal growth and professional innovation, and how her past fuels her relentless pursuit to cultivate an environment where everyone thrives.

This episode is a mosaic of experiences, from Jenn's early fascination with human behavior to her dynamic roles across industries, all converging to shape her understanding of the power of diversity in decision-making. You're invited on a voyage through the shifting landscapes of workplace culture, where the courage to embrace the unfamiliar paves the way for groundbreaking ideas. Our conversation traverses the delicate balance of fostering growth through challenge while ensuring a foundation of security, revealing how diverse teams are not just morally right but business-savvy.

As we wrap up, Jenn imparts her wisdom on the complexities of embedding diversity within the DNA of an organization. Crafting strategies that resonate with the unique challenges of varied groups, she emphasizes the critical role of mentorship and sponsorship, the strategic application of data, and the overarching importance of psychological safety in driving inclusive change. Through Jenn's lens, we grasp the significance of resilience, the impact of trust, and the unwavering optimism needed to sow the seeds of diversity for a more robust future in business. Join us, and be inspired to be an agent of change in your own sphere.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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Embark on a journey with Andrew Neal, Chief People Officer at Nash Squared, as we uncover the transformative power of diversity and inclusion through the lens of human capital leadership. With a vibrant career that transitioned from the retail hustle to spearheading human resource strategies, Andrew's dedication to fostering belonging and equity shines a spotlight on the evolving landscape of talent management. As he shares pearls of wisdom from his time at Tesco and beyond, our dialogue encapsulates the essence of nurturing a workplace culture that celebrates every individual's journey toward success.

Hear firsthand about the critical role employee resource groups (ERGs) play in driving engagement and organizational performance, illuminated through Andrew's experiences and bolstered by the support of executive champions. Our discussion stretches to the horizon of workplace agility, emphasizing the post-pandemic shift towards more adaptable practices and how these strategies are imperative for recruiting a diverse workforce, including the untapped potential of female talent. Join us for this enlightening session that not only plumbs the depths of Andrew's storied career but also offers invaluable insights into the profound relationship between human resources leadership and the vibrant tapestry of the modern workforce.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app: https://community.dialglobal.org/
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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Discover the transformative power of diversity and inclusion as we sit down with Dr. Yetta Toliver, Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Xerox Corporation. With a legacy spanning 37 years, Dr. Toliver unravels the rich tapestry of her career, from her origins with the company to spearheading initiatives that carve paths for equity in the workplace. In a candid reflection on Black History Month, she sheds light on Xerox's trailblazing efforts in creating the first employee resource groups (ERGs), revealing how these platforms have become crucial in shaping policies and nurturing a sense of community and strategic business acumen.

Embark on a journey through the corridors of Xerox's corporate culture where allyship and mentorship intersect, giving rise to programs like 'manbassadors' and an AI-driven enterprise mentoring program set to redefine professional relationships. Dr. Toliver shares how executive sponsorship and ERGs contribute to employee retention and engagement, painting a vivid picture of the company's commitment to fostering growth and inclusivity. She underscores how data, paired with the art of storytelling, convincingly communicate the tangible benefits of investing in a diverse workforce, from talent retention to bolstering corporate prosperity.

Finally, step into the heart of Xerox's ethos where leadership and culture blend seamlessly, creating an environment where every employee is encouraged to bring their authentic self to work. With initiatives promoting psychological safety and open dialogue on topics like menopause, Dr. Toliver illustrates the extensive yet often unquantified return on investment in people-centric programs. She provides poignant insights into the importance of a diverse leadership team, drawing inspiration from personal mentors and icons like Maya Angelou, to foster a legacy of belonging that resonates throughout the organization and beyond.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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Imagine stepping into the role of a lifetime, where every challenge is an opportunity for growth, and every connection has the potential to change your trajectory. That's the journey Sherry Cassano, Pfizer's Chief Talent Officer and People Experience Lead, shares with us as she recounts her experiences in the corporate realm. She walks us through her initial spark for human resources ignited by an internship, leading to a flourishing 20-year path at Pfizer where she's navigated corporate shifts and led teams through the perils of a global pandemic. Her stories are testament to the power of embracing the unexpected, the profound influence of mentors, and the vital need for a corporate culture steeped in diversity and inclusion.

Juggling a high-octane career with family life is akin to walking a tightrope, and Sherry reveals how partnership and support are the lifelines that keep everything balanced. We share stories of career leaps taken despite self-doubt and how fostering an environment where diversity, equity, and belonging are more than just buzzwords can unlock every team member's full potential. Dive into a conversation that unravels how true partnership lies at the core of personal and professional success, and why creating space for all voices isn't just a nice-to-have, but a must-do in today's workplaces.

There's an art to letting your guard down, and in the corporate world, it can be revolutionary. Sherry brings this to light with a tale of unexpected joy in the form of a dance, a simple act that rippled through Pfizer's culture, fostering a sense of inclusion and belonging. She emphasizes the vitality of authenticity, shedding the exhausting facade of code-switching, and the power that comes from presenting our authentic selves. Closing our conversation, Sherry touches on the often-overlooked feeling of leadership loneliness, the refreshing perspectives of youth, and the wisdom wrapped in the years we often try to hide. Tune in for a heartfelt exchange filled with laughter, empathy, and a treasure trove of insights for anyone aiming to lead with authenticity and champion a workplace where everyone truly belongs.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app: https://community.dialglobal.org/
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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When Vivien Burnett speaks of her climb from the bustling streets of southeast London to the pinnacle of HR at HH Global, you can't help but feel the strength of her purpose. This Valentine's Day, we bring you a tale of passion, not just for people but for the diversity that makes us thrive. Alongside Vivien, Thomas Huscroft joins us to share his transformation from banking to a champion of inclusion, proving that the heart of a company lies in its embrace of every individual's uniqueness.

Our conversation journeys through the fabric of leadership, interwoven with personal growth and the courage to champion others. Vivien recounts her eye-opening gap year that expanded her world view, sowing the seeds for her dedication to creating an inclusive corporate culture. Thomas, with equal fervor, discusses the profound effect belonging has on every facet of the workplace, from engagement to mental health. Together, they are the embodiment of progress, illustrating how diversity and inclusion are not just HR buzzwords but the cornerstone of a thriving business.

We wrap up with a deep dive into the essence of connection in leadership. The stories of Vivien and Thomas highlight the indispensable role of mentors, emotional intelligence, and the genuine bonds we forge along our professional journeys. Their experiences remind us of the power of authenticity and the beauty of a workplace where everyone has a voice and feels safe to be themselves. So, let their stories be your guide, a beacon for your own path to leadership and the celebration of diversity every step of the way.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

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Embark on an enriching odyssey with Josyln Dumas, an expert in the realm of Inclusion and Diversity at Elsevier, whose narrative illustrates the profound connection between the vibrancy of her dance background and her professional triumphs in talent development. Joslyn's story is a testament to the transformative potential of the arts, where her rise from the field of advertising to the pinnacle of IND work emerges as a beacon for nurturing talent and embracing diversity.

Feel the rhythm of perseverance and empowerment as Joslyn recounts her journey from an introspective individual to a dynamo of confidence, all through the grace of dance. Her personal anecdotes lay the foundation for a broader conversation on the necessity of creating inclusive spaces, where the arts serve as a vehicle for personal and community growth. The thread of dance weaves through the discussion, portraying a rich tapestry of generational influence and the enduring impact of creative expression in shaping inclusive environments.

Venture beyond the dance studio and into the heart of corporate culture, where the concept of psychological safety takes center stage. Through an engaging dialogue, we dissect the essence of a secure workplace, one that encourages risk-taking and celebrates the learning process. This episode isn't just about the steps we take in dance; it's about the leaps we make towards fostering innovation, cultivating diverse leadership, and nurturing an environment where every voice is heard and valued. Join us for an episode that dances to the beat of growth, inclusion, and the inspiring leadership journey of Joslyn Dumas.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app: https://community.dialglobal.org/
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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Prepare to be whisked away on an insightful journey with Leila McKenzie-Delis, as I sit with the unparalleled Marc Coleman of Unleash. Together, we dissect the exhilarating evolution of the HR events industry and the nuanced art of fostering indispensable human connections in today's digital world. From Marc's unexpected shift from science to HR, to the extraordinary challenges and triumphs of a remote-first events business, his story is one of resilience and innovation amid the ever-changing corporate landscape.

As the conversation plunges into the metamorphosis of HR, feel the pulse of a sector once confined to the background now catapulting to the forefront of strategic business change. You'll be gripped by tales of technological revolution and how employee empowerment has reshaped the corporate environment, culminating in an era where Chief Human Resources Officers are the new architects of workplace culture and connectivity. Our discussion pinpoints pivotal moments, like our experience at a Chelsea football club event, that crystallize the importance of purpose-driven workplaces in retaining top-tier talent across generational divides.

Rounding out this deep dive, we explore the impending 2025 milestone set to herald a new era of global advancement and the sheer force of staying ahead in the leadership game. Discover the 'impact of inaction' philosophy—how inertia in the face of change can be the silent saboteur of success. We wrap up with a glimpse into the upcoming Las Vegas event, with its rich promise of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), laying the blueprint for the future of work. Join us for these riveting insights that are bound to embolden and inspire HR aficionados and leaders alike.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app here: www.dialglobal.org/community
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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When Dr. Chuck Wallington, a visionary in the corporate realm and a passionate storyteller, graced our podcast, he didn't just recount his journey from a curious child to an illustrious executive at Cone Health, he also illuminated the path for future Black leaders. With a freshly minted book in hand, "A Seat at the Seasweet Table," Chuck offers an intimate glimpse into the successes and struggles of 30 Black executives navigating the tumultuous waters of today's business world. Our conversation ventured into the stark reality of African American men's scarcity in corporate leadership and how this drought limits mentorship and growth opportunities, an issue that resonates with my own experience as a Chinese, female, millennial leader.

This episode is a melting pot of poignant reflections and practical wisdom, examining the underrepresentation issues in executive roles and celebrating the triumphs of those who have broken through the glass ceilings. We delve into the stories of these executives, their combat with VUCA challenges, and the critical role of allies and sponsors in my personal narrative, highlighting the transformative power of diversity in leadership. A mosaic of perspectives is showcased, with Chuck's eye-opening research and interviews underscoring the importance of authenticity and the pressing need for inclusion in workplace cultures.

Glean insights from Chuck's defining principles for success, which are anchored by faith, recognition of one's innate talents, and the strength drawn from family and community. Through laughter and earnest discussion, we learn the significance of mentorship, the influence of role models like Ken Chenault, and the importance of lifelong learning and data-driven decisions. By the end of our time together, the indomitable spirit of those who forge forward, despite the corporate realm's challenges, serves as a testament to the resilience and community bonds that sustain us.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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The story of DeShaun Wise Porter, VP and Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement at Hilton, always reminds all of us about the profound impact one's heritage can have on their aspirations and achievements. DeShaun's journey from the finance world to the pinnacle of HR leadership is both fascinating and inspiring, embodying the tenacity and dedication required to build inclusive and thriving workplaces. She shares invaluable insights on the transcendent nature of people-centric skills and how, through authenticity and mentorship, one can lift others while achieving personal success.

The resilience encoded in DeShaun's DNA, inherited from ancestors like her Tuskegee Airman grandfather, is a testament to the indomitable human spirit. Our conversation unveils how this legacy has not only shaped her approach to life and work but also reinforced her belief in the symbiotic relationship between economic growth and ethical action. The narrative of her family's enduring strength serves as a beacon, illuminating the path to prosperity through the power of diversity and unwavering support for each other's potential.

Closing the episode with DeShaun, we explore the tangible strategies that can effect change within organizations, especially in the hospitality industry where diversity at senior levels is still burgeoning. She offers sage advice on building emotional resilience and maintaining momentum in the journey towards a more inclusive corporate landscape. It's a discussion brimming with practical wisdom for anyone looking to foster a supportive environment where every individual has the opportunity to shine. Her philosophy—rooted in authenticity, mentorship, and early relationship nurturing—provides a playbook for those aspiring to lead with impact and intent.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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As a parent, witnessing your child encounter barriers can ignite a passion for change that resonates far beyond the confines of home. That's precisely what happened to Nathan Coe, CEO of AutoTrader, when he saw his daughters confront gender biases. On our show, Nathan walks us through his awakening to the realities of diversity and inclusion, illustrating how these revelations have transformed AutoTrader into a beacon of equality, offering lessons that extend to us all about the essence of leadership in today's ever-evolving workplace.

With roots firmly planted in the working class, Nathan's journey to the helm of AutoTrader is a narrative of ambition, defying societal expectations, and the relentless pursuit of a culture steeped in positivity and social mobility. In our intimate conversation, he peels back the layers of traditional CEO roles, advocating for a leadership style that prizes trust and personal connection over top-down commands. This approach, he argues, is not only more aligned with today's societal needs but also carves a path for a new era of empowered, engaged teams and leaders who truly listen.

The synergy between diversity and commercial success is a tune Nathan knows by heart. AutoTrader stands as a testament to the potent blend of CEO activism with business strategy, demonstrating the genuine integration of diversity into the DNA of a company's objectives. This episode peels back the curtain on how diversity and inclusion are much more than just buzzwords but rather, the driving force behind a thriving, forward-thinking enterprise. Nathan's insights challenge us to consider how embedding these values into our businesses is not just a moral imperative but a strategic edge in a landscape that demands balance, innovation, and a deep respect for every individual's contribution.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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When Melody Moore took a courageous leap, leaving behind a tenured NHS position to start anew in Canada, little did she know the journey would transform her into a DEI luminary and an inspiring voice for change. This episode peers into Mel's riveting narrative, tracing the pivotal shifts that launched her from healthcare to a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion, now sharing her insights as a consultant and author. Her story is a vibrant tapestry, woven with threads of leadership, self-discovery, and the profound belief in the impact one can have on the world.

As Mel's tale unfolds, we tread the path of integrating identity and experience into the professional realm, touching on the nuances of LGBTQ+ experiences and the solo voyage of single parenthood. In a candid exchange, I share my own strides as a single parent in the corporate sphere, alongside the lessons of empathy and efficiency parenthood instills. We then venture into the heart of my upcoming book, exploring an innovative team model that marries the best of high-performance strategy with the tenets of DEI, setting the stage for organizations to harness a culture of intellectual humility, psychological safety, and a continuous growth mindset. Join us for a conversation that reimagines the essence of inclusion, directly at the intersection where personal journeys meet professional aspirations.

📔 Melody Moore recently released a book called "The Inclusive Team: How to Build and Develop Inclusive High Performing Teams" and you can get it here: https://amzn.to/3T5hmMj

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app https://community.dialglobal.org/share/ljg71bsbWLspcnU-?utm_source=manual
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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From the remnants of a war-torn Lebanon to the zenith of entrepreneurship, Tony Jamous shares the odyssey that led him to champion the remote work revolution with Oyster, a beacon for global job democratization. His tale is one of triumph over personal and professional battles, a testament to the resilience that forges not just successful business leaders, but pioneers of social change. We explore how Tony's dedication to mental health, personal growth, and societal impact intertwines with his business acumen to create opportunities that bridge economic divides and foster wealth equality across borders.

Venture with us as we unravel the fabric of mission-driven businesses, where profit meets purpose, and where the prosperity of people is as valued as the bottom line. Tony's insights illuminate the solitary nature of entrepreneurship and the challenges that come with fundraising and scaling a business. Yet, amidst these hurdles, we uncover the power of diversity, the importance of nurturing real-world role models, and the pivotal moments that define the trajectory of a venture.

Our conversation culminates in a vision for the future—one where sustainable leadership is the cornerstone of both mental well-being and environmental stewardship. Tony's perspective on rapid decision-making, impactful investments, and the cultivation of social capital paints a picture of a world where opportunities are no longer bound by geography. Join us for an inspiring narrative that challenges the conventional, promising a tomorrow where businesses not only thrive but also contribute to a more equitable and flourishing global community.

🎧 Check our podcast audio here: www.dialglobal.org/podcast
📱 Join our Membership to access our DIAL Global Community Network app here: www.dialglobal.org/community
📩 Contact us at hello@dialglobal.org or www.dialglobal.org/contact-us

🌐 Visit us on www.dialglobal.org

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What if diversity wasn't a zero-sum game? What could you achieve if you understood the power of connecting with diverse audiences and truly grasped the value of stakeholder engagement? Join us as we take an in-depth look at diversity and inclusion in the business landscape with Alicin Reidy Williamson, Chief Diversity and Culture Officer at Yahoo. This isn't just about ticking boxes and making sure the workplace is representative. It's about how a diverse and inclusive environment can drive positive change and prosperity.

Alicin gives us a masterclass in communication and leadership. She shares their insights on the importance of resilience, the abundance mindset that comes with embracing diversity, and the vital role that a Chief Diversity Officer plays in an organization. We address the misconception that diversity is a zero-sum game and instead focus on the benefits it brings to innovation, economy, and the very identity of a business. For those interested in the role of the CDO, she even provides some invaluable advice.

Our exploration doesn't stop there. We discuss the need to support female founders, create equitable workplace policies, and address the impact of inaction on diversity initiatives. We also talk about the need for businesses to constantly adapt and evolve to stay relevant in our ever-changing digital world. The wealth of knowledge shared in this conversation is invaluable for those looking to foster diversity and inclusion in their own organizations. Don't miss out on an episode that could transform the way you view diversity and inclusion in business.

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What if the secret to success goes beyond financial achievements? Join us as we explore this concept with our guest, Chris Mouskoundi, Non Executive Director, The Ocean Partnership. Chris takes us along his unique career journey, starting with his upbringing in an immigrant family that instilled in him a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. We get an insider's view into the role his Greek-American background played in shaping his passion for diversity, inclusion, and equity, and how it guided him to his surprising love for tax and led to his active involvement in various boards and organizations.

Now, imagine a workplace where diversity and inclusion aren't just buzzwords, but the foundation of success and innovation. We dive into this critical topic, revealing that a shocking 30% of minority individuals worry about fitting in, which inhibits their full contribution. Through sharing my personal coming out journey and its impact on my career, along with the economic significance of diversity, we shed light on the importance of an inclusive and accepting work environment. We also delve into the concept of success that extends beyond just financial achievements, and the importance of finding role models who inspire us. Tune in for an episode that's packed with inspiring stories, insightful discussions, and empowering messages of self-acceptance.

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Have you ever wondered how a person's humble beginnings can shape their journey to becoming an influential leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion? Join us as we sit down with a phenomenal woman, Joanne Conway, who turns her challenging childhood into a powerful narrative of resilience and success. Joanne, the Head of Inclusion and Culture, International at DLA Piper, shares her story of growing up in disadvantaged areas and offers practical tips on how to navigate uncertainty and build strong networks.

As we delve deeper into the conversation, we explore a topic that often stirs up discomfort – privilege. We share personal journeys of grappling with this concept and discuss how leaders can reflect on and address their privilege to foster inclusivity. Joanne even provides a sneak peek into our ongoing research on creating a framework for leaders to make systemic changes in organisations. The discussion doesn't stop there. We dive into the intricacies of diversity and inclusion in organizations, sharing our perspectives and experiences. We emphasize the need for patience, a strong foundation, and the crucial role of leaders in implementing diversity initiatives. So, tune in to enrich your understanding of diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity in the workplace.

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Prepare for an insightful conversation with Jon Dutton, the man behind British Cycling. With his career spanning over 28 years in the sports field, Jon has taken the reins of leadership at illustrious events like the PGA, Rugby League World Cup 2021, and now, British Cycling. We dive into his journey, the power of resilience, the importance of a diverse and supportive culture within an organization, and how to navigate the challenges our complex world throws at us.

The sports field is not just about games and records; it's also a mirror reflecting societal issues. Underneath the glitz and glamour, sports have been impacted by the weaponization of racism, misogyny, and homophobia. Jon shares his unique insights on how these issues have filtered into the sports world, the role of media in combating these inequalities, and the value of role models in our society. We also discuss the constant evolution of culture and the changing expectations of younger generations in our increasingly digitized world.

Wrapping up our conversation, we delve into a personal reflection on leadership, purpose, and the importance of a strong support system. Jon shares his thoughts on the power of honesty and resilience, and how his support system has been instrumental in his successful career. We also discuss the social impact of sports, its role in building better communities, and driving engagement. If you're passionate about sports, social equality, or just an avid follower of Jon's work, this episode is an absolute must-listen.

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Jenny Packwood, a name synonymous with sustainability and leadership, graces our podcast with her inspiring journey. Her story begins in the agency world as a PR professional and segues into her current role as KFC's Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer, where she is transforming the global brand. As we navigate through her two-decade career, we delve into the pivotal role she's played in embracing the shift from CSR to ESG, reflecting the changes and expectations in the business world today.

Life, however, has a way of throwing curveballs. Jenny courageously shares her personal battle when her late-husband was diagnosed with aggressive cancer, a struggle that deeply affected her mental health. The empathy and support she received during this challenging period from her KFC family has sparked a passion within her to actively address mental health issues in the workplace.

Our conversation also highlights the untapped potential and resilience of single parents in the workforce, a personal experience for Jenny. We explore how diversity, inclusion, and belonging are not just buzzwords but are essential drivers for commercial success. We examine policies that empower women in leadership roles and discuss ways to address systemic breaks to achieve true equality. The episode is a profound reflection of Jenny's journey, her values, and her pursuit of creating an inclusive and diverse workspace.

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What would you do to ensure your children have limitless opportunities? Our intriguing guest, Joshua Partridge, Vice President & Head of EMEA at Yahoo! an Australian-raised father of two living in London, shares his enlightening views on parenting, and how his multicultural upbringing influenced his perspective. He artfully weaves his personal experiences, reflecting on the relationships he built during his time at Yahoo! and Shazam. It's a riveting peak into the thrilling world of travel and the opportunities it can present.

Ever thought about the role diversity and inclusion play in shaping future generations? Our guest emphasizes the importance of conscious inclusion and the celebration of our similarities as humans. He takes us on a thoughtful exploration of the diminishing civil discourse in our society, and the potential dangers of polarization. This conversation offers fascinating insights into the necessity for leaders to compromise and listen effectively.

Curious about the impact of a multicultural upbringing on children? Our discussion sheds light on this significant aspect, focusing on how cultural diversity shapes our children. The value of language learning, the importance of celebrating successes, and the role of a supportive peer group are also insights you cannot afford to miss. Join us as we uncover the lessons learned from our guest's extraordinary life journey. It's an episode filled with thought-provoking narratives and meaningful gems about leadership, parenting, and the power of diversity in society.

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How can a single experience mold your identity and shape your destiny? Our conversation with Cesar Wurm, the charismatic and empathetic VP of Commercial and Premium Brands at IHG Hotels & Resorts, has us grappling with these profound questions. He takes us down the memory lane, revealing a mesmerizing journey from heart-wrenching loss to finding his passion in hospitality, through a path filled with valuable connections and growth opportunities. Cesar's story is a testament to the power of human connection, underlining how every interaction holds the potential to influence and inspire.

But the journey to success is never a bed of roses. It's more like a rollercoaster ride with its highs and lows, and Cesar is no stranger to it. He bravely opens up about the struggles he faced, including his battle with addiction and mental health issues. Caesar's thoughtful reflections on the importance of vulnerability in leadership and the pressing need to normalize seeking help are like a breath of fresh air. His insights into the changing definitions of success and the interconnectedness of our lives remind us that beneath the surface, we are all more similar than we are different. Steer clear of the usual rhetoric and join us for a thought-provoking conversation that transcends the ordinary.

Listen to the full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/gjcbqun

inclusion #diversity #movingtheDIAL

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Ever pondered on the stark reality of a CEO's life or the power of personal branding? Well, you're in for a treat! We're thrilled to welcome Freddie Paxton, the dynamic CEO of the UK's leading personal branding agency, WOAW. Freddie takes us on an inspiring journey, sharing his transition from a university dropout to a C-suite executive. He peels back the layers of the CEO role, revealing its challenges and responsibilities - which can often be a far cry from the perceived glamour.

Freddie's insightful narrative extends to the realm of personal branding in our digital age. He emphasizes that we all have a personal brand, often unconsciously, and harnessing it can yield significant benefits. With Freddie's expert guidance, we delve into the importance of carefully crafting our messages and the role of a robust personal brand in streamlining networking. His unique perspective on this emerging branch of marketing is a treasure trove of knowledge.

We are not just about business; we delve deep into Freddie's life experiences and values. Growing up with a single mother, Freddie discusses the importance of hard work, mental health, and supportive environments. He even opens up about his favorite clients, mission-led campaigns, and influential books.

Join us, and let's explore the intricacies of personal branding, leadership, and the transformative power of vulnerability together.

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What if, in a heavily male-dominated industry, your gender wasn’t a barrier but a superpower, an asset?

Join us for a captivating conversation with Liz Benison, CEO of ISS UK and Ireland, as she shares her journey from an uncertain 18-year-old to leading a major organization, and how she turned her gender into a superpower in the automotive industry. This episode promises interesting discussions on gender equity, parenthood, care responsibilities, and the different life stages of a CEO.

Balancing work and family life is a delicate act. Liz shares fascinating stories, including one where her daughter demonstrated an incredible business acumen, and how bringing children to work and celebrating life milestones can shape a career.

We take you through Leila's trip to Hong Kong, where she retraced her father's steps showing that work, life, and business are not separate entities but a harmonious blend.

In the last part of our discussion, we tackle CEO activism, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and the role of media in creating a polarized narrative. Liz provides insightful ideas on creating a positive, inclusive work environment, and the importance of setting measurable goals for gender equity. We conclude with Liz’s fresh perspective on leadership and her ideas on nurturing an environment where people feel safe and thrive.

Tune in and join our engaging chat with Liz Benison, a powerhouse paving the way for gender equity in the corporate world.

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Merary Soto-Saunders, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CVC Capital Partners.

"When you're a diverse leader, you're not allowed to be yourself, you're not allowed to be vulnerable, you're not allowed to be human. And that's really, really hard. Very few people open the space for vulnerability. I find that I resonate more when I'm vulnerable and I'm like, Hey, look, this isn't what it's hard. Like being a mom is hard. Being a an executive is hard. Being the only black woman is hard in certain spaces. Being anything is really difficult. And I want to show you that you don't have to be perfect and that you can be vulnerable and that you can be human and still be very impactful and still be, you know, accessible. But if if people don't lean into that vulnerability, we just become like almost too distant to be impactful to to younger people that are like us."You'll hear about:

Merary's career journey up the ladder into her current role
Representation, its psychological effect and how vulnerability plays into being more authentic and impactful
How changes in technology have allowed for younger people in the workforce to reach out to people they admire professionally, and gain insights and knowledge from them
How the meaning of diversity has evolved over time
What the role of a Chief Diversity Officer looks like, particularly at CDC
The role of the media, particularly good media in creating a truthful narrative of D&I

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Our fourth CEO Activist episode features a conversation between Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global and Ben Page, CEO at Ipsos.

"Communications are hugely important and people can spot a fake miles off. So you've got to you've got to build in your routines of communication because you're the leader of a large organization. People want leadership. That means they want clarity, they want fairness, they want transparency, They want to believe that someone has a plan, even if the world is in turmoil or in chaos."

You'll hear about

Ben's 36 year stint with Ipsos, starting as a graduate trainee to his rise as CEO
Ipsos' evolution over the years growing to become a global juggernaut of data and research and the work they do now not just in data but also with communities and their core values which drive them to do what they do
How cultural outlook on life affects what people see as acceptable or not when it comes to DIBE issues
How Ben adapts his leadership style depending on the situation, culture and norms
What diversity brings to the table, and how that has become more important within global orgnaisations
The role of the CEO within the organisation and how they impact decisions at every level
The evolution of a leader through the years, and the habits that become important for longevity and success

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Roisin Mackenzie, Chief People officer at Saga PLC

"But ultimately it's it's all about back to listen to your colleagues - How are they feeling? What are they telling you? Because they will tell you if a culture is off, they will tell you if they don't feel like you've got an inclusive culture. So you have to focus on culture as much as you do your processes, diversity and who who you bringing in. If you haven't worked hard enough on making sure that culture is safe, inclusive, that people feel like they can get on, they can feel seen, they can feel themselves, leaders understand what it is, you're pushing water up a hill."You'll hear about:

Roisin's career journey and how she progressed to become Chief People Officer at Saga PLC
How the evolution of the role of the people function, ESG and diversity, inclusion and belonging has played out over the last decade
Saga's initiatives involving diversity, inclusion. ERGs and the people function
How growing education and knowledge within stakeholder groups and investors has impacted ESG within organisations
The importance of psychological safety when it comes to D&I and performance
How do people and leaders make decisions when there are so many opinions
The importance of resilience to get through challenges

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Our third CEO Activist episode features a conversation between Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global and Paul Gerrard, Campaigns, Public Affairs & Board Secretariat Director at the Co-op Group, Board Director at Co-ops UK and Trustee of the Co-operative Heritage Trust.

Paul played a role in shaping what the CEO Activist campaign looks like today especially when it comes to the convening power of the initiative when it comes to business and policymakers.

"A partnership between government, local or central, and business is critical. If you want to help communities prosper then businesses have a critical role to play alongside governments."

You'll hear about

Paul's strong family background and tightly-knit community which played a large role in shaping his worldview
Why Paul believes that the intersection between business and the government has such an important and crucial role to play in today's modern world
The history of the Coop and what makes its sense of community real, focusing on campaigns that have mattered
Why organisations should care about each other collectively
How different arts and diversity helps to drive success
What businesses should be looking at when it comes to managing and measuring data and facts and figures

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Katherine Griffiths, the City Editor at Bloomberg.

"But it is the case still that I think in news in particular, it's a problem. If a parent needs to be out of the office, take time off. And I think it's got something to do with the very nature of the job, which is sometimes things need to be done immediately."You'll hear about:

A whistlestop tour of Katherine's life including her career history through various newspapers
Parenthood, particularly her experience of it in the workplace and what's needed for parents to be able to navigate the complexities of working and parenting in a world where gender roles meet company practices
The importance of investing in talent that exists within the organisation to prevent women within the organisation from hitting the glass ceiling
The evolution of how talent flows into an organisation, and how important closing off the opportunity gap is
Time off for parenthood, and how to navigate one's way back into their career
What organisations can do to support families and drive organisational culture

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Our second CEO Activist episode features a conversation between Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global and Stephanie Mehta, Chief Executive and Chief Content Officer of Mansueto Ventures.

'I think that good now in in my new role looks like creating a place where people really do feel like they are empowered to do their best work and empowered to say when there is something that is preventing them from being able to do their best work.'

You'll hear about

Stephanie's rich and vibrant career which includes names like Fortune Magazine, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal and a work history that starts with journalism school in Chicago and an internship in Virginia with a newspaper chain that went out of its way to remove barriers for students of colour.
Her early life including immigrant parents from different cultures, who were extremely supportive of her choices, her work ethic, and her experiences with growing up as an Asian-American which led to her awareness of race.
How this awareness of race crept into experiences of work, where she felt like she had to go the extra mile simply because of who she was
What 'good' means to Stephanie in terms of her life and future
How she's seen leadership change over her career, and where 'purpose' sits in that conversation
How the younger generation who have been taught to think critically at a younger age are accelerating change

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Ruben Alejandro Ramirez, the group head of Diversity and Inclusion for Syngenta Group

"it all starts by understanding the space. For example, we have a global pride campaign as an entire group. However, we understand that in some places, this is illegal. So what we are trying to do this year is to have a low pressure campaign for those countries where pride is accepted and LGBTQ community is accepted, but then have our Respect campaign for the countries where we are not able sometimes even to speak about the topic."You'll hear about:

A whistlestop tour of Ruben' life including his heritage, international education and career, which is also how he met his husband, his passion for customer strategy and how he ended up in D&I
Intersectionality, and how being a part of the LGBT community also helped him understand other underrepresented groups and showed him how to connect to people, to relate, and make his organisation a better, safer place
The importance of vulnerability in leadership to find those points of intersection and make connections
Corporate life and strategic planning in terms of D&I as something that can really make a difference to the business and the importance of going from awareness to accountability
The role of the global D&I professional as an influencer, often is operating with limited resources and engaging with different communities in an intersectional way
What the pride movement means to Ruben, and his experience with it within his role and company

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Our first ever CEO Activist podcast kicks off with a fascinating conversation between Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global and Shirine Khoury-Haq, Group CEO at Co-op.

"In terms of activism from a from a CEO perspective it is important to be authentic and to really determine what it is that's important to you, that you feel you can actually stand up and talk about with credibility, both inside your own organization, to be able to effect the change within one's own organization, but also outside, whether it's in government or in media or other other places."

You'll hear about:

Shirine's upbringing including being a world traveller at a very young age thanks to her father's job and growing up in a multi-faith household to her own professional career which included multiple roles in multiple industries
The culture and the history of the council and the importance of organisations and CEOs to really be following the values and purpose
The reason behind Shirine's passion for early intervention and the importance of it in childrens' lives
What CEO activism means to Shirine and the need for CEOs and governments to make the right decisions when it comes to policy and practice
How to deal with challenges such as culture wars, which can be a huge setback to D&I
ESG with its narrative shift not just to environmental issues but also to social issues.
How the Co-op is allowing talent to be able to thrive, no matter what background, no matter what their personal situation through the use of policies and practices

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Asif Sadiq, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Warner Brothers Discovery

"At Warner Brothers Discovery, I'm looking at the internal elements. I'm looking at productions. I'm looking at our content. You know, how do we make it more diverse? How do we tell authentic stories? And that's how D&I should be positioned. In a way that you are really aligning to the internal and the external so that the messaging and what you truly believe in is consistent."You'll hear about:

A whistlestop tour of Asif's personal and professional journey including his early experience in different industries, his thoughts on authentic storytelling that is aligned with D&I, his Kenyan heritage, his family, race as a huge element while growing up and his views on disability inclusion
The need for D&I efforts to move away from alignment with the dominant culture, to give other minority cultures a chance to contribute and explore their own journey with alignment to company values
The need for safe spaces that allow for open conversation, the fact that diversity does not mean agreement on everything and importance of taking every opportunity to create a learning environment rather than jumping to cancel someone
How alignment in D&I helps create a sense of belonging within an organisation and a feeling of alignment with organisational values
The value of having a D&I role that reports to the CEO and has a seat at the table to shape how D&I fits into organisational culture and influence strategy
Authentic storytelling that represents the richness and diversity of a culture and its success stories

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Salma De Graaff, VP People/(CHRO) at Skyscanner

"People that have come from the people function that can lead an organization, they're also leading the people in an organization and finding a way to understand and facilitate both what generates great revenue and what are going to be the key elements that lead the company forward and also how do we create the environment able to thrive."You'll hear about:

Salma's rich personal history and her upbringing with an immigrant father and growing up in an Asian family with its educational pressures, through her career in sales into HR
How her move abroad made her understand privilege from an intersectional lens, but also started her on her travel history, living in the Netherlands, Suriname, Kinshasa, The Dominican Republic, Congo, Ethiopia and finally back to the Netherlands with regular trips to the UK.
The importance of a strong understanding of the commercial lens, as well as the fast paced, modern world that we live in to give someone a commercial edge.
How Diversity and Inclusion, culture and intersectionality fit into Human Resources
The importance of coaching and mentoring, and how that became Salma's inflection point in terms of going after the role that she always said she wanted and he importance of self-belief in that journey.
How a company is also a community, and the important role that HR/People plays in creating an environment where employees can thrive.
What resilience really means in terms of work-life balance and the importance of finding it earlier in life.

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Clare Costello, Chief People and Inclusion officer at the Co-op

"How many times have I said to somebody in the last decade, You're a fantastic negotiator. You can pull an RFP together, analyze data in such an immense way, massive thumbs up, humanity, stakeholders, kind of. Okay. But if you can get your people scaled up, you'll go from being a really good buy to being amazing. And it is that is the more people centric side that shifts the dial in terms of how we work together and the outcomes that you can get to."You'll hear about:

Clare's professional journey through accounting to procurement and now to people.
How to grow and develop relationships in terms of the supply chain, and in particular how to manage the more difficult parts of these relationships
The importance of transparency and honesty in business relationships as well as creating a spirit of collaboration to make everyone feel a part of the business
The increasing number of organisations whether corporate, social enterprise or non-profits who are driving initiatives to benefit diverse and minority owned suppliers and communities
Clare's vision of the future when it comes to the future when it comes to procurement, diversity, inclusion, belonging, equity and also people
How social value works, and particularly in terms of ESG value and how procurement fits into people
How to standardise and measure the S in ESG to ensure it's something that is scientifically tracked and measured

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Zahoor Ahmad, Head of Social Mobility, Inclusion and Belonging at Coop and Executive Director at Alchemy Performance.

"Through emotional intelligence you can create a level of psychological safety and then people are accepting of ideas because they are non-threatening. However, if people enter their fight or flight mode when you approach them, you're not going to get much out of them."You'll hear about:

Zahoor's evolution through D&I including why he peaked at the age of 11, his Pakistani background, his experience of racism in public schools at a young age, how he's used his degree in psychology starting from social services to race equality to fire services, his career break where he wrote a novel and then continuing on to Royal Mail, the finance sector and finally to the Coop.
The differences he found within organisations at his various roles and what it means to be a forward-thinking D&I professional in today's world.
The big failures of diversity initiatives across Zahoor's experience, particularly bearing in mind the cyclical nature of events leading to diversity fatigue.
How to elevate the narrative around D&I to use D&I to make things happen where it counts
Why is it important to step up and put our head above the parapet when it comes to critical issues of our time
The importance of the art of storytelling and persuasion

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Brendan Vaughan, Editor in Chief of Fast Company.

"There are enough organisations that truly do value work-life balance - the idea that you shouldn't have an always, always, always on culture or you will lose people. That's never been more true than it is these days."You'll hear about:

Brendan's evolution as a journalist and how he ended up as the Editor in Chief of Fast Company
How the meaning of productivity has changed since the pandemic, with people's priorities shifting and how the future of work continues to evolve to meet the needs of modern day.

- What Diversity means to Brendan, how D&I has evolved in the media and how to embed D&I into every facet of the industry

How diversity plays out as it intersects with other facets such as race, disability etc
The importance of doing the right thing.

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In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Margaret Johnston-Clarke, Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for L'Oreal.

"The most important decision I made at the time which I would recommend highly to anyone moving into this sphere today is to really understand the corporate culture of your organisation but also what the business culture is like."You'll hear about:

Margaret's personal and professional story including her wonderfully rich and colourful career and background
The importance of understanding organisational culture and the intersection between brand, business case and social good

- How Margaret's role has evolved over the past 20 years, having been carved out because of L'Oreal's foresight about customer needs and the changing landscape

How to be more outspoken about leadership and social justice issues
Navigating tricky scenarios like finding the line between personal opinion and corporate communications and the importance of reverse mentoring

-Employee resource groups, employee voice and the importance of both of those in communication

Continue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Raj Verma, Chief Diversity, Culture+ Ex Officer for Sanofi.

"One of the reasons why I put together the function that I lead today around diversity, culture and experience is because they are the reasons people join and they are the reasons people leave an organization."You'll hear about:

Raj's personal and professional story including his childhood moving from a predominantly brown and black neighbourhood to being a minority in his class, his educational background, and his career journey in DIBE starting from his first role in Dagenham, UK
Why DIBE is so important within an organisation, and why having great people within your organisation is important
The importance of putting the individual at the centre of transformation strategy, designing things for them and with them
The 80/20 rule in creating culture, employee experience being a multi-way relationship and why people stay at an organisation
The relationship between D&I, ESG and HR
How Employee Resource Groups at Sanofi have evolved
Raj's experiences of working in cross-cultural environments including cultural awareness training, building psychological safety into conversations with people from different cultures, the need to check bias

Continue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Clay Johnson, Senior Learning Technologist, University of the West of England.

"I think we need to change our educational framework...Modern education needs to address modern societal need. That process is happening within schools at the grassroots. It is happening organically because teachers fundamentally want to establish positive relationships with the people that they teach."You'll hear about:

Clay’s personal and professional story including his childhood in a mixed race neighbourhood in South Africa in the 70s, his experience of apartheid, moving to the UK and his life since
How challenges experienced by minority groups are sometimes viewed through a distant lens, without full appreciation of what they go through and an understanding of the deep-seated legacy issues that arise
How Clay has modified his own behaviour like many others from minority communities have in response to the ramification of global events or lived experience, for example, making sure that people can see his hands or putting his hood down if he is out walking on his own
Clays thoughts on governmental responsibility as well as diversity and inclusion when it comes to education
Systemic failure within education due to cookie cutter models of success, leading to a need for the individual to be put back at the heart of education.
How policy, strategy and legislation can be used effectively but policy at high levels is created by politicians and not people who work at grassroots level with lived experience, thus leading to disconnect
The positive role models that contributed to Clay’s lived experience despite some traumatic times
The importance of story-telling and actually talking about some of our lived experiences, especially the difficult, challenging ones

Continue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Scott Walker, CEO of XpertHR, part of the Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group.

"You know Millennials and Gen-Z in the workplace are demanding that their organisations are ethical in the way in which they both interact with the world and their communities around them but also how they treat their employees and there is an innate sense of fairness that these employees really are insisting upon and so the people functions within the business are recognising that this is something that we absolutely need to be improving upon and address."You'll hear about:

Scott's personal and professional journey including how he came to be CEO of XpertHR and how his present role spearheads industry challenges

- Thought leadership and adoption of various areas to drive business for good

The need for organisations to truly be walking the walk that they talk about and the expectation of future generations of leaders
The future of XpertHR and their portfolio of organisations that are trying to do business for good
The importance of working out personal drivers and how they fit into a person's goals
Insecurity and how to harness the power of fear

Continue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, CEO of the 10,000 Interns Foundation.

"When you're leaving school or university you are bombarded with a repeated 'What are you going to do?' The more interesting questions are 'What do you want your life to look like?' or 'What do you want your life to feel like?' Finding the answers to those questions will tell you what you're going to do."You'll hear about:

Rebecca's personal and professional journey including the road to becoming CEO of 10,000 interns starting with her family and heritage, background in sport, exposure to multiple cultures, early start as a founder
The 'isms' that people face especially in high level positions at a young age and as a woman of colour
The balance between talent and experience and breaking out of the stereotypical shape of what a CEO might look like
Shame, equity, empathy towards others and modern leadership qualities
The importance of coaching and mentoring in a leader's journey

Support the showContinue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis , CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Nicholas Petche, Editor in Chief for Yahoo UK.

"People are complicated, and we can get blind to this because we think about human relationships in terms of what can and can't be said. What we can do is to create circumstances and the narratives that will enable opportunities to be as wide as possible."

Nick's personal and professional journey including his global career, how he came to be in his current position and how it impacted his growth.
The importance of curiousity to learn about people and the need for belonging, highlighting common threads between humans
What's changed in journalism over the last several years
The founding of Yahoo Diversity in Journalism and its impact
The opportunity gap, the barriers that prevent talent and how to keep feeding in diversity of thought
Is there now a conflict in diversity and inclusion? Is there a lot of confusion over what Diversity really is, and does it make people afraid to get involved?
Intersectionality, and Diversity as an agenda that belongs to all

Continue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, Leila McKenzie-Delis , CEO and Founder of DIAL Global speaks to Ben Bengougam, Senior Vice President Human Resources across EMEA for Hilton.

"In order to deserve that proverbial seat at the table, you still have to make a credible link between what you do for your people and business success."

Ben's personal and professional journey including how he came to be in his current position and how it impacted his leadership style.
How the role of an HR leader has evolved over the last decades and what is critical for success in this role?
How the HR leader of today positively impacts ESG initiatives within an organisation.

-How the field of hospitality can be seen as providing hope, by making a difference and providing opportunities within the community that it operates in.

How Hilton's employee resource groups and similar communities have made an impact on the local and global level.
The importance of collaborative strategy at Hilton to tackle problems faced and address employee concerns
How to track ROI and engagement statistics from ERGs
The importance of creating people well, career inspiration and a key piece of advice.

Support the showContinue the conversation on LinkedIn

In this week’s podcast, our CEO Leila McKenzie-Delis speaks to Philip Hogarth, CEO of Communisis and President of OSG Europe/

Here’s what they discuss:

Philips background and journey including what led him to his current roles and what drives his passion for business for good and the employee experience
How his personal life and journey has shaped him as a leader including his work ethic and discovering himself as a person
How Philip's goal of transforming Communisis and his D&I goals aligns with his signing the CEO Activist pledge
Talking about change, the right career and leaps of faith while finding
The needs of employees and how to engage with them and create a purpose for people beyond the fabric of the space that they work in
The importance of creating a feeling of community at work that is greater than the 9-to-5
The changing nature of Diversity and Inclusion and the importance of leading from the top authentically, with conviction and belief to create a lasting legacy

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This week Leila has a conversation with Kalvinder Dhillon, Vice Chair, Tax, Deloitte UK, NSE Deloitte Board Member

What you'll hear about:

💡Kalvinder's personal and professional background, including her heritage as an immigrant and her focus and drive towards success
💡Intersectionality and the fact that it is not a zero-sum game, so there are complexities to D&I that demand collaboration
💡Speaking up, utilising the trickle affect, staying ahead of the curve because D&I affects every aspect of society and business
💡The importance of targeting inclusivity in D&I rather than pillars of D&I and challenging our presumptions of stereotypical diversity
💡The fact that it's important to look from the top down and up from the bottom at diversity, sponsorship and allyship while measuring and managing the effects of various initiatives to continue to evolve and grow
💡The importance of paying attention to the quieter voices in the organisation to achieve deep listening and vibrance of innovation
💡It's not divide and conquer, so the importance of minority groups working together to achieve change.

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According to Harvard Health Publishing, neurodiversity includes the many ways that people experience and interact with the world around them - there is no one correct way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not a weakness.

This week's podcast features Martin McKay, CEO of Texthelp with our CEO Leila McKenzie-Delis.

🧠 Martin's foray into studying and understanding dyslexia and his subsequent career
🧠 Many different aspects of dyslexia and why it is ultimately a superpower
🧠Enhancing people's lives by changing challenges into wins through the power of technology, speech and language
🧠How Texthelp enables people to express themselves and be their best selves
🧠The power of confidence and giving people confidence - education, early intervention and within the corporate environment and workplace
🧠How Texthelp makes the workplace more accessible

Also, thank you Martin for signing our CEO Activist Moving the Dial on Diversity pledge!

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In this week’s podcast, our CEO Leila McKenzie-Delis speaks to Kelly Beaver, Chief Executive, UK and Ireland, Ipsos Mori.

Here’s what they discuss:

📈Kelly's background and work at Ipsos and her non-exec positions in academia and charity work
📈Executive sponsorship, leadership, trickle effect, early intervention when it comes to education
📈The market research industry with its focus on data and the methodology and rationale behind evidence-based decision making
📈The emotional intelligence required to truly see good leadership and organisations through their long term game plan
📈Inspirational nuggets such as keeping the faith, focusing on deep listening, thankfulness and gratitude.
📈Key life moments that matter/make a difference are what we remember

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In this week’s podcast, our CEO Leila McKenzie-Delis has a conversation with Serhat Ekinci, Managing Director of Unite, Omnicom Media Group.

Here’s what they discuss:

🚀Serhat's professional background in the world of creative, digital, media, advertising and consulting as well as his rich cultural background (Turkish/Kurdish) that influences his work and passion projects
🚀Importance of media representation in content, communication and data to be inclusive because people will not feel included when the work they do doesn't represent them
🚀Importance of highlighting both visible and invisible differences as well as cultural nuances in advertising so that consumers feel represented
🚀Moving from unconscious exclusion to conscious inclusion and the need for content to be relevant to everyone
🚀How diversity across different levels challenges the way in which organisations operate
🚀Identity crises, cultural nuances and the power of conversation to learn from each other and build bridges

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This week Leila has a conversation with Astrid Sundberg, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Oda.

What you'll hear about:

Astrid's story and her personal and professional journey including her work with global companies, early foray into senior leadership, single parenthood, international transitions and lived experiences
Gender discrimination and speaking out, the importance of mental health and wellbeing and the need to not hold things together behind a glossy facade
Inclusion and Belonging - the differences below the surface in contrast to what is visible
Privilege awareness as a reality check and the need to speak about individual privilege more openly without feeling defensive
The evolutionary scale of privilege means that we might never understand every single experience of everyone, however empathy goes a long way in learning, developing and growing as leaders and people
Allyship exists across different dimensions
The importance of a sense of humour in breaking down barriers
The importance of challenging beauty standards by celebrating and championing physical differences

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Today Leila is talking to Loren I. Shuster, Chief People Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs at The Lego Group.

Learn more about :

Loren's personal and professional story including his journey from a Canadian community to an international life and family and how that has shaped success
The blending of different family cultures and how it shapes leadership styles and values
The importance of curiousity in understanding yourself and others and to begin engaging with D&I issues
The importance of honesty and authenticity for the culture of an organisation
How The Lego Group inspires and develops leaders of tomorrow and their key priorities in D&I to change and transform
How The Lego Group highlights business for good by using different foundational aspects to support and engage the community
Challenges that organisations face if they don't have a focus on ESG

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Today Leila is talking to Zephaniah Chukwudum, Business Manager to CEO at Microsoft UK

LEARN MORE ABOUT:

Zephaniah's personal experiences of culture and racism
the power of allyship, from school age
the D&I journey at Microsoft and the evolution of their ERG's
What does culture mean? What 'normal' values define the meaning of culture and what are the actual lived experiences?
How being black can be weaponised and make you feel disadvantaged within the corporate world
Why are ERG's and representation not only important now, but for future generations and what can we learn from them
All good things take time and effort, you can't run an ERG without time and effort but it's a growth process. You have to prove to others that there is something worthwhile joining in with. Be consistent and show up so people see you. Pick 1 or 2 simple things and start there, don't try to do it all immediately. Choose 1 or 2 things and do them well.

FURTHER RESOURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/zephaniahc/

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**Leila is joined by Sheri Hughes, UK DE&I Director at PageGroup

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN:**

Sheri joined PageGroup in December 2002 as a consultant for Michael Page Sales, Birmingham. In January 2015, after two maternity leaves, she moved across into the Diversity & Inclusion team, working for the Global D&I Director. Sheri’s passion and commitment to D&I shows no boundaries.
Life as a working mother - Sheri didn’t want becoming a mother to hamper her career.
PageGroup, doesn’t just lead in DE&I from an industry perspective but hold some of the most prestigious DE&I accolades, such as Disability Confident Leader, The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2020 & 2018, Inclusive Companies Top 50 2019, Stonewall Top 100 2018, Clear Assured Gold and are a Race at Work signatory.
Find out more about the amazing work they are doing in the spaces of maternity workshops, reverse mentoring, shadow board and inclusive hiring

OTHER RESROURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheri-hughes-8695672/

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Leila is joined by Jill Hughes, Managing Director, Accenture Song & Executive Sponsor Mental Health at Accenture UKI

Jill believes passionately that creating a strong culture of inclusivity and belonging is key to the success of a business.

Jill plays a leading role in Brand Learning. In addition, she leads the Health and Life Sciences squad in Accenture Interactive, helping to make a difference to patients and health care professionals through marketing transformation. On joining Accenture, one of the things that impressed Jill the most was the commitment to mental wellbeing in the business and the desire to ensure that every employee feels safe to talk about their mental wellbeing and get help when its needed. Jill first trained to become a “Mental Health Ally”, then Mental health First Aider and subsequently became a trainer for other allies. Last year, Jill was invited to become Executive Sponsor for Mental Health for Accenture UK and Ireland, a role that she feels privileged to hold. Accenture has developed great resources and support for mental health but there is more to do. Jill is committed to ensuring that Accenture continues to build a culture of care and proactive prevention by promoting wellbeing in all we do. She wants to continue to increase the number of mental health allies in the business and continue to promote our mental health approach and resources to all.

LEARN MORE ABOUT:- The impact of Covid on mental wellbeing, how it’s something we should all care about and how the lived experience of different parts of our population may differ e.g. impact on young people, impact on carers etc

The importance and role of mental health allies in business in building a culture of safety for everyone to talk about mental health openly
The role of leadership in mental wellbeing - how important it is for leaders to ask the right questions, create the right connections with their people and show empathy with the differing experiences of their people

FURTHER RESOURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-hughes-7a12722/

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Today Leila is joined by Josh Partridge, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa Region at YahooJosh Partridge is the newly appointed Head of EMEA at Yahoo having previously been the MD of the UK, Verizon Media. Josh hails from Brisbane, Australia and has spent the last 18 years living and working in the UK and Europe. Yahoo is one of the most recognised brands of all time. The brands and businesses are tightly woven into consumers’ daily habits and clients’ strategies. They have the opportunity to drive real value creation - to make lives easier, better.
LEARN MORE ABOUT:- Why businesses need to look at a global approach when setting strategies - "You will fail with an English only strategy"

- The strength in feeling a sense of belonging and living and breathing diversity within the workplace - "Our teams are what makes this business great and it’s the diversity of thought that comes with a team from a diverse range of backgrounds that is a great strength as we build towards the future"
- Josh's personal journey - "Raising 2 daughters in the 21st century - Covid impact on business and morale Diverse and Inclusive leadership Inclusion for me focuses on empowering everyone to have equal opportunity to grow, thrive and meet their aspirational goals." FURTHER RESOURCES
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-partridge-47b59819/

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Leila is joined by Lorcán Brennan, Policies Oversight Lead at Accenture.

Lorcán Brennan works as part of Accenture’s Ethics and Compliance function as the Policies Oversight Lead for the organisation. He also leads the Accent on Enablement in group in Accenture Ireland which focuses on disability awareness and inclusion.

Over 20 years of IT programme management with Accenture working primarily with Health and Public Service clients. Now working as part of Accenture Commercial Services and the Accenture Global Ethics & Compliance team.

LEARN MORE ABOUT:
- The work Lorcán has done as part of lead role for the Ireland Accent on Enablement group.

The work has he done on Recruitment and Internships – including modifying Accenture's recruitment process - job advertisements, the application and interview process. As well as establishing a neuro-diversity internship programme.
Lorcán's own personal journey and why he has such a passion for Diversity and Inclusion.
About the work Accenture have done in communities - Accenture Ireland donated 400 laptops - expanded this to schools in impoverished areas - which helps to transform lives.
The power of not giving up, and not taking no for an answer!

FURTHER RESOURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorc%C3%A1n-brennan-9380b531/

Support the show (https://www.mckenziedelisfoundation.com/donate)

**Today Leila is joined by Magda N Yrizarry, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer SVP - Global DEI & Employee Engagement at Verizon

LEARN MORE ABOUT:**Magda Yrizarry has been a force for change at Verizon for over three decades. As the Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, she is tasked with developing strategies and programs that infuse greater equity to ensure that all employees have equal access and opportunity to advance and thrive in their careers. Core to her role as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Magda helps to ensure Verizon’s DE&I strategies care for all four stakeholders — employees, customers, society and shareholders.

- Magda has been twice recognized as one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in America by the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), named to People en Español's

- 25 Most Powerful Women, a Top Executive in Corporate Diversity by Black Enterprise

- Magda is an ardent champion of increasing the presence of women and people of color across the technology sector and at all levels

- The importance of ERGs and recognising the needs of each generation

Support the show (https://www.mckenziedelisfoundation.com/donate)

Leila is joined by Marcia Brissett-Baily, Speaker, Writer & Top 50 Neurodiversity Women 2022

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT:

Marcia's early experiences and the teachings from her grandma that she "will have to work twice as hard as a young black girl" as doors close due to your colour and your ethnicity.
Intersectionality and what it means to Marcia and how that has developed and interwoven throughout her education and career.
The sense of belonging and why that is important. How it is about more than just being diverse and inclusive.
How Marcia empowers others through the work she does. How she empowers others to find their voice and not to be invisible.

FURTHER RESOURCES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcia-brissett-bailey-bsc-pg-dip-qcg-ma-ipsea-6315a2b8/edIn

Support the show (https://www.mckenziedelisfoundation.com/donate)

**Leila is joined by Ewen MacPherson, Group Chief People Officer at Havas UK

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:**
- Ewen's background and how he went from studying Marine & Environmental Sciences, to his current role at Havas UK

He is a firm believer in 'follow your nose' and see where opportunity takes you
Is D&I a HR role? How the role of HR changed and evolved
Being action driven, have impactful targets and have D&I specific KPIs to drive that change
How Havas UK have expanded their champion networks and tailor their strategies
It takes a village to build a village
ERGs and how they are organised within Havas and their wider community

FURTHER RESOURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewen-macpherson-5037b914/dIn

Leila is joined by Christ Hirst, Global CEO at Havas Creative

LEARN MORE ABOUT:
- Chris Hirst is a change agent, widely recognized as an innovative and inspirational leader.

While studying at Harvard Business School, Chris developed his now-proven approach to leadership. He believes in the principles of an open culture – where people are given permission to take risks and make mistakes. He is actively engaged in broadening the appeal of the advertising industry and sees diversity and social mobility as key factors in the future health of the creative industries.
His first book, No Bullshit Leadership - Why the world needs more everyday leaders and why that leader is you, is published through Profile Books on 2nd May 2019.
Named in 2018's Evening Standard Power 1000 list, Chris is a regular commentator in national press including BBC News, The Politics Show, Evening Standard, CNBC, Financial Times and Sky News.

- “Leadership is always the problem and leadership is always the solution!”

FURTHER RESOURCES
Follow him on Twitter @chrishirst.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishirst/

**Leila is joined by Rachel Watkyn, Managing Director, Tiny Box Company Limited

LEARN MORE ABOUT:**
- Rachel's aim to inspire future entrepreneurs
- The Circular Economy - what is it?
- Her award winning business and what drives Rachel to grow and succeed
- The work she does in other countries, and how she works in an environmentally friendly way as much as possible
- Thinking about the impact of your decisions - how does it impact society/the community?
- The role of a 'non-confirmist' within business and D&I

RESOURCES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-watkyn-a1296915/

Leila is joined by Darion Cranfield, Director of Retail Program Management, & Chair of the African-American Leadership BRG at Walgreens

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:- Darion's personal and professional journey. Coming from a single parent family in Chicago, where there was a lack of role models so he had to find his own way, to becoming a parent when he was 20 years old and how that shaped his professional development.
- How Darion wants to enable others to be leaders, give them their chance to shine. Have real models as role models within society as well as the business.
- How the BRGs at Walgreens are more than just a 'group'. They connect the business to the employees and work with them for equity and to give them a voice.
- Belonging is a state of mind, its a foundational element and once you have a sense of belonging internally, others externally can start to see it.
- Walgreens internship programs and how they encourage diverse applicants and put some intention behind the effort.
- Darion attends an annual conference with other retailers where they share stories, experiences and best practices, so workforces are coming together to value and empower each other, not working against each other as competitors when it comes to employees and development.
- The inspiring work Darion does as chair of the African-American Leadership BRG, and what other BRG and ERG leads could learn from him.

OTHER RESOURCES:https://www.linkedin.com/in/darion-cranfield-00873b90/

**Leila is joined by Rita Clifton CBE, Chair of Forum for the Future

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:- role modelling, mentors, allies and representation and how they impact on an individual
- reflections on the current climate and how Zelensky is an amazing example of a role model and a leader
- how individuals should be using their leadership role to support, influence and encourage others and give them the opportunity for career progression
- You shouldn't have to 'fake it until you make it', you should be valued at every level
- Self ID - why you should be yourself, show your feelings and your emotions, be human
- Imposter syndrome and how it can negatively affect individuals throughout their career OTHER RESOURCES:**https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritaclifton/

**Leila is joined by Miranda Wayland, Head of Creative and Workforce for Diversity and inclusion, BBC

TODAY YOU WILL LEARN:- About Miranda's background and the discriminations she faced in different areas of her life
- Her love for television, and how being a parent helped her to see television from a new perspective
- Your networks and the influence they have over you and your journey
- How she is leading diversity and inclusion across the BBC
- Social mobility, disability and her intersectional journey
- Role modelling, real models and how what we see on our screen influences different generations OTHER RESOURCES:**https://www.linkedin.com/in/miranda-wayland-25b2a113/

Leila is joined by Rose Marley, CEO at Co-Operatives UK

Today you will learn more about:- With a background in creative industries, technology, the gig economy and entrepreneurship, Rose is a passionate advocate for social enterprise and values-led business.
- She founded Manchester-based social enterprise SharpFutures, which supports diverse, young talent into creative, digital and tech industries, and led a pilot campaign improving local travel opportunities and raising aspiration for young people in Manchester.
- Self-employed from a young age, she cut her teeth in the music business in the era known as ‘Madchester’ before turning her hand to social enterprise and event producing.
- Rose is renowned for her ability to galvanise community action, leading Manchester City Council’s response to the Manchester arena attack. Manchester Together was a global broadcast of choirs singing from the steps of the town hall in the first anniversary of the atrocity.- Since joining Co-operatives UK as Chief Executive in January 2021, Rose Marley has been leading the way in highlighting the crucial role that co-operatives can play in building back better from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further resources:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-marley-96162bb/

Today Leila is joined by Sarah Noble, Director, Supply Chain Transformation at Deloitte Consulting & Founder of Women at the Wheel.

THINGS YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:

Sarah is the founder and leader of Women at the Wheel, a collaborative network dedicated to inspiring and strengthening women to develop their careers and drive positive change across the automotive industry. More than 1,000 individual members across the industry at the end of 2021.
Sarah was named one the Top 100 Women Future Leaders 2020 by Involve (global network championing diversity and inclusion in business), the list showcases leaders who are championing women in business and driving change for gender diversity in the workplace.
Authentic leadership - it’s about integrity and making the hard choices to do what’s right and not what’s easiest.
A a huge believer in the Amy Pascal quote, “Work will take everything you give it. It’s up to you to work out what you want to give it.”Setting boundaries.

OTHER RESOURCES
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahenoble/

Today Leila is joined by Neha Mittal, Research Director at Ipsos & Co-Lead of the Gender Balance Network.

THINGS YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:

How Neha is fighting battles to make the world a better place for future generations
Neha has worked around the globe, and brings those experiences to her working roles
How Neha feels privileged to have been raised by parents who did not follow the embedded cultural norms, who let her choose her own study options, and her own life partner
Why Neha feels ERGs are a vital part of every business
How intersectionality is embedded across all the work Neha does

FURTHER INFORMATION:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-mittal-2738a921a/

Leila is joined by Winnie Annan-Forson, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion UK, Europe & Middle East at Barclays.

YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:
*Winnie's inspiring D&I journey, and how she founded a millennials network which went global and inspired others to form network groups.

How Winnie's self identity and sense of belonging has driven her positive change.
Winnie wants to leave the world a better place, for her children and future generations.

*The impact that the standard of 'beauty' has on individuals from a very early age, and that standard of beauty isn't always inclusive of diversity.

The lack of diversity across leadership roles and how there needs to be more intersectionality and inclusion at all levels.

MORE INFORMATION/RESOURCES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnie-annan-forson-b267a131/

Leila is joined by Matt Tudball, Senior Editor, Recycling at ICIS

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

* Matt's journey with ICIS and how he founded the Proud RSG at ICIS

How the RSGs started off as almost a 'hobby' alongside his job role and has evolved into an essential part of the company
The values of peer to peer learning, and the benefits it brings to employees on all levels
Courageous Conversations - and the positive impacts they have been having across the entire company
Keep talking - through the ICIS allyship programmes

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matttudball/

Leila is joined by Helen Ouseley, Global head of Diversity & Inclusion at Freshfields Bruckhaus.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

* Helen's journey through D&I and why she is so passionate about driving change.

Why the concepts of diversity and inclusion are vital to future generations, and how their high expectations and demand for change have helped accelerate the changes.
Parenthood whilst working within a corporate environment.
Intersectionality within companies, and the impact of ESG.
What gets measured get done - the importance and power of tracking and reporting data with transparency.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-ouseley-03104457/

Leila is joined by Shirine Khoury-Haq, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Life Services at Co-Op

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

* Shirine's multi cultural childhood, before studying her degree in Australia, then moving to America once newly qualified in Finance.

Shirine's early career progression, whilst studying further to get her MBA.
How her name once being married impacted on her career progression.
An insight to her fertility treatment journey and juggling that whilst in a corporate world.
Parenthood through the ages whilst working and how parenthood is judged within the workplace.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirine-khoury-haq-92b5a11/

Leila is joined by Vivian Ayuso-Sánchez, Sr. Manager Diversity Networks & Programs at Walgreens

Happy Thanksgiving!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Vivian’s personal journey and how her interest in D&I came about
How proud Walgreens are of their disability programmes
How committed Vivian is to the concept of D&I and more her work with DisabilityIN
That who we are, our culture, our background all bring richness and value to relationships and to the workplace

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayuso/

Leila is joined by Celia Liu, CEO Strategic Transformation at ISS A/S & Regional CFA

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –
- Celia's socioeconomic background and her journey to working in Asia

The 'Yes' mindset to trying new things
It's good to be different and represent something
However, Celie doesn't want her differences to be the reason you employ her - employ the best individual for the role based on skills and experience, not to tick boxes
What Celia believes is authentic leadership

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/celialiu/

Leila is joined by Yasmin Benoit, Award Winning ASexual Activist, British Model & Creator of #ThisIsWhatASexualLooksLike

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Yasmin's journey of self discovery and 'coming out' as asexual
Yasmin's role as an activist for supporting asexuality and raising awareness
What is asexuality?
How you express yourself is not representative of your sexual orientation. Yasmin models lingerie but does not associate it with being sexual
The evolution of the stereotypical 'beautiful'
Yasmin's work with Stonewall and driving change as The Equality Act did not include asexuality

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
@theyasminbenoit

www.yasminbenoit.co.uk

Leila is joined by Munnawar Chishty, Global VP & Marketing Director, Beauty Care and Skin Health at Walgreens Boots Alliance

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Munnawar's personal journey and how it's shaped her current roles
Munnawar's family culture and how growing up with a positive, driven family has been influential to her achievements
How D&I shouldn't just be a tick box exercise, but should be in the heart of every brand
The impact of imposter syndrome within the corporate world
Munnawar is a DEI champion, personally and in her working roles

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/munnawar-chishty-4073694/

Leila is joined by Fiona McDonnell, Author of Two Mirrors and a Cheetah.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Fiona's journey and experiences that led to her current role, including her experiences of DEI roles.
Fiona's passion for diversity and driving change.
What led to Fiona writing Two Mirrors and a Cheetah.
The metaphors used in the book and the journey of self discovery.
What does an individual class as 'success'?

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionamcdonnell/

www.fionamcdonnell.com/author

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1739926307

Leila is joined by Melanie Vongswang, Chief People Officer at Megaport.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Melanie's journey, starting off working as cabin crew, progressing through HR and discovering her love of all things people.
How Megaport work flexibly to support both parents, to be inclusive.
How Melanie feels the planets are aligning with D&I, that it is a pivotal point in her life and her journey.

Melanie's intersectionality experiences and how they have influenced her role at Megaport and how she is driving positive impact.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-vongswang/edIn

Leila is joined by Christopher Moore FIH, Chief Executive at The Clink Charity

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

How Chris came to work for The Clink Charity and how his background in hospitality led to his current position.
Why the work they do is so important to help and support individuals inside and outside of prison.
Statistics - like that 55,000 adults leave prison every year, and 47% return within a year.
How offering individuals support, a bed and a job can reduce the number of reoffenders

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismoore5/

Leila is joined by Steve Kenzie, Executive Director at UN Global Compact Network UK

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –
Steve's work with The McKenzie Delis review 2020 as a committee member.

The McKenzie Delis review 2021 is extending it's report to the US.

The 10 facets, their impact and the challenges faced in achieving goals.

Putting your cards on the table - provide evidence of actions and commitment. Create credibility by measuring and reporting.

The UN Global goals and some of the challenges faced in achieving those goals.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -(99+) Steve Kenzie | LinkedIn

Leila is joined by Anne Thevenet-Abitbol, Prospective & New Concepts VP at Danone Group

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –
Anne's innovative way of working: no budget, no team to begin with, each time Anne has an idea, it is up to Anne to move people and finances to make it happen.

Anne describes it as a project mode, intrapreneurial, torture-test way of working which stimulates creativity and brings efficiency.

The role of women in a corporate environment. Traditionally, women don't ask, they don't raise their voice. But they need to be part of the solution and drive change.

You're contagious - be positive to achieve positive.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-thevenet-abitbol-48666928/

Leila is joined by Kevin Donnelly, Managing Director at Britvic Softdrinks Ireland.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

How Britvic encourage their colleagues to be their authentic selves.
Britvic want to engage hearts and minds to create a diverse and inclusive movement.
Diversity & Inclusion is central to Britvic's culture, vision, values and purpose.
Kevin's key lessons for companies starting out on their D&I journey.
How facing the uncomfortable truths about D&I within your company is a positive step

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED -
(99+) Kevin Donnelly | LinkedIn

Pete DenmanLeila is joined by Pete Denman, User Experience, Design Researcher at Intel.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Pete’s day to day- thinking of himself as a creative thinker and technologist.
Pete’s dyslexic journey, seeking creative ways to get around education and only just barely graduating school.
His story from the age of 20 years old, how he navigated breaking his neck in a diving accident which left him paralysed and, in a wheelchair.
Pete’s ability to identify with Stephen Hawking at a deeper level and to offer simple solutions based on his own personal experiences.
Being an advocate for people with disabilities.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
www.linkedin.com/in/pete-denman-ab6b353/

Dr Elaine Kim

Leila is joined by Dr Elaine Kim, Co- Founder & CEO at Trehaus.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Dr Elaine singular purpose of wanting to make a positive difference.
Dr Elaine - the doctor, a serial entrepreneur and a mother of three.
On how Dr Elaine experiences inspired her to start Trehaus and provide a solution for other working parents to find work-life integration, pursuing successful careers and businesses while prioritising family and not missing out on their children’s’ precious, formative first years.
The importance of instilling a positive leadership, encouraging authenticity, resilience, creativity and giving back at young ages.
CRIB, a social enterprise Dr Elaine co-founded to empower women to become successful entrepreneurs through networking, co-founder and investor/start-up matching and training and equipping of female founders.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-kim-06985b79/?originalSubdomain=sg

Dorcas Barry

Leila is joined by Dorcas Barry, Associate Trainer at Henpicked.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· The 'm word' - a taboo topic.

· Why Dorcas decided to retrain and work with individuals and companies around the topic of menopause.

· Statistics such as 1 in 4 women consider leaving their job due to the symptoms they experience during menopause.

· How to break down the taboo and stop women suffering in silence

· The work Dorcas and Henpicked are doing to improve the working conditions for women experiencing menopause through coaching, policies and more.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorcas-barry-ba-hons-msc-8a501534/

Jeroen Wels

Leila is joined by Jeroen Wels, Executive Vice President HR - Beauty & Personal Care, Digital & Talent at Unilever.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Jeroen believes you should unleash the potential in others, and never waste their talents.

· He doesn't believe in the classic HR concept.

· He believes you should work within a range of cultural environments to develop yourself as a global citizen.

· Inclusion nudges - support and guidance to help individuals over come barriers and reach their potential.

· The concept of 'privilege' and is it solely circumstances and experiences or what you do with them?

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeroenwels/

Anne Doepner

Leila is joined by Anne Doepner, Director of Inclusion & Employee Investment at Minnesota Vikings.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –· How Anne started out working for the NFL in 2006 and her journey through a male orientated field.

· The Vikings pride themselves on being a leader, not a follower and how they are pushing the norms and stereotypes.

· Anne had the first diversity and inclusion role within the NFL.

· The expectations on mothers and the negative stereotypes surrounding the working parent.

· Anne's 'ask for forgiveness, not for permission' working philosophy.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/annedoepner/

Kelly Nagel

Leila is joined by Kelly Nagel, President and GM at Jabra.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· How Kelly is campaigning and championing to empower female leaders

· How Kelly is pushing Jabra forward with new employee resource groups, such as the Women's Network Group.

· Jabra are embracing and encouraging diversity with new hires

· Creating safe spaces for employees to talk. It's ok to not be ok.

· Supporting individual's to get a balance between work life and home life, to benefit their mental wellness

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDKelly Nagel | LinkedIn

Jo PortlockLeila is joined by Jo Portlock, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –· Running a successful global network of 35 employee resource groups.

· Jo’s interesting career journey and why she feels it has been a mix of luck, judgement and opportunities that have come along the way.

· Understanding that not all leaders naturally gravitate towards the importance of diverse and inclusion but grasping it is about education. Culture change.

· Inclusion? Culture? Why Jo believes strongly that diversity and inclusion goes hand in hand.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/jo-portlock-a1a33417/

Patricia Chinyoka & Sara Sewell

Leila is joined by Patricia Chinyoka, Senior Inclusion & Diversity Consultant at Business in the Community & Sara Sewell, Global Service Line CFO, Observer & Chair of REACH at Ipsos.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Their experiences through education and employment regarding inequalities

· The impact of inequality on those around them, including family

· Their experiences and opinions about the ethnicity pay gap

· The barriers faced by black, Asian and ethnic individuals

· Black, Asian and ethnic individuals are in the minority in higher management level positions

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED(1) Patricia Chinyoka | LinkedIn

(2) Sara Sewell | LinkedIn

Evan Goldberg

Leila is joined by Evan Goldberg, Founder & EVP at Oracle NetSuite.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· NetSuite's forward thinking: Diverse talent, diverse thought.

· NetSuite’s vision is simple – enable our over 26,000 customers to achieve their visions by giving them access to unified information.

· How in 2014 Evan started the BRCA Foundation to support research on inherited cancer syndromes. That effort has evolved into the BRCA Initiative at the V Foundation.

· Empathetic leadership in the “new normal”

· The benefits of empowering employees to contribute beyond their roles: There is tremendous wisdom in not allowing oneself to be consumed by the definition of their role.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-netsuite/

Michiel Kolman

Leila is joined by Michiel Kolman, Senior VP Research Networks & Academic Ambassador, Elsevier.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· How Michiel's experiences in the 80s and 90s were influential and impacted on his values and sense of community .

· How forward thinking Elsevier are as a company, and how they support their employees.

· What led to Michiel working with companies to challenge LGBTQ+ workplace practices.

· Smashing the stigma surrounding LGBTQ+ inclusion within the workplace.

· Driving the change for companies globally, by using influence to encourage growth and a sense of community.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED(2) Michiel Kolman (陳克曼) 🏳️‍🌈 | LinkedIn

Leila is joined by Helen Webb, Chief People and Services Officer, Co-op

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

Helen’s personal connection to disability with her brother, Derek, who despite his despite his disability is a highly respected Professor of Astrophysics
How this experience has shaped her passion for diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging
Hear about the Coop’s internal colleague network, Represent – a relatively new network but making great progress for employees with disabilities as well as allies
Helen’s thoughts on hybrid working approach and its impact on colleagues with disabilities
Helen’s learnings from her Buddy and Blog she did with a store Manager – Ian Chester – blind store manager

Karen WalkerLeila is joined by Karen Walker, Former Fortune 100 Exec, Hyper-growth Tech Advisor, Board Member, Executive Coach, Speaker, Contributor Forbes and Harvard Business Review.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Karen’s “wow” and fruitful career journey to date.

· The importance of diversity of thought.

· The advice that Karen gives to CEOs and senior leaders on thriving in hyper-growth.

· The advice Karen would like to give to her younger self - “….Think bigger, never limit yourself and take advantages of opportunities. There is a big world out there”.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/karenwalkerus

Leila is joined by Dr Anino Emuwa, Founder & Director, Avandis Consulting

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Dr Anino’s background and early career from working in finance, banking and her studies at Cambridge University

· Her passion for entrepreneurship, particularly after noticing the gaps in the market for financial help for female owned businesses in Nigeria.

· You’ll hear how Dr Anino is helping to rectify the gaps in financing by helping women to develop their managerial skills to be successful in business and prepare them for funding

· How we can convert words into action when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, particularly around gender equality.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-anino-emuwa/

Mark Twigg

Leila is joined by Mark Twigg, Executive Director, Cicero/AMO.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Marks difficult up-bringing and not feeling part of his community.

· Having an inclusive mindset that was one of the biggest drivers to bring Cicero to life.

· How his childhood unknowingly provided him with the skills to do what he does today.

· Smashing the stigma surrounding mental health and much more.

· Transforming the business landscape in a positive way and delivering campaigns in 50+ countries.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/mark-twigg-3ba9981/

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE

Leila is joined by Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, Author and Founder of 'The Black Farmer’.

PART 2, IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· ‘The Black Farmer’, bringing Wilfred’s dream to life and what the future holds for his business.

· Having faith and courage in your own belief system, in your own purpose.

· Wilfred’s love for the human spirit, flamenco, and Morris dancing.

· To inspire others, inspire positive change and living life to the fullest.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/theblackfarmer/?originalSubdomain=uk

Edwin Booth CBE DLLeila is joined by Edwin Booth CBE DL at Chairman & CEO at E.H. Booth & Co ltd.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Changes that the supermarket chain Booths made to reconfigure the business and be more reactive through Covid-19.

· Understanding the company’s culture and purpose - people, product, and place.

· The importance of listening at senior level- being an ‘Owl’ that listens, look, learn, and then simulates the information.

· Booths diverse employee portfolio from culture, religion, and value in meeting the needs of all individuals.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/edwin-booth-cbe-dl-b25b9b8/

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE

Leila is joined by Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, Author and Founder of 'The Black Farmer’.

PART 1, IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT –

· Why Wilfred puts every success in his life down to guardian angels, understanding the importance and value in humanity.

· Leaving his secondary school in Birmingham with no qualificationsto working at the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) for 15 years.

· Understanding Wilfred’s purpose in life as a pathfinder.

· Learning more about his book - "Jeopardy: The Danger of Playing It Safe on the Path to Success" that re-examines the concept of “choice”.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONEDwww.linkedin.com/in/theblackfarmer/?originalSubdomain=uk

Ambily BanerjeeLeila is joined by Ambily Banerjee, Director, Therapeutic Groups, Global Regulatory Affairsat GSK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT -
· Ambily background and how her career was a happy accident.

·Gender equality should encompass all women.

·A common enemy amongst us all is “bias” and the solution is “allyship”.

· Inclusion dialogues and initiatives leading the way.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
www.linkedin.com/in/ambily-banerjee-85455116/?originalSubdomain=uk

Esther Marshall

Leila is joined by Esther Marshall, Founder & Author of 'Sophie Says’.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Esther Marshall’s entrepreneur spirit and corporate background- former Unilever Global Lead for Gender Diversity and Inclusion.

· Being a mum, a millennial leader and why it is important to be proactive and not reactive.

· The inspiration behind her book, “Sophie Says I Can, I Will” and “Sophie Says It's OK Not To Be OK".

· Using her privilege to make a difference.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
www.linkedin.com/in/esther-marshall-648b862a/

Paul Graham

Leila is joined by Paul Graham – Managing Director at Britvic.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

Advocacy at a senior level is very important.
How Paul dads' business and hardworking ethos helped shape and rub off on him in his growing career.
Recognising that to be successful is centred on the team around you.
Why diversity and inclusion are important.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.linkedin.com/in/paul-graham-a646a35/?originalSubdomain=uk

Tami Erwin

Leila is joined by Tami Erwin - EVP and Chief Executive Officer, Verizon Business.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Tami’s upbringing as the daughter of a farmer/doctor gave her a grounding in compassionate leadership

· Tami’s career journey to date, which started over 30 years ago at Verizon as a customer service executive and has now seen her rise through the ranks to EVP/CEO level

· How conversations around diversity have become much more urgent/needed at board level in recent times

· Tami’s thoughts on how to further improve gender diversity and create a working environment more focused on creating a strong sense of belonging and authenticity

· The gender equality programme that Verizon has put in place to enable women to further progress their career in sales/senior level roles

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamierwin/

Clive Myrie

Leila is joined by Clive Myrie – News Presenter and Correspondent.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What Clive openly acknowledges as a very happy and lucky childhood, during which he attended a grammar school in Bolton after his parents emigrated to the UK from Jamaica

· How Clive moved from studying law at university to a career in journalism

· The ongoing lack of black front-line TV presenters and correspondents in the UK, and how essential it is to improve this level of representation

· Mental health concerns for modern day journalists

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Twitter @CliveMyrieBBC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Myrie

Tania Garrett

Leila is joined by Tania Garrett - Vice President, International Employee Experience at Adobe.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Tania’s working-class background and how the lack of a pigeonholing approach from her parents led her to embrace a spirit of open-mindedness

· How Tania dealt with being harassed by a male business leader in the workplace earlier in her career, and how this has engendered a determination to further the cause of D&I

· The importance of allyship to ensuring that businesses and ERGs/networks within do not become too “siloed”

· How D&I has evolved from merely focusing on “representation when hiring”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tania-garrett-29464332/

Paul Farmer

Leila is joined by Paul Farmer – Chief Executive at Mind.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How the mental health problems that Paul’s mother had and a traumatic experience for a close friend at university inspired him to work in mental health

· The importance of prioritising your own mental health before that of others if needed, while also doing your best to care for others as well
· How mental health in the workplace has become much more important in recent times

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-farmer-309b3b2/

Buta Atwal

Leila is joined by Buta Atwal – CEO at Wrightbus and Ryse Hydrogen.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Buta was first inspired to go to university and then subsequently found himself entering management training with Unilever after only applying for one job after university

· How serendipity and hard work have both played a key role in Buta’s consistent progression through his career

· How anyone can develop the gravitas and confidence to operate at senior level with sufficient practice/talent

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://ryse.team

www.wrightbus.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/butaatwal/

Naomi Sesay

Leila is joined by Naomi Sesay - Senior Trainer/Keynote Speaker at APS Intelligence.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Naomi’s current work training the larger FTSE-listed companies on race fluency

· How getting the gender balance right can inspire greater innovation in teams

· The ‘smart cities’ project that Naomi is developing to further drive greater equality, diversity and inclusion

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://naomisesay.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-sesay/

Aki Hussain

Leila is joined by Aki Hussain – Group CFO at Hiscox.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Aki grew up as a second generation Pakistani immigrant in an industrial setting and learned to prioritise education through his father’s influence

· The individuals who have been key influences on Aki’s career to date through their mentoring

· The importance of diversity of thought in the boardroom

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aki-hussain-906117121/

Jim Townsend

Leila is joined by Jim Townsend - Chief Procurement Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Jim’s career in procurement has unfolded so far after leaving school at the age of 16 and then subsequently studying at university on a part-time basis as a mature student, which led to him working for companies like General Electric and Walgreen Boots Alliance at an extremely senior level

· The inter-generational/cultural evolutions in the workplace that Jim has seen and experienced in his career

· Supply chain diversity: what exactly this means and why Jim is instilling it at WBA

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswtownsend/

Sam Allen

Leila is joined by Sam Allen - Managing Partner at Sam Allen Associates.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Sam has built a stellar career despite initial academic struggles, working her way up to board level at Greene King after successful roles at other blue chip companies and latterly founding her own executive search business

· The positive impact that Diversity & Inclusion can have on the world overall, not just business

· The role that executive search/recruitment has to play in building more diverse boardroom/company environments

· ‘Unconscious bias’ at board level – how big a problem is this?

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-allen-1801a914/

Irene McGillivray

Leila is joined by Irene McGillivray - Account Management Lead at Verizon Media.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Irene’s international background, which has taken her from Norway to the UK, Spain and latterly Ireland, as well as her career journey to date

· The work that Irene is doing to help young women with endometriosis

· The pain and problems for women that endometriosis can cause, which Irene has experienced personally, and the lack of progress that has been made to find a cure to the condition

· The medical means which are available to resolve the issue

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/irenehenriksen0/

https://nancysnookendo.com/about-endometriosis/

Ying Tan

Leila is joined by Ying Tan - Founder and Chief Executive at Dynamo.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The remarkable emigration story of Ying’s father, who left Malaysia for the UK in the late 1950s; the circumstances of which still inspire Ying to this day

· Ying’s career story to date, from starting out in financial services to then starting his own business

· How Ying defines success and what inspires him to help others achieve financial wellness

· How financial inclusion sits as a key part of equity and what can be done to help ensure that everyone can achieve financial wellbeing/stability

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ying-tan-6a188312/

Celeste Warren

Leila is joined by Celeste Warren - Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion Center of Excellence at Merck.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The inspiration that Celeste’s father provided her in her childhood by leading the way as the first black principal in his region

· The key aspects of Merck’s D&I strategy from a ‘top level’ perspective

· The “employee awakening” that has occurred as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulted in a greater focus on inclusion and belonging

· The trend for corporations to play a key role in social activism

· The crucial role that those in Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer roles can play within the boardroom

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/celeste-warren-3728784/
Twitter: @@CRWDiversity

Debra Ruh and LaMondre Pough

Leila is joined by Debra Ruh and LaMondre Pough - CEO/Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer at Ruh Global IMPACT respectively.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The culture shock that LaMondre experienced when he first became an adult and realised that the world did not view him the same way his mother did

· The work that they are doing at RUH Global to make the world more accessible for those with disabilities

· The need for discriminators/oppressors to take action to fix problems regarding inequality/accessibility instead of those who are being oppressed/discriminated against

· An exciting public announcement by Debra and LaMondre, which was made here first!

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debraruh/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamondre-pough-b178a09/

Simone Roche MBE

Leila is joined by Simone Roche MBE – CEO/Founder of Northern Power Women and Northern Power Futures.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Simone became an entrepreneur and found herself working in gender equality after starting her career in the Royal Navy

· The power of “male advocates as agents of change” within the gender equality space

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simone-roche-mbe-49316416/

Julia Champion

Leila is joined by Julia Champion – Managing Director at Champion Talent.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Julia developed a career in talent management

· The work she is doing to encourage greater diversity among media presenters

· The improved representation of local/regional accents on British TV

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-champion-954a1513a/

Hannah Awonuga

Leila is joined by Hannah Awonuga - Vice President - Global Diversity and Inclusion at Barclays.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What led Hannah to start her lifelong career in banking at the age of 16 and her career journey to date

· The need for psychological safety in order to facilitate employees’ ability to “choose to challenge”

· The sustainable change for people of colour in future leadership generations that Hannah is looking to drive as a school governor after the George Floyd murder

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-awonuga/

Esther Stanhope

Leila is joined by Esther Stanhope – Speaker, author and personal impact expert at the Impact Guru and former Senior Producer at the BBC.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Esther uses the superior communication skills from her media career to coach business leaders to speak well when needed

· The two types of public speaker

· Esther’s personal battle with Glossophobia

· How her work has often revolved around helping women with their self-confidence while speaking in particular

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherstanhope/

Mita Mallick

Leila is joined by Mita Mallick - Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The bullying that Mita experienced as a child due to her Indian background

· How Mita is challenging leaders to be more inclusive with their day to day practices/activities

· Mita’s advice for future generation leaders and how she battles ‘impostor syndrome’

· How to do good by supporting smaller business owners as well as larger organisations

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mita-mallick-2b165822/

Susie Petruccelli

Leila is joined by Susie Petruccelli – Digital Product Manager at Atlanta Media and Author/Publisher.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The moments of gender exclusion that Susie has experienced throughout her life

· The lack of media coverage dedicated to women’s sport

· How we can level the playing field for women’s sport compared to men’s sport

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susie-petruccelli-4777682/
https://www.amazon.com/Raised-Warrior-Memoir-Leveling-Playing/dp/1948062828/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1610658120&sr=8-1
Instagram @susiepetruccelli
Twitter @sooozie

Raised a Warrior: A Memoir of Soccer, Grit, and Leveling the Playing Field

Bina Mehta

Leila is joined by Bina Mehta – Partner, member of the board and Acting Chair at KPMG UK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Bina’s career journey to date, from moving abroad numerous times; from working in India as one of the original members of staff on the ground to joining a more established business in Canada and then coming back to the UK

· Bina’s passion for “shifting the dial” by helping ethnic/female entrepreneurs find the business funding they need

· How the Founders for School programme is helping inspire future generations with their own career choices

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/binamehtauk/

https://home.kpmg/uk/en/home/contacts/m/bina-mehta.html

https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/insight/events/enterprise-tuesday-2feb2021/

https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/

Costa Delis

Leila is joined by Costa Delis: Head of Commercial - Classic and Head of Sales & Network - SVO at Jaguar Land Rover.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Costa found himself working in the UK after being brought up by Greek potato farmers in the USA before spending several years working in China

· The most important lessons that Costa has learned from his time living/working abroad

· The differences between Chinese culture and American/western culture

· Costa’s perspective on the Chinese New Year celebrations

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/costapeterdelis/

Rania Marandos

Leila is joined by Rania Marandos - Chief Executive at Step Up To Serve.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Rania’s desire to work with/help people and drive sustainable change has influenced her career to date

· The power of listening effectively and storytelling

· Rania’s work in the charity sector at organisations such as Teach First and Step Up To Serve

· How best to empower young people and the actions that organisations need to take

· Ideas for involving young people in leadership and governance structures

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rania-marandos-b111b84/

Amazin LeThi

Please note that some racist language is used briefly during this podcast.

Leila is joined by Amazin Lethi - Founder of the Amazin LeThi Foundation, Keynote speaker and LGBT advocate.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Amazin recovered from her experiences of bullying in team sports and rebuilt herself as an individual athlete

· The cultural challenges that the East Asian community

· How Amazin’s international experience has helped shape her personality and knowledge

· The portrayal of Asians in popular culture/media productions

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amazinlethi/
Other social media: @amazinlethi
www.amazinlethi.com

Bami Kuteyi

Leila is joined by Bami Kuteyi – Founder of Bam Bam Boogie Dance Fitness.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What led Bami to go from working for Google to founding her own start-up business

· The positive impact that twerking can have at work on mental health and fitness

· Some tips on improving your twerking!

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bamikuteyi/

Kwoklyn Wan

Leila is joined by Kwoklyn Wan – Media Chef and Author of the Chinese Takeaway Cookbook & the Veggie Chinese Takeaway Cookbook.

Please note that some racist terminology is used briefly during this podcast.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How a desire to bring people together inspired Kwoklyn to become a chef

· How Kwoklyn creates “the perfect mouthful” through combining different flavours in Chinese cooking

· Driving creativity and innovation through melding people’s different individual characteristics together

· How it felt growing up in the North of England as a minority for Kwoklyn

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwoklyn-wan-3630a859/

https://www.kwoklynwan.com/about/

Heidi Spirgi

Leila is joined by Heidi Spirgi - Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Cornerstone OnDemand.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The close links between strategy and marketing functions within businesses

· The opportunity/role that business has in creating positive change in the world

· The importance of using a “human message” within marketing/communications to drive empathy as a key business priority

· How it feels to be the only woman in leadership meetings

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidispirgi/

Twitter @hspirgi

www.cornerstoneondemand.com

Cornerstone Cares: Cares.CSOD.com

Dr Nneka Abulokwe OBE

Leila is joined by Dr Nneka Abulokwe OBE - Founder & CEO at MicroMax Consulting, International Public Speaker and Board & Non-Executive Director at various companies.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Nneka built a successful career for herself in the technology sector

· How Nneka was given “permission to be different” by her parents during her childhood

· Nneka’s aim to practice ‘servant leadership’ in the workplace

· The unique position on corporate governance that Nneka developed during her Executive Doctorate

· The importance of ‘human capital’

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nneka-abulokwe/

https://www.micromaxconsulting.com/

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Herman Stewart

Leila is joined by Herman Stewart - Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Every Child Needs a Mentor.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Herman went from playing football for Great Britain Schoolboys alongside famous players such as Paul Scholes and then later recording music to founding Every Child Needs a Mentor

· How the birth of Herman’s first daughter changed both his life and his career

· The impact that mentoring can have on all companies when set as a strategic objective and applied as a leadership development tool rather than a CSR initiative

· The power of resilience and how it has allowed Herman to overcome the challenges in his life

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hermanstewart/

https://www.everychildneedsamentor.com/

David Macdonald

Leila is joined by David Macdonald - Director of Communications, Global Brands & Retail Pharmacy International at Walgreen Boots Alliance.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How the storytelling aspect of communications can help inspire change

· How studying foreign languages helped David develop an appreciation for diversity and difference at a young age

· The evolution of communications over the last 20 years

· How HR and communications can interweave/overlap in order to achieve great things together

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-macdonald-135a2b/

Mark Lomas

Leila is joined by Mark Lomas - Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at High Speed Two (HS2).

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Mark’s personal career journey to date, from growing up in Bermuda to moving to the UK as a 19-year old aspiring musician and then taking a role in the voluntary sector, which led to him working in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

· The parallels between different sectors and the power of transferable knowledge when working in EDI

· How they have used an inclusive procurement model at HS2 in order to encourage supplier diversity, with both commercial and community benefits

· The power that internal surveys can have with regard to improving employee engagement

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklomas1/

Marc McKenna-Coles

Leila is joined by Marc McKenna-Coles - Global Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Lloyd’s of London.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Marc went from earning a degree in theatre to working with Disney in retail/cruise lines before starting his D&I career journey in financial services

· The attributes that Marc believes it takes to succeed in a D&I role

· What makes D&I/culture strategic priorities

· The layers of intersectionality, and what they mean when looked at both individually and from a more holistic perspective

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-mckenna-coles/

Midge McCall

Leila is joined by Midge McCall - Group Head Engagement & Communications at ODEON Cinemas Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Midge experienced diversity in a person from a very young age thanks to her upbringing in Australia before moving to Japan and then latterly the UK, all the while reinventing her profession several times throughout her career.

· What attracted Midge to working in communications and the power of authentic storytelling and communications both internally and externally.

· The D&I journey that Odeon Cinema's Group have been on since 2017, and Midge’s role in showcasing this journey though sharing the authenticity of the leaders and the engaging and inclusive company culture.

· Bringing real life and authentic stories to others by using inclusive language to modern-day PR and communications.

· Normalising discussion of the menopause and challenges women face when going thought this period of life. Reducing taboo and fostering open discussion with all people within business and society to ensure this is more widely understood and accepted.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/midgemccall/

Julia Gillard’s podcast series, ‘A Podcast of One’s Own’

Tom Fiennes

Leila is joined by Tom Fiennes - Commercial Sustainability Director at Britvic PLC.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How his personal and professional lives have converged to help him get to where he is today, namely growing up as a straight white male before re-examining his sexuality later in life and then making a number of changes to his life in the workplace as a result

· The importance of being able to express vulnerability as a leader

· How allyship can make a difference

· What still needs to be done in terms of youth education to support the LGBT community in future

· The feelings (both positive and negative) that you can experience after ‘coming out’

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-fiennes-6687474/

Jonathan Freeman

Leila is joined by Jonathan Freeman FRSA - Chief Executive Officer at CareTech Foundation and Managing Director at Earlsbrook Consulting Limited.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Jonathan’s career journey in the voluntary sector to date

· Jonathan’s experience of the 1992 racial riots in Los Angeles

· The exciting, powerful and unique contributions that the charity sector can make to further progressive causes which governments and companies cannot

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjonathanfreeman/

Sandy Gould

Leila is joined by Sandy Gould - VP, Talent at Verizon Media.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Sandy’s passionate interest in comics and superheroes has influenced his career and personal philosophy (“everything is possible”)

· Sandy’s career story to date, from initially training as a rabbi to starting his career in recruitment and then expanding to working in HR as well at companies such as Second Life, Disney and Verizon Media

· His desire to help others achieve the best they can for themselves and others with their own exciting superpowers

· How authentic leadership can lead to the distribution of power within teams and companies and ultimately empower both yourself and everyone around you to make a difference

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-gould-077354/

Loraine Martins

Leila is joined by Loraine Martins - Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Network Rail.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Loraine’s upbringing as a young black girl in London by two parents from the ‘Windrush generation’ led to her working in the voluntary sector and, latterly, diversity and inclusion

· The inherent value that can be found by studying black history for yourself

· Loraine’s own personal experiences of racism, and how they have strengthened her belief in the need for equality

· The D&I strategy that Loraine has helped implement at Network Rail, and the impact that this year’s events such as the murder of George Floyd have had

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorainemartins/

Katherine Robinson

Leila is joined by Katherine Robinson – Senior Business Development Manager at Boots UK and Vice Chair of Women of WBA-UK Business Resource Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The successes and challenges that the Women of WBA-UK Business Resource Group have had since it was first founded 18 months ago

· The issues with ‘impostor syndrome’ and salary negotiation issues that women in particular can find themselves dealing with

· Katherine’s tips on how to best ensure that a Business Resource Group can effectively support its member employees

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-robinson-5562ba10a/

Diane Lightfoot

Leila is joined by Diane Lightfoot – CEO at Business Disability Forum and Chair Of The Board Of Trustees at the Challenging Behaviour Foundation.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Diane found herself working in the voluntary sector to help people with disabilities at the Business Disability Forum (BDI)

· The importance of recognising and developing a strong understanding of both visible and invisible disabilities

· The need to be considerate and empathetic regarding the possibility of undisclosed invisible disabilities as a possible explanation for employee performance issues

· How working from home and other flexible working possibilities can help overcome the disability employment gap

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-lightfoot-6a357114/

Cindy Gallop

Leila is joined by Cindy Gallop – Founder & CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn and IfWeRanTheWorld

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Cindy went from working in marketing and advertising to founding her own companies and becoming a consultant

· Cindy’s unique background as a half-Asian/half-English female, and the impact that she feels this had on her own entrepreneurial streak

· Cindy’s own personal tips for maximising the impact of Diversity & Inclusion within your organisation

· The importance of implementing strong D&I principles in the advertising industry in particular

· How MakeLoveNotPorn highlights ‘real world’ sex issues

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindygallop/

Kamel Hothi

Leila is joined by Kamel Hothi – Non Executive Director at TLC Lions and Trustee/Advisor on Charity Boards.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Kamel went from working in an entry level role that she disliked to building a successful career in banking thanks to her rare language skills and then later on a strong NED portfolio

· The story behind the creation of Lloyds Banking Group’s Women’s Network that Kamel took the lead on

· The advantages of putting inclusion ahead of diversity

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamelhothi/

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” - Aristotle

Pauline Miller

Leila is joined by Pauline Miller - Head of Talent Development, Diversity and Inclusion at Lloyd's of London.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Pauline went from becoming pregnant in school to initially working in IT, before transitioning into her childhood dream career within HR, specialising in D&I in more recent times

· How Pauline used a ‘four quadrants’ approach to help decide which direction to take her career in from both short to long-term perspectives

· Pauline’s personal advice on developing your own career development strategy

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauline-miller-73ba764/

Collette King

Leila is joined by Collette King - Human Resources Director at Studio Retail Limited.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Collette King went from wanting to work for the police as a child to building a successful career in HR

· The strategies that Studio Retail have used to cope with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic

· The challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals can face when ‘coming out’

· Collette’s own personal ‘coming out’ story

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/collette-king-5b689613/

Jahanzaib Ansari

Leila is joined by Jahanzaib Ansari – Co-Founder and CEO at Knockri.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Jahanzaib struggled to find work initially due to the foreign origins of his name and how this subsequently inspired him to found Knockri

· How Knockri uses AI learning to reduce unconscious bias

· The challenges that organisations face when seeking to recruit a more diverse workforce

· Jahanzaib’s thoughts on the idea of using quotas in order to encourage organisations to be more diverse and inclusive

· The expansion of remote working as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jansari1/

www.knockri.com

Kevin Dunckley

Leila is joined by Kevin Dunckley - Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer at HH Global.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How they have used the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in order to establish their sustainability and innovation programme

· Kevin’s recent expériences of a mentoring scheme that he has participated in

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindunckley/

Neil Shorthouse

Leila is joined by Neil Shorthouse - Founder & Chief Executive at Shorthouse Hospitality Ltd.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Neil developed his HR career within the hospitality industry

· The character attributes required and challenges that you can face as an HR professional

· The importance of being there for employees and ensuring that they are safe and well

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilshorthouse/

Emma Codd

Leila is joined by Emma Codd - Global Inclusion Leader at Deloitte.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Emma went from graduating in history to working as a Professional Services Researcher before moving to Deloitte and rising through the ranks to Partner level there

· Emma’s battles with Impostor Syndrome

· Getting the balance right between your career and being a responsible parent

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-codd-b8bb7111/

Paula Gildert

Leila is joined by Paula Gildert - VP Head Research and Development Procurement at Takeda.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What inspired Paula to pursue a career in procurement

· How procurement can empower diversity through its empathetic approach to influence and global access

· The harmony between D&I and leadership, and how critical this is to procurement in particular

· Achieving “breakthrough thinking” and resisting the urges of Imposter Syndrome

· Paying attention to the human behind all diversities, whether visible or invisible

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-gildert-547b987/

Tali Shlomo

Leila is joined by Tali Shlomo - Head of Inclusion and Wellbeing - Interim at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Tali’s advice on creating the best workplace culture to enable everyone to bring their best selves to the workplace

· How the newfound digital environment has led to more even playing fields and more inclusive environments

· The opportunity to create more human workplace cultures in order to improve employees’ wellbeing

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tali-shlomo-fcipd-8a5893115/

Des Pullen

Leila is joined by Des Pullen – Board Trustee at Concordia and Executive Consultant at Associated British Foods plc.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Des’ working-class background and how he worked towards attending university via grammar school

· How Des found himself working in HR and ended up progressing via various roles at Northern Foods, Safeway and Wickes into a MD role and then a Group HR Director role at ABF

· The challenges/pressures of a CEO/MD rôle

· The HR challenges behind equipping broader numbers/groups of individuals with management skills in order to have more diverse leadership teams

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/des-pullen-b344641a0/

Alex Uy

Leila is joined by Alex Uy - Technology Strategist Director at Microsoft.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Alex’s childhood background as a second generation immigrant to New York in the USA

· How he developed his religious beliefs, and why they are so important to him personally

· Religious beliefs in the workplace

· How to bring your “authentic self” to work

· The importance of finding common ground in order to defeat racism

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexuy/

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Debbie Olive

Leila is joined by Debbie Olive - Senior Vice President Europe at CooperVision.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Debbie’s career journey to date, going from starting her career in FMCG to setting up her own business and then working in the contact lenses industry for CooperVision

· The impact of COVID-19 on CooperVision

· Where CooperVision currently find themselves on their own Diversity & Inclusion journey

· How essential having a strong Belonging element within a company is to creating a strong organisational culture

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-olive-8402543/

Julia Streets

Leila is joined by Julia Streets - Founder and Chief Executive at Streets Consulting.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Julia got ahead of the curve by setting up her business 13 years ago on a completely virtual basis

· The background behind Julia’s ‘coming out’

· The story of how her interest in Diversity & Inclusion led to her creating her own podcast

· The nuances of language in D&I, particularly in the LGBTQ+ space

· How Julia developed a second career in stand-up comedy!

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-streets-20a886/

https://www.streetsconsulting.com/

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

James Millward

Leila is joined by James Millward - Managing Director at Eurilait, Vice Chairman at the Provision Trade Federation and Chair of Governors at Whistone Academy.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How James found himself working in food manufacturing and became a managing director of a cheese business after originally wanting to become a professional cricketer or vet

· Some details on the individuals who have inspired and influenced James throughout his career

· Creating a supportive environment for employees while also being careful to not hold them back

· The importance of “recruiting on merit”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-millward-47437b2/

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Ruwan Kodikara

Leila is joined by Ruwan Kodikara - Vice President, Corporate Comms, International at Sony Music Entertainment.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Ruwan found himself working in corporate communications for Amazon and then Sony after beginning his career in politics

· The story of how he began working for the coalition government in Downing Street

· Ruwan’s personal background as a second generation Asian immigrant to the UK

· The risks of being trapped in your “echo chambers” regarding the comms/media you come across

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruwankodikara/

Liz Silverston

Leila is joined by Liz Silverston – Mental Health Counsellor at Eye to Eye Therapy.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Liz’s background in mental health counselling

· Liz’s advice on the best coping mechanisms to use in order to support ourselves and others around us, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic

· How to build stronger relationships on both personal and business levels

· The taboo around using counselling and other mental health services in the UK

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.eyetoeyecounselling.co.uk/

Liam McKelvie

Leila is joined by Liam McKelvie - Founder & Speaker at ZeroLimbits.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Liam recovered (both physically and mentally) from becoming a quad amputee at a very young age

· The importance of being kind to yourself during the Covid-19 pandemic

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz

The Power of Now Journal by Eckhart Tolle

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liammckelvie2/

https://zerolimbits.com/

Yvette Forrester and Zac Shander-Kelsey

Leila is joined by Yvette Forrester - Vice President, Corporate Programme Management Office at BNY Mellon and Zac Shander-Kelsey – Associate, Emerging Leaders Program at BNY Mellon Co-Founder of Connex Events and Co-Founder of CoronaUnity Consulting.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Yvette and Zac met through collaborating together in an Employee Resource Group (ERG)

· Effecting change with the Black Lives Matter movement

· How representation in senior level roles can inspire future positive change

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvette-forrester-acis-5908766/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-shander-kelsey/

Caroline Cater

Leila is joined by Caroline Cater – Vice President Field Sales at Coca-Cola European Partners.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Caroline has developed a successful commercial career at blue-chip organisations such as Cadbury’s, Britvic and Coca-Cola European Partners.

· The close links between sales and marketing

· The influence that role models and real models can have on a career

· How Caroline worked her way through a crisis of confidence in her abilities earlier in her career

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-cater-091320b/

Andy Goss

Leila is joined by Andy Goss – Chairman Of The Board at Vertu Motors plc.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Andy has built a career in the automotive industry, having operated at C-suite level for the last 28 years and worked across the globe in locations such as the USA, Netherlands and UK

· The story behind how Andy found himself sharing a stage with former US president Barrack Obama

· The cultural differences and other challenges of working in the US compared to the UK

· The challenges of a non-executive/chairman role compared to a more operational one

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-goss-a962b736/

Graham “Beeky” Beecroft

Leila is joined by Graham Beecroft – Sports Broadcaster/Editor and Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Graham went from working for Unilever in the early days of his career to eventually becoming a renowned sports broadcaster

· How tragic events such as the Heysel disaster resulted in a greater sense of inclusion and togetherness in football

· The progression that we have seen in gender diversity in sport during more recent times, particularly in women’s football

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-beecroft-8a6b0b26/

Harriet Padina

Leila is joined by Harriet Padina - Diversity and Inclusion Community Manager at Siemens UK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Harriet has become a D&I specialist after following a very different career path at one point in technical sales/engineering

· The importance of “leading from the top” regarding D&I

· How Siemens has used its Inclusion Lab project to establish a framework and subsequently a number of internal D&I Champions/Communities

· The unusual survey that Siemen used to find out from their employees what they wanted/expected in terms of ‘flexible working’ possibilities in order to ensure an employee-led approach

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-padina-0131705/

Lawrence Trist

Leila is joined by Lawrence Trist – Managing Director at Finsbury Food Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Lawrence’s career journey to date, from starting out working in food to setting up his own business and then returning to the food industry

· The stages of Coronavirus that Finsbury Food Group have had to work through

· Lawrence’s belief in the importance and diversity of attitude

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrencetrist/

Melanie Richards

Leila is joined by Melanie Richards – Deputy Chair at KPMG UK, founding member of the 30% Club’s Steering Committee and member of the Hampton-Alexander Review Steering Committee.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Melanie’s journey at KPMG since initially joining the organization in 2000

· Her experiences around gender diversity earlier in her career, when she was often either the only woman in the room or very much in the minority

· Making career opportunities more accessible for those who follow different career paths from ‘the norm’ and/or come from diverse backgrounds

· Whether quotas/targets should be used to ensure further progression in diversity within companies

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-richards-62833412/

Richard Bandell

Leila is joined by Richard Bandell – Non-Executive Director/Chairman at various businesses.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The challenges of remote working in terms of his professional relationships and sufficient contact with the people that he is managing

· “I just fell into work and loved work”: how Richard came from a blue-collar/working-class background and entered a career in the professional services sector, eventually working his way up to board level

· The increased number of opportunities that introverts now find themselves being presented with

· How Richard has dealt with his own mental health battles

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbandell/

Fiona Ibáñez-Leach

Leila is joined by Fiona Ibáñez-Leach - Head of Diversity & Inclusion, International Markets at Walgreen Boots Alliance.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Fiona has been coping with the impact of Covid-19 on her work from a personal basis

· The higher level of focus on the inclusion element internally at WBA as a result of COVID-19

· Fiona’s career to date, which has led her from working in account management earlier in her career and how she has subsequently found herself focusing on Diversity & Inclusion

· How best to encourage wider business buy-in and support to D&I initiatives

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fil12/

Pierre Le Manh

Leila is joined by Pierre Le Manh – CEO North America & Global Deputy CEO at Ipsos.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Pierre’s career journey to date, which has taken him from working for the French government to international blue chip organisations such as Accenture and Ipsos

· What the future holds for business and society more generally after COVID-19

· The importance of remembering to take the time to pause and reflect on your achievements

· Pierre’s views on how best to improve minority/gender diversity and representation at senior level based on the French market

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierre-le-manh-3a4158/

Leila is joined by Stefan Betancourt, Electrical Technician at the Royal Air Force and Tanya Miller, Logistics Air & Ground Steward Corporal at the Royal Air Force

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

The topic of diversity, inclusion and belonging within the context of the RAF and how this has changed over the years
Stefan and Tanya's unique stories and experiences as ethnic minorities working within the RAF
The work being done to continue to encourage BAME representation in the military

Gavin Lewis

Leila is joined by Gavin Lewis - Managing Director at BlackRock and Co-founder of #talkaboutblack .

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Gavin’s experience growing up as a young black male in a gentrified environment in the Tottenham area of London

· The ‘Talk About Black’ campaign which Gavin has been leading in order to address the relative rarity of people from an ethnic background within the investment industry, particularly at senior level

· The concern that people and organisations have already moved on from their Black Lives Matter activity and conversations around race/racism

· The ‘Race at Work’ charter, which has been designed to encourage signatories to adopt BAME recruitment/retention targets over the next 5 years

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-lewis-19b0664/

Shane Farrell

Leila is joined by Shane Farrell – CEO Europe at Ipsos.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The impact of Coronavirus on Ipsos’ market research projects

· How Shane fell into market research by chance

· Shane’s move to Russia, which eventually led to him starting his own business and then eventually selling this to Ipsos

· “The most important thing is whether you can perform or not”: Shane’s belief that gender and nationality are now being used less often as selection/discrimination factors for roles, which in his view is a good thing

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-farrell-a3220a9/

Stefaan Van Dyck

Leila is joined by Stefaan Van Dyck - President & CEO Animal Nutrition & Health EMENA at Kemin Industries.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Stefaan’s career journey to date, having spent his whole career at Kemin and watched the organization grow around him from an SME initially to a much larger organization while also progressing his own career in a similar manner, initially within the R&D function before moving into general management

· The importance of maintaining genuine interest in order to avoid faking it

· How best to handle work-life balance while also working your way up the career ladder to Stefaan’s level

· The realities of business travel compared to the more widely held romantic view of it

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevady/

Suzie Welch

Leila is joined by Suzie Welch - Group Chief People Officer at ODEON Cinemas Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Suzie’s career in hospitality has evolved to date after initially wanting to work in theatre, going from operations to HR as well as moving between restaurants and cinemas

· Odeon’s recent internal health and wellbeing work, including the UK-focused ‘Be well’ campaign and their Facebook for Work project

· How Suzie has succeeded in adapting her leadership style to being an introvert

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzie-welch-0674b323/

Captain Marvel film

Inside Out film

Tinkerbell (the character from Peter Pan)

Helen Kennett

Leila is joined by Helen Kennett - Director, UK Government Relations at Rolls-Royce.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Helen’s career journey to date, having first started her career working directly for an MP in Westminister to progressing her career to the point where she has now operated at director level within Rolls-Royce for over 10 years

· Turning challenges into opportunities and the importance of emotional intelligence to Helen’s work

· “Don’t criticize what you don’t understand”: the open/curious and philosophical approach that Helen likes to adopt regarding business matters

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-kennett-781a2046/

Emma Murray

Leila is joined by Emma Murray - Network & Training Manager Special Operations at Jaguar Land Rover.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

·Emma’s family background growing up with parents of mixed nationality and a sibling of mixed race and career journey so far, having gone from being very career focused to now juggling work with looking after a young daughter

·Emma’s work as part of the gender equality network at Jaguar Land Rover, with a particular focus on giving women with children more flexible working/career development possibilities

·Emma’s experience adapting to the “new normal” in terms of work during the COVID-19 pandemic

· The need to adopt a more holistic approach to D&I in Emma’s opinion

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-murray-2524422a/

Simeon Quarrie

Leila is joined by Simeon Quarrie - CEO/ Founder/Visual Storyteller at VIVIDA.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Simeon fell in love with Virtual Reality (VR) and is using it to drive change/empathy in the business world

· The power of storytelling when it is used meaningfully across various media (images, videos, VR)

· How best to use technology to have a positive impact, particularly in the D, I & B space

· The sense of comradeship that the human race has found in the face of a common enemy such as COVID-19

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeonquarrie/

David Doherty

Leila is joined by David Doherty - Resourcing Manager at John Lewis Partnership.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The emphasis that John Lewis Partnership have put on people at all levels working directly with their front-line retail staff wherever and however they can during the COVID-19 emergency

· The importance of maintaining interactions between team members in order to mitigate a possible sense of isolation for them

· How changing your mentality about the concept/meaning of ‘challenge’ can make it easier to create a more diverse workforce

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddoherty11/

Philip Harman

Leila is joined by Philip Harman - Partner at DAC Beachcroft LLP.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Phil’s own individual journey and progression in the world of employment law

· How he balances the intellectual and people-focused aspects of his role, particularly in board level case work

· The impact of the Equality Act on employer organisations and individual employees

· The key lawyer skills and attributes that are also useful to other organisations/professions in order to balance ethics and wider commerciality

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-harman-767bb92/

Cecelia Crossley

Leila is joined by Cecelia Crossley – Founding Director at From Babies with Love, Trustee at Duchenne UK and the Gaia Foundation.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Cecelia went from working in a more corporate structure as a chartered accountant to then moving into finance roles in the charity sector and eventually founding her own social enterprise

· How From Babies with Love contributes to “gender strategy” and “working parent strategy” for their corporate clients

· The interconnection between Diversity & Inclusion, Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) and social enterprise goals – “Every social enterprise has inclusivity at its heart”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://frombabieswithlove.org/pages/corporate

https://www.linkedin.com/company/from-babies-with-love-trading-ltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilia-crossley-57682161/

Ismail Amla and Oli Freestone

Leila is joined by Ismail Amla – Chief Growth Officer at Capita and Oli Freestone – Head of Institute at Capita.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Ismail’s desire to do whatever it took to build a successful career in order that he could feel part of “Britain PLC”

· The value of internal employee networking groups within organisations

· The importance of pushing boundaries in D&I in order to ensure that progress is continued

· How Oli often feels the need to wear different “masks” as a way for him to present himself in different situations

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismail-amla-b981891/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-freestone-6265293/

Leila is joined by Anand Verma - European Head of Digital Services at Infosys and Founder/CEO at Brilliant Basics.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Anand’s own experiences of building a start-up from scratch and having to learn everything on his own led him to found Brilliant Basics

· How an internal focus on diversity across the board can lead to not only superior culture, but also stronger products/relationships with clients

· How “computational design” can help larger organisations maintain a more personal, empathetic approach to employee relationships

· How important it is to not forget where you came from and maintain a keen focus on employee engagement/inclusion while scaling up organisations

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anandverma/

https://www.infosys.com/

https://www.brilliantbasics.com/

Sangram Vajre

Leila is joined by Sangram Vajre - Chief Evangelist/Co-Founder at Terminus and #FlipMyFunnel Podcast Host.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Sangram’s passion for building communities and never standing still as an individual

· Sangram’s background, from growing up as the youngest of one of 20 people living in his family’s house in India to moving to the USA for his university studies

· His personal tips as a founder for scaling up smaller businesses

· How to make yourself more resilient in order to deal with more challenging times in life

· “Now our board rooms have become our living rooms”: how adapting to COVID-19 has taught Sangram the true meaning of “bring your whole self to work”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

‘Building a StoryBrand’ Podcast by Donald Miller
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sangramvajre/

John Barnes

Leila is joined by John Barnes MBE – Former professional footballer for Watford, Liverpool, Newcastle United and England.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· “I experienced racism, but I never suffered from it”: John Barnes’ upbringing as a middle-class Jamaican and the racism that he experienced as a young immigrant into the UK

· How to distinguish between “racist events” and racism

· John’s belief that elite black people such as himself can still experience “white privilege”: “I never experienced racism, I experienced racist events”

· The importance of focusing on improving the situation for “the 99%” rather than the elite

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Twitter @officialbarnesy

Andrew Denton

Leila is joined by Andrew Denton - Chief Executive Officer at Alfa Financial Software and Co-Founder/Director at the Leasing Foundation.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Andy’s career journey so far, being in the rare position of having spent nearly his entire career to date at the same company and risen through the ranks there from Developer/Consultant to CEO over the last 25 years approximately

· The global nature of the racism problem driving the Black Lives Matter movement

· The important relationship between Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (D, I & B) in tackling many of the world’s most challenging problems

· Andy’s passionate belief in being as accessible and having as much of an ‘open door’ policy as possible for every employee within ALFA

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwdenton/

Christos Tsaprounis

Leila is joined by Christos Tsaprounis - Head of People & Culture at Auto Trader UK, Trustee at Survivors Manchester and Leadership Fellow at the Society of Leadership Fellows.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Christos’ journey so far, from growing up in Greece to studying at an American university in Greece and then moving abroad to the UK to continue studying and begin his professional career

· The adjustments being made to Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

· The ongoing importance of D,I&B despite being in the midst of the pandemic

· How important it is for everyone to do what they can to support charities and the third sector in these troubled times

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christostsaprounis/

Lynsey Symington

Leila is joined by Lynsey Symington - Talent Acquisition Lead, SEA & Emerging Markets at Experian.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

·Lynsey’s career to date, having started in oil and gas recruitment and then set up her own team at a start-up before moving from Scotland to Singapore

·Conducting diversity initiatives while also being culturally sensitive/aware to specific local/regional requirements

·How to use meditation to stay focused and dedicated

·Experian’s ‘Superheroes’ initiative, which is this year concentrating on inclusion and belonging, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+

·How best to use champions/allies for diversity initiatives internally

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynsey-symington-53154b59/

Steve Kenzie

Leila is joined by Executive Director at the UN Global Compact Network UK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Steve’s career journey so far, from growing up in Canada to working for various NGOs and eventually moving over to the UK in 2003

· How to balance the profitability of business with “doing good” for the wider world and the key role that this can play in talent attraction with millennials/zillennials

· What can be done to avoid allowing “unconscious bias” to develop within a business

· How the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can help governments to move towards “a new normal” after COVID-19

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekenzie/

Nimal Amitirigala

Leila is joined by Nimal Amitirigala - President - Grace Foods Canada, Inc. at GraceKennedy Ltd.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Nimal’s unique intercultural background and his various international experiences living in countries such as the UK, US and Canada

· How living/working abroad can help enhance not only your personal perspective but also the diversity journey

· The Jamaican background and subsequent international expansion of GraceKennedy as a company

· Nimal’s passion for educating others about the massive influence that Jamaica has had on international culture, cuisine, sport and music

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Brene Brown

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimala

Dean Curtis

Leila is joined by Dean Curtis - Group Managing Director, Risk & Business Analytics at RELX and President/CEO at ICIS.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Dean went from entering the financial services industry to working for several football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Charlton Athletic as a youth team coach, before going back into the business world

· The hope that companies are able to make the best of the opportunities provided by the Coronavirus situation, and the resulting increasing importance of company culture

· How Dean has led RELX to achieving near parity on staff gender ratios (both overall and at senior leadership level)

· Dean’s previous battles with mental health issues, and how he used the experience to make himself a stronger leader

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanacurtis/

E-mail: Dean.curtis@reedbusiness.com

Website : https://www.reedbusiness.com/about-us/#about-us-leadership

Paul Parker

Leila is joined by Paul Parker – Ex-Professional footballer for England and Manchester United, Pundit, Blogger, Corporate Trainer, Coach & Cross Channel Racing Ambassador.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Paul’s story so far, from being brought up in London and subsequently Essex by his Jamaican immigrate parents to becoming an athlete, initially at school in athletics and then becoming a professional footballer

· Paul’s experience in school during the era of Skinheads and the National Front, but also being someone who other pupils were able to relate to due to his participation in sport

· The racist chants and taunting from football fans that Paul had to face up to on a regular basis during the 1980s

· Paul’s experiences as a manager/coach compared to when he was playing, and the different nature of the challenges

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulparker64/

Hugo de Sousa

Leila is joined by Hugo de Sousa - Associate Partner/Head of Innovation and Ecosystems at Capita Consulting.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Hugo’s role in futureproofing corporate strategy and innovation

· Hugo’s career journey so far, from co-founding his own company in Portugal and becoming CIO for a large Portugese government agency to working for larger companies abroad in the UK and Ireland

· The need to be able to combine tech skills with softer skills and emotional intelligence in order to enhance storytelling

· The importance of separating issues such as Covid-19 and Brexit from Diversity and Inclusion in order to ensure it is not de-prioritised

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugocsousa/
Twitter @hugocsousa

The Godfather movie trilogy by Francis Coppola

Thomas Ennis

Leila is joined by Thomas Ennis – CEO at Thomas Ennis Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Thomas went from a background of extreme poverty and leaving school aged 15 to owning his own network of retail stores in Ireland

· Thomas’ own experiences of social discrimination throughout his life

· The impact of Covid-19 on the food retail sector

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-ennis-4b877841/

Niko Kavakiotis

Leila is joined by Niko Kavakiotis - Head of Building Performance & Sustainability at Siemens.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Niko’s highly multicultural background, from growing up in Greece and studying/working in electrical engineering all over the world in countries such as the UK, USA, Japan and Germany

· The importance of avoiding a sense of entitlement

· The work that Niko has been doing internally with the Employee Resource Group (ERG) that he is leading

· The battles that Niko has fought with ‘Imposter Syndrome’

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/niko-kavakiotis/

How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen

David Grevemberg CBE

Leila is joined by David Grevemberg - Chief Executive Officer at the Commonwealth Games Federation.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How David went from growing up in New Orleans to working in wrestling, to his high-flying career in sports management

· The inclusive agenda at the Commonwealth Games Federation

· The racial tension that he dealt with as a young white person in New Orleans

· Embracing both authenticity and sincerity as a leader

· The human rights element that David likes to apply to both sports and business leadership

· The Commonwealth Games Federation’s proud record as a driver for social change in the world

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
https://thecgf.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-grevemberg-cbe-0611634/

Mark Adams

Leila is joined by Mark Adams - Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care and Non-Executive Director at National Care Forum and Countess of Chester Hospital.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What it has been like combating Covid-19 “on the front line” for Mark and his charity colleagues

· The differences between working in social care and in physical healthcare

· Mark’s personal background, having started working in healthcare at a very young age and experienced working for a combination of large corporate companies and smaller, more entrepreneurial businesses

·

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markadams10/

Geoff McDonald

Leila is joined by Geoff McDonald, Co-Founder of Minds@Work and former Global Vice President HR at Unilever.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

·The difficulties of dealing with social distancing and self-isolation, but also the benefits that these offer, such as the opportunity for reflection

·“That ability to talk is what saved my life”: how the power of love helped Geoff overcome personal mental health challenges

·How to deal with mental health symptoms when they are having a severe negative impact on your life, both during the Covid-19 pandemic and ‘normal times’

·Geoff’s personal advice on steps that everyone can take to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-mcdonald/

Andi Jarvis

Leila is joined by Andi Jarvis – Owner/Founder/Strategy Director at Eximo Marketing.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Andi’s career journey to date, having gone from aiming to become a PE teacher to working in marketing

· “Tapping into the fabric of what you’re doing”: Andi’s approach to marketing

· The challenges behind integrating D&I into marketing, as can be seen in numerous examples of various marketing misfires and successes respectively

· The meaning of diversity in different places: religious diversity in Northern Ireland, for instance

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andijarvis/

Twitter @andijarvis

Instagram @jarvisandi

VE Day 75th Anniversary Special with the British Army

Leila is joined by key individuals from the British Army:

Major General Celia Harvey OBE QVRM TD, Deputy commander of the Field Army & Defence Sikh Champion
Colonel Karl Harris – Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Operations (DACOS) at Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) and also the Chair of the Army BAME Network.
Naveed Muhamad – Muslim National Liaison Officer.
Lt Col Tim Petransky, SO1 CE Communities, Engagement Branch, Headquarters Regional Command

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

The history of VE (Victory in Europe) day and the importance of the 75th Anniversary that we remember on this special day.
The contribution of the commonwealth as a whole to Victory in Europe including the economic and material support from other countries such as Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
The parallel between the time of crises today and the time of crises between 1939 and 1945 and the coming together of society and what we can learn from the wartime experience.
Diversity, Inclusivity and Belonging in relation to the forces and the positive changes we have seen over the years.
The Army’s current role in supporting the nation today during the COVID 19 crises as we battle the invisible enemy together.
The important role of the reservists and others involved within the forces.
How we can pull together and get involved as individuals, businesses and wider society.

· Visit: www.army.mod.uk

To watch our video version visit www.dialglobal.org and make sure you check out our free COVID 19 support hub on our landing page.

**VE Day 75th Anniversary Special with the Royal Air Force (RAF)

"Find your right way to pick yourself up and carry on": the opportunities you're**

Leila is joined by Sally Bridgeland – Honorary Group Captain Royal Air Force (RAF) & Trustee, RAF Central Fund

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

The history of VE (Victory in Europe) day and the importance of the 75th Anniversary that we remember on this special day.
The contribution of the commonwealth as a whole to Victory in Europe including the economic and material support from other countries such as Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
The parallel between the time of crises today and the time of crises between 1939 and 1945 and the coming together of society and what we can learn from the wartime experience.
Sally's personal experience within the RAF and how she has managed this alongside her career in business in a portfolio capacity.
Diversity, Inclusivity and Belonging in relation to the forces and the positive changes we have seen over the years.
The RAF's current role in supporting the nation today during the COVID 19 crises as we battle the invisible enemy together.
The important role of the reservists and others involved within the forces.
How we can pull together and get involved as individuals, businesses and wider society.

· Visit: www.raf.mod.uk

To watch our video version visit www.dialglobal.org and make sure you check out our free COVID 19 support hub on our landing page.

TAGS

· VE DAY, Victory In Europe day, 75th Anniversary, diversity, inclusion, leadership, International, the royal air force, RAF, respect, remember

Leila is joined by Commador David Elford OBE Commador BE ADC BSc MSc MA CEng FRAeS MIET of The Royal Navy.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

The history of VE (Victory in Europe) day and the importance of the 75th Anniversary that we remember on this special day.
The contribution of the commonwealth as a whole to Victory in Europe including the economic and material support from other countries such as Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
The parallel between the time of crises today and the time of crises between 1939 and 1945 and the coming together of society and what we can learn from the wartime experience.
Diversity, Inclusivity and Belonging in relation to the forces and the positive changes we have seen over the years.
The Navy’s current role in supporting the nation today during the COVID 19 crises as we battle the invisible enemy together.
The important role of the reservists and others involved within the forces.
How we can pull together and get involved as individuals, businesses and wider society.

Visit: www.royalnavy.mod.uk

To watch our video version visit www.dialglobal.org and make sure you check out our free COVID 19 support hub on our landing page.

Christopher Kenna

Leila is joined by Christopher Kenna - CEO & Founder at Brand Advance.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Why VE Day is so important to Chris

· What led Chris to join the armed forces and, latterly, to found Brand Advance

· The powerful yet privileged position that advertisers find themselves in

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriskenna/

Don Iro

Leila is joined by Don Iro - Managing Director at Allteks Ltd.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Don’s personal background, from his upbringing in Nigeria through to his time in various C-suite level roles

· The importance of digital frameworks and technology to adapting to the current Coronavirus crisis

· How technology can be used to enhance inclusivity in the workplace

· How crucial it is to be not only authentic but consistent as a leader in business

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldiro/
Don@allteks.co.uk

LaFawn Davis

Leila is joined by LaFawn Davis - Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Indeed.com and member of 2019 SFBT Most Influential Women in Business shortlist.IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

·The importance of intersectionality, both to LaFawn personally and to building a community

·How Indeed are making the most of their Inclusion Resource Groups (IRGs) to help adapt to the threat posed by Coronavirus

·LaFawn’s advice for those who are suffering from Covid-19 due to furlough/redundancy

·How to embrace being different in order to conquer imposter syndrome

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/coronavirus-job-resources?from=here_to_help

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lafawn/

Simon Fillery

Leila is joined bySimon Fillery - Modern Employer Consultant at GSK and Principal Consultant at SiFI Diversity.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The “two halves” of Simon’s career, investment banking and latterly D&I

· The three pillars of GSK’s ‘Modern Employer’ strategy: ‘Being you’, ‘Feeling good’ and ‘Keep growing’

· Simon’s own personal tricks for surviving social distancing and self-isolation

· The need to prioritise inclusion now more than ever

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonfillery/

Kirsty Rogers

Leila is joined byKirsty Rogers – Executive Head of Manchester office at DWF, Board Trustee at WeMindTheGap, Board Member at North West Academies Trust (NWAT) and Chair of Board of Governors at Delamere Academy.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What led Kirsty to move into law for a career

· What drives her to manage a very busy law career in addition to various non-exec roles

· Kirsty’s own experiences and thoughts on furthering the cause of gender diversity

· The importance of accepting everybody for who they are and avoiding unconscious biases as much as possible

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstyrogersemploymentlaw/

Brannan Hancock

Leila is joined by Brannan Hancock – Technical Induction Manager, Head of Employee Resource Group and Chair of internal LGBTQ+ community at Alfa Financial Software.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

·How Brannan has spent his entire career to date at Alfa, going from software development to his current role on the training side

·The influence of digital products on every day life, particularly for millennials and zillennials

·How he first discovered his bisexuality as an adult

·What led him to become involved in Alfa’s LGBTQ+ community and similar inclusion groups

·The importance of getting "buy-in" from C-suite level executives for community-focused initiatives

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brannanhancock/

Yulia O’Mahony

Leila is joined byYulia O’Mahony – Former Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing at John Lewis Partnership.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Yulia’s career story to date, which has seen her go from working in the consulting space in Russia to heading up Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing for John Lewis Partnership

· The differences in the ‘melting pot’ of nations between different international cultures

· The three components essential to improving wellbeing in any organization

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuliaomahony/

Stacey Copeland

Leila is joined by Stacey Copeland - Professional speaker, athlete and Founder of Pave the Way.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The barriers that Stacey has had to overcome to practice her sports as a female in a male-dominated environment

· The legal struggle to make boxing legal for females (after it had been legal for males to practice for many decades)

· What Stacey believes still needs to be done in order to keep progressing and “moving the dial” for female sport

· The details of Stacey’s exciting Pave the Way project

· “Feeling excluded is a human experience, and everyone has felt it”: the negative impact of exclusion

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED
www.stacey-copeland.co.uk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-copeland-431649162/

Ben Page
Leila is joined by Ben Page, Chief Executive at Ipsos Mori, Visiting Professor at King’s College London and a Board Member of the King’s Fund and the Centre for Ageing Better.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· “The speed of the shock”: the tough times experienced by Ipsos Mori and many of their clients due to Coronavirus

·The new role that technology is playing in Ben’s day to day working life

·“I didn’t ever expect to be a Chief Executive”: How Ben went from studying history and not being sure what he wanted to do in life after university to working his way through the ranks to the very top at Ipsos Mori over the last 30 years

·The importance of being a leader that employees can relate to (“great leaders selectively show their weaknesses” – Ronald Heifetz)

·The link between a company’s a CSR policy and employee motivation/engagement: “People want to be part of something that’s more than themselves”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together by Margaret Heffernan

Leadership without Easy Answers by Ronald Heifetz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpageipsosmori/

Paul Cleal

Leila is joined by Paul Cleal, Non-Executive Director at various FTSE 100 /public sector companies (including Sainsbury’s, PwC and the NHS Guy and St. Thomas’ Foundation Trust)

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The impact of Coronavirus on the public sector institutions where Paul operates as a board member

· Paul’s life story, from growing up in London as the son of first generation immigrants and his mother in particular to suffering the difficulties of being “non-white” in the early 1970s and finally achieving partner level at PwC

· “I think it helps often to share stories when it hasn’t been easy at all”: the importance of learning lessons from difficult times and previous mistakes

· The importance of accepting and promoting diversity in order to encourage inclusion and belonging within organisations

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-monekosso-cleal-obe-9230415/

Ramcess Jean-Louis

Leila is joined by Ramcess Jean-Louis, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Verizon Media.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Ramcess’ personal background, beginning with his upbringing by Haitian immigrants in New York through graduating from law school and then his career move into the D&I space

·The ‘Four Cs’ model: Community, Culture, Career and Customer

·How allowing time for social interaction can help to combat the negative effects of Coronavirus on employees’ mental health

·The importance of collaboration within a company’s community

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramcess-jean-louis-a8696139/

Jon Dutton

Leila is joined by Jon Dutton, Chief Executive at Rugby League World Cup 2021.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Jon has found himself in a very privileged position taking the lead on showcasing Rugby League’s finest athletes

· The impact that Coronavirus has had on sport in general, and Rugby League in particular

· The various Inclusivity measures being introduced as part of RLWC 2021, with Inclusivity being one of their core values

· Their choice to focus on the “power of the North” in the UK geographically, with many of the host cities being in the North of the UK

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-dutton-29a5121a/

Twitter @jon-dutton72

www.rlwc2021.com

Mark Parello

Leila is joined by Mark Parello, Managing Director & Chartered Wealth Manager at King Street Wealth Management.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Mark’s epiphany moment in 2015 when he realised that there was a better way to do wealth management, leading him to co-found his own business

· Mark’s difficult experiences as a teenager after being taken into a care home

· Mark’s incredible work ethic which is one of his key attributes -- “I have never met anyone that I couldn’t outwork”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-parello-79974b13/

Mirko Senatore

Leila is joined by Mirko Senatore, Global Supply Chain Lead - European Distributor Markets at Pfizer.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Mirko’s career journey in supply chain to date, which has now taken him to the point of managing supply chain operations across 42 countries in EMEA

· His wide range of international experience, which has taken him from Italy, and from living in his relatively small hometown of around 160,000 people to international “melting pots” such as Brussels and London

· The benefits of language, not just as a communication tool but as a means of deciphering culture e.g. “the British understatement”!

· The Pfizer workstream known as Inclusive Culture, and Mirko’s contribution to this by developing “inclusive measures”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirkosenatore/

Joanne Carlin

Leila is joined by Joanne Carlin, Human Resources Director at Fresenius Kabi UK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The ever-increasing importance of employee engagement

· How Joanne fell into the people function by chance, but grew to appreciate its all-encompassing nature in terms of other functions

· Joanne’s passion for D&I: “If you have an inclusive environment, then it becomes naturally diverse”

· The key role that leadership and management development can play in building company strategy long-term

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-carlin-msc-fcipd-1b23386/

Twitter @jomcarlin16

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez

Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts--Becoming the Person You Want to Be by Marshall Goldsmith

Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed

The Chimp Paradox: The Acclaimed Mind Management Programme to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence and Happiness by Steve Peters

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Dr. Nyla Raja

Leila is joined by Dr. Nyla Raja, Founder and Medical Director of Medispa Cheshire.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Nyla came to find herself in the medical profession, having been inspired to become a doctor by the tragic death of her younger sister in a car accident

· How she has been inspired by multiple generations of women, from those behind the Suffragette movement to the modern day business leader Karen Brady

· The improvements in gender diversity representation that have seen more women apply to medical school over the last decade

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://doctornyla.com/

Tasneem Bhopalwala

Leila is joined by Tasneem Bhopalwala, Global Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at Oxford University Press.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Tasneem’s career evolved from a wider range of management types to specializing in HR, and from her beginnings in the “entertainment hub” of Bombay in India to working in the UK

· Her inspiring story so far, having continued working as a mother part-time as well as funding her university education herself

· Tasneem’s keen belief that D&I should not just be driven by the HR function, but by the whole organization

· The important role that technology such as AI and new communication platforms now has to play in furthering the cause of D, I & B

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasneem-bhopalwala-cipd-05979059/

tasneembhopalwala.hr@gmail.com

Michael Hickman

Leila is joined by Michael Hickman, Positive Action Manager and Detective Constable at Surrey Police.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The journey that led Mike to his current role in the police force, from his beginnings working in security for a theme park company to then progressing through the ranks at Surrey Police

· Mike’s unique cultural and ethnic background as a half-Chinese and half-Japanese individual who was born in Hong Kong and has been living in the UK for a number of years

· His experience with reverse mentoring, which he has been involved in trialing for the police with the Surrey Chief Constable

· The recent theory of “Tempered radicals” in D&I

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hickman-b77951a6/

Clive Myrie

Leila is joined by Clive Myrie, news journalist and presenter.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What Clive openly acknowledges as a very happy and lucky childhood, during which he attended a grammar school in Bolton after his parents emigrated to the UK from Jamaica

· How Clive moved from studying law at university to a career in journalism

· The ongoing lack of black front-line TV presenters and correspondents in the UK, and how essential it is to improve this level of representation

· Mental health concerns for modern day journalists

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Twitter @CliveMyrieBBC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Myrie

Geoff McDonald

Leila is joined by Geoff McDonald – Co-Founder at Minds@Work, professional keynote speaker and ex-Global VP HR at Unilever.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Geoff’s career journey to date, from starting as a teacher in South Africa to rising through the ranks at Unilever

· How a panic attack episode led Geoff to become diagnosed with anxiety fueled depression

· How the resulting outpouring of love he received kept him motivated through the darker moments of his recovery

· The three aspects of recovery: to have hope, take control of your recovery and to feel like you

· The difficulties that men are often believed to have discussing their mental health

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-mcdonald/

Clare Urmston

Leila is joined by Clare Urmston - Chief Financial Officer at Mamas & Papas.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Clare’s career to date, from her beginnings as an accountant in audit at KPMG to then progressing her career in industry finance through various roles at companies such as Northern Foods, Wilko and Mamas & Papas

· How an interest in numbers and problem-solving led her to considering a career in finance more seriously

· Clare’s own experiences of the lack of diversity within finance, such as being the only female in a cohort of 12 on a senior talent development program and networking events where she was the only female in attendance

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-urmston/

Joseph McGuire

Leila is joined by Joseph McGuire – Owner at Clearsight Communications.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What led to Joseph becoming a specialist in face reading (which is based on the ancient Chinese tradition of Mien Shiang)

· How he bridged the gap between therapy techniques based on facial reading and behavioural/family influences

· What led Joseph to move from doing mostly personal therapy work to applying his approach in more consultative work with businesses (interviews, negotiation and team training)

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://clearsightcommunications.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clearsightcommunications/

Twitter @clearsightj

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clearsightcommunications/

Lianna Brinded

Leila is joined by Lianna Brinded - Head Of Yahoo Finance UK.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The recent launch of Lianna’s ‘Global Change Agents’ programme, where she has been interviewing leaders of her choosing, from CEOs to Heads of D&I

· Lianna’s mixed cultural background (she is half-Malaysian/Chinese on her mother’s side) and the time she spent abroad during her childhood

· The importance of not following a set viewprint as a leader and instead taking great tips and using them to forge your own path

· Lianna’s belief that more inclusive environments can in turn lead to a more joyful and productive environment

· The intersectionality of diversity: age, ethnicity, gender, neurodiversity

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liannabrinded/

Madeleine Black

Leila is joined by Madeleine Black - International speaker, TEDx Speaker, author and psychotherapist.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Madeleine has transitioned from being a career psychotherapist to focusing on public speaking

· The challenges of Madeleine’s TEDx talk, where Madeleine publicly forgave the men who had gang raped her at the age of 13

· How Madeleine used this TEDx talk to reclaim her power, shatter any lingering shame and the stigma behind sexual violence

· “It’s important to realise it’s a journey, it’s not an overnight fix”: how Madeleine had to work to overcome her fears and trauma

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleineblackspeaker444/

Madeleine’s TEDx Talk in Glasgow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ouhY155398

Leann Hearne

Leila is joined by Leann Hearne – Group CEO at First Ark.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Leann worked her way up from first being a PA to eventually becoming an MD in the manufacturing sector

· Leann’s sudden career change, when she was inspired to move over to non-profit housing sector after having held several NED roles in this space

· How Leann became not only the youngest person on the board when she made it to MD level, but also the only female

· The work Leann has done to advance gender equality as a result, particularly around parental leave and agile working: “It’s more about equality than actually giving women a step up”

· Leann’s passion for supporting mental health through organization wide networks and a health and well-being package

· How the combination of a positive upbringing by her father and a very negative, sexist experience with a senior colleague inspired her to progress her career beyond secretary/PA level

· The importance of authentic leadership: “Being you is okay”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leann-hearne-a1930321/

Alice Choi

Leila is joined by Alice Choi – Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director – Scientific Council at McCann Health, member of Northern Power Women’s Top 50 Power List and one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in UK Healthcare 2019 Pharmaceutical Market Europe (PME).

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Alice’s career story so far, from academic beginnings in pharmacology and public health before entering the world of medical communications

· Her extracurricular projects outside of work such as her current involvement with Cancer Research UK’s ‘Women in Influence’ programme as a mentor and her work as a governor for the NHS Christie Foundation Trust

· How Alice is fortunate to be part of a female-dominated workforce (over 70% of McCann Health’s employees are female)

· Alice’s thoughts on how best to maintain a healthy work-life balance as a woman operating at C-suite level

· Alice’s belief that the most important aspect of inclusion is to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/alicewaving

Twitter @alicewaving

Ewan Pearson

Leila is joined by Ewan Pearson – Managing Director at Grant Pearson Brown Consulting Ltd and Executive Chairman at Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC).

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Ewan’s extremely diverse career story to date, having had numerous professions as a medical doctor, school teacher, investment banker, stockbroker and latterly a professional adviser in communications (both spoken and written)

· How Ewan’s longest career path so far has been in communications despite English not being one of his strongest areas academically

· The impact that nerves can have on anyone – as Ewan learned from a difficult experience during his wedding speech!

· Ewan’s belief that the infamous comment “You’re not ready yet” is used much more regularly regarding women applying for promotions, and in a much more negative sense

· “It’s absolutely important that you are yourself”: the importance of authenticity in communication coaching (particularly with females as they feel more pressure to pretend to be something they are not)

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewan-pearson-9a04ab/

https://www.gpb.eu/

Janice Lao

Leila is joined by Janice Lao – Group Director Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, 2009 Sustainability Leader of the Year award winner.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Janice’s upbringing differed from the traditionally conservative and withdrawn nature of Chinese culture

· How Janice’s upbringing prepared her for British culture when she was studying here

· Janice’s efforts to educate her children on ‘unconscious bias’

· “As long as you have a brain, you have a bias”: how unspoken agreements are often key to you and your colleagues, friends, etc. keeping each other in check

· The importance of Inclusion in the hotel industry

· How being bullied as a 13-year-old helped lead Janice to accept who she was

· Thoughts on how best to overcome imposter syndrome: “Don’t ever give your life for anyone”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.janicelao.com

Twitter/Instagram: @janiceillao

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceillao/

Frauke Behrens

Leila is joined by Frauke Behrens – Yoga Instructor.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Frauke left her former career behind in order to become a professional yoga teacher in order to do something for herself

· Frauke’s recovery from severe illness, which led her to change her approach life completely

· Frauke’s use of “servant leadership” to help both her yoga students and her former employees

· The importance of chakras, which are the body’s equivalent to “power points”

· Frauke being a particularly strong example of how it is never too late to try something new

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://fraukeyogafuerteventura.com/home

Instagram @fraukefuerteventura

https://www.facebook.com/frauke.behrens.79

Dianne Greyson

Leila is joined by Dianne Greyson - Managing Partner at Synergised Solutions, Director at Equilibrium Mediation Consulting and author.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· A ‘transformation bias’ product that Dianne has recently co-created, which is designed to tackle inherent bias

· The recent release of Dianne’s book, Business Culture Review, where she analyses how companies treat employees, etc.
· The importance of engaging with employees as fellow human beings and not just “resources” in order to understand their issues properly

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.equilibriummediation.com
dgreyson@synergisedsolutions.com
www.linkedin.com/in/dgreyson

Twitter: @EMClimited and @synergisedsolutions

Susan Robson

Leila is joined by Susan Robson - Principal Consultant at National Grid, Chair of Women in National Grid (WING), Financial Times & HERoes #1 Future Leader for Champions of Women in Business 2018.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Sue’s work as part of Women in National Grid (WING), ranging from face to face training and mentoring for women in the business to supporting the development of an intersectional and more inclusive culture

· How “saying yes to things” and being open to opportunities has led to her progressing to new roles in her career

· How Susan is finding herself more drawn to innovation in purpose-driven activities such as carbon neutrality and wider goals in sustainability

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-robson-09/

Twitter @SusanRobson9

Caroline Pugh – CEO/Founder at Oya Partners and Advisor to Chairman of Africa Rising

Leila is joined by Caroline Pugh – CEO/Founder at Oya Partners and Advisor to Chairman of Africa Rising.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Caroline’s career journey so far, from working with Barack Obama to working with the Mandela family to combat the HIV virus in Africa

· Growing up as an only child in rural Virginia, and how this shaped her curiosity and desire to set out on her own unique journey/path through life

· The challenges behind starting your own business and living as an entrepreneur

· Caroline’s belief in the importance of networking to the cause of D&I: “women need to support more women”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

caroline@mandela.co

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinepughv/

Instagram @caroline_pugh

Kris Macchiarola - President at KMACC Solutions

Leila is joined by Kris Macchiarola: President at KMACC Solutions, Author of No Approval Needed, Consultant at Versea Holdings Inc. and Tribe Leader at S.H.E. Tampa.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Kris’ exciting recent book project, for which she interviewed nearly 60 women in their 40s on a confidential basis from all over the world

· Kris’ book covers humanist topics, relevant to both men and women, with a number of powerful stories such as marriage, affairs, libido, etc.

· The importance of using your failures to drive future successes

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-macchiarola/

Facebook #NoApprovalNeededBook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1072450256268730

www.krismacc-author.com

www.kmaccsolutions.com

Paul Sesay - Founder of Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers (Inclusive Companies), the National Diversity Awards and National Mentors

Leila is joined by Paul Sesay: Founder of Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers (Inclusive Companies), the National Diversity Awards and National Mentors.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How being taken under his role model’s wing led him to relocate to Liverpool when he was younger, and the resulting impact on his career

· How Paul’s frustration at a lack of conviction in the diversity and inclusion practices space led him to start his own business

· The important role that community organisations used to play in supporting those from diverse backgrounds

· How role models can influence our development, often without their realisation of how inspirational they have been

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sesay-93260013/

https://nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/

https://inclusivetop50.co.uk/

Jennifer Brown - Founder, President & CEO at Jennifer Brown Consulting, award-winning entrepreneur, Diversity & Inclusion Speaker, Consultant & Author.

Leila is joined by Jennifer Brown: Founder, President & CEO at Jennifer Brown Consulting, award-winning entrepreneur, Diversity & Inclusion Speaker, Consultant & Author.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Jennifer helps people move from understanding the ‘why’ (reason for taking action in D&I within an organisation) to taking action with the ‘what’ (what exactly should an organisation do along these lines?)

· Jennifer’s own personal journey, from damaging her voice as an opera singer in training to reinventing herself as a corporate trainer

· Jennifer’s passion for using her voice and putting aside any “momentary discomfort” she might feel in order to lead/inspire others

· The need for all executive business leaders (including white males) to embrace their backgrounds and personal stories in order to further the diversity cause

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://jenniferbrownspeaks.com

https://jenniferbrownconsulting.com

Twitter: @jenniferbrown

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferbrownconsulting

Chris Gray – Managing Director at Accenture

Leila is joined by Chris Gray: Managing Director at Accenture, Director of the North West Business Leadership Team, HRH Prince of Wales Ambassador for Responsible Business and Chair of Business in the Community in the North West.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Chris focuses on spending time with his own team, both abroad in India and at home in Manchester

· Chris’ belief that everyone is diverse in their own way

· How much Chris values the internal LGBTQ+ network at Accenture and views it as his way of giving back after benefitting from the same support as a gay individual earlier in his career

· Chris’ work on leveraging the “network effect” of his position in the North West Business Leadership team to support female leaders in the north west

· The workforce changes that are happening as a result of the ‘post-digital’ world

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjgray1/

Twitter @cjgrayuk

Sara Neff - Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation

Leila is joined by Sara Neff: Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The environmental focus of Sara’s current role – Kilroy have committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2020

· How a strong sustainability strategy can help attract strong, diverse talent: 90% of the job applicants who reach interview stage at Kilroy mention sustainability in their interviews

· Sara’s argument that it is perfectly acceptable to use a less formal and more direct form of speech and still be an authentic leader

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.saraneff.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-neff-4490b214/

Twitter @NeffSara

Alexandra Watson - Editor In Chief at SHINE UK Magazine, Founder of TRUE Leadership for Women, Keynote Speaker and Best-Selling Author

Leila is joined by Alexandra Watson, Editor In Chief at SHINE UK Magazine, Founder of TRUE Leadership for Women, Keynote Speaker and Best-Selling Author.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Alex’s exciting new role with DIAL Global

· Alex’s view on how best to resolve the challenges preventing women from moving into business leadership roles via her own 2020 initiative

· More details on the leadership training modules at the heart of 2020, which are available to individuals at all levels (from graduate to C-suite) within all industries

· The intersection between emotional intelligence and a more intellectual approach in 2020’s leadership training

· The extremely low representation of women in senior level roles in the business world, and further thoughts on what exactly has held women back from filling these roles

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

http://alexandrawatson.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/happiness/

success@shineukmagazine.com

Catherine Berardi: Founder & CEO at Prime Chief of Staff

Leila is joined by Catherine Berardi, Founder & CEO at Prime Chief of Staff.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How Catherine transitioned from her original dream career of becoming a saxophone player to deciding to pursue a career in business instead

· The beginning of her career as a receptionist at Ariel Investments and how she later returned there as Chief of Staff to the President years later

· Catherine’s acceptance that she didn’t fit into any one “box” in terms of verticals or specialised fields at an organisation, which led to her realising the importance of everyone accepting their differences and what makes them stand out

· How Catherine’s experience with D&I by working for a line manager of colour has made a huge difference to not just her career but also her own personal experience and beliefs after growing up in a heavily Caucasian environment in Alabama

· The importance of talking about D&I in a positive way, without using an accusatory tone

· The importance of expressing relatability to your team in order to be a great leader

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://primechiefofstaff.com/default.aspx

Twitter @prime_advice

Facebook @primechiefofstaff

Instagram @primechiefofstaff

LinkedIn @primechiefofstaff

Jules Lund: Founder at TRIBE

Leila is joined by Jules Lund, Founder at TRIBE and former TV/radio presenter at Southern Cross Austereo.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Jules’ incredible journey as an entrepreneur, from starting out selling used golf balls to founding a successful multi-million pound marketing business

· Tribe’s recent highlight in attracting former Unilever Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed as an investor

· Jules’ personal career “lowlights” and how he has bounced back from these, most notably dealing with the stress of finding investors last year and dealing with being considered a micromanager

· The importance of both ideas and execution in business: “You can’t have anything without a great idea, but from there it’s all execution”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.tribegroup.co/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juleslund/

Adriènne Kelbie: Chief Executive at Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)Leila is joined by Adriènne Kelbie - Chief Executive at Office for Nuclear Regulation, Board Trustee of CareTech Charitable Foundation, Ambassador at POWERful Women and Patron – Women in Nuclear at the Nuclear Institute.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Adriènne’s own learning journey through her career so far, from dropping out of college after a year to working as a trainer for a number of years and becoming a well-formed and rounded generalist CEO.

· Adriènne’s belief in how important it is to learn from your failures and resolve your crises in confidence: “Even the strongest of us have bad days”.

· How important it is to avoid having a bad attitude as a consequence of holding onto fears and feelings about negative incidents in the past.

· Adriènne’s efforts to represent everyone and not just women in terms of her I&D work

· ONR’s I&D/recruitment strategies which now leverages activity such as visible role models and has helped increase the percentage of women in the nuclear sector from 17 to 22% over the last 10 years (though clearly there is still work to be done)

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adri%C3%A8nne-kelbie-b2187932/

Twitter @AdrienneKelbie

http://www.onr.org.uk/

Saheb Youssef Bakhsh: Sales | Marketing | Business Development Strategist

In this episode of Diverse & Inclusive Leaders: Leila chats to Saheb Youssef Bakhsh, learning about what inspires a lot of people about learning and the importance of understanding different cultures and different international perspectives.

Find out more about Tania Group of Companies Singapore http://www.taniagroup.com/

Matt Burns: BENTOHR Founder and Chief Innovation Officer

In this episode of Diverse & Inclusive Leaders: Leila chats to Matt Burns, a passionate, innovative Global HR Executive who sits at the intersection of technology & culture.

Today, Matt is a founding member of the Global HR Collective, which helps organizations undertake similar transformations.

Blending strategy, technology, data & culture, Matt architects & implements solutions that make organizations more profitable, efficient & human-centric.

Find out more about BENTOHR - https://bentohr.com/

Charlotte Speak: Strengths Coach and Talent Consultant

Leila chats to Charlotte Speak, showing the world what the Power of the Parent is all about.

Charlotte is a strengths practitioner, critical thinker, question asker, lover of reflection time and a parent who is juggling a business, a family and a life! After a 12 year corporate career it was time for her to figure out what was really important and how she could use her strengths and skills to start making a difference to the experience returners (and businesses) face after the significant life change of starting a family. Charlotte helps returners reconnect with what drives them and often redefine what their version of success now looks like.

Find out more about Power of the Parent - http://power-of-the-parent.com/

**Suzie Walker: Founder & Chief Fire Starter at THE PRIMAL PANTRY.

Leila chats to Suzie Walker from The Primal Pantry, an award-winning real food energy and protein bar maker.

To find out more about Suzie and The Primal Pantry, click** https://www.primalpantry.com/

Tim Toterhi: Chief Human Resources Officer at Cenduit

Leila is joined by Tim Toterhi, Chief Human Resources Officer at Cenduitand Coach/Speaker/Author at Plotline Leadership.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

Tim’s career journey and experience, from sales to HR via project management, at a variety of businesses from start-ups to multinational corporates
Tim’s belief that the combination of “widening your lens” and listening before speaking with a strong backstory can lead to more successful results
How Tim has adapted to his dyslexia and turned it into a strength when he is on stage as a speaker
How to turn networking from something that some people can be scared of into an advantage, whether you are an extrovert or an introvert

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/toterhi/

@timtoterhi

TEDx Talk - I Am Diversity! –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOol7eicaNQ

www.TimToterhi.com

Teresa Boughey: Founder & CEO at Jungle HR and Jungle Diversity

Leila is joined by Teresa Boughey, Founder & CEO at Jungle HR and Jungle Diversity, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Bestselling author and professional speaker.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How she works to educate organisations in how to further improve diversity, inclusion and belonging in their workforce

· Going from being a teenage mother to now being a nana to her daughter’s children and dealing with a number of resulting stereotypical judgements and preconceptions of her capabilities throughout her career

· The importance of considering your own personal role within your “tribe”, and ensuring you give back to them

· Teresa’s own personal battle with ‘Imposter Syndrome’ as a successful female business leader and how she has used her own role models to conquer this

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-boughey-jungle-hr/

Twitter @junglejayne21

www.facebook.com/JungleHRLtd

www.junglehr.com

www.junglediversity.com

www.teresaboughey.com/Closing-the-Gap

Massimiliano Moneta: Managing Director at Vion Food Group

Leila is joined by Massimiliano Moneta, Managing Director at Vion Food Group.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The importance of diversity in Italian culture

· Max’s career journey, which has taken him all over the world and across numerous industries (from pharmaceuticals to food ingredients) as well as function (sales, marketing and general management)

· The importance of learning as much as possible from your line managers and adopting their own strengths to form your own leadership profile

· The role of cultural/international idiosyncrasies in I&D, such as the inexorable link between business life and family life in territories such as the Middle East and Italy

· The potential value creation that can come from factoring in specific cultures into brand creation through fostering a stronger emotional link to said brands

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/massimilianomoneta/

Mamta Singhal: FMCG expert, Design Engineer and STEM/Diversity Public Speaker

Leila is joined by Mamta Singhal - FMCG expert, Design Engineer and STEM/Diversity Public Speaker.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Mamta’s unique career experience so far in STEM, FMCG and academia

· Her unique upbringing as a child, which combined both Scottish and Indian culture and led to her love of both the arts and sciences

· Mamta’s thoughts on the increasing importance of neurodiversity, particularly with regard to the advantages of dyslexia (“dyslexiability”), as she is affected by this personally

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamtamba/

Twitter @mamtasinghal2

Anni Townend: Leadership Consultant, Executive Coach and Author

Leila is joined by Anni Townend; Leadership Consultant, Executive Coach and Author.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The importance of micro behaviours to business leaders, for instance the choice to smile or not smile, as they are being observed by those around them: “You are being watched”

· Anni’s advice on shaping your own set of personal values as a leader

· How a conversation encouraging, ‘open door’ policy type of approach with colleagues can be both holistic and humanistic

· Fostering stronger relationships with your colleagues/team by making uncomfortable conversations as comfortable as possible

· How attending boarding school led Anni to feel different in terms of her background, and why this led her to concentrate on helping her clients to create a sense of belonging in the workplace

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

anni@annitownend.com

www.linkedin.com/in/anni-townend-92265a2

www.annitownend.com

www.futureengagedeliver.com

Mark Metry: Founder at VU Dream

Leila is joined by Mark Metry, Founder at VU Dream, Show Host at Humans 2.0 Podcast (Global Top 100 Podcast), Forbes featured speaker and New York Times bestselling author.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Mark’s childhood story, where he had to overcome various health obstacles in the form of both physical and mental disorders such as social anxiety and asthma while attending a school with no diversity and intense feelings of isolation

· His successful early ventures as a young entrepreneur on the Internet: Mark started his own YouTube channel at the age of 13 and launched the world’s most successful Minecraft server at the age of 15!

· Mark’s realisation as a result of his journey in life that the best way to live your life is to forge your own path and identity

· The steps that Mark took (both consciously and subconsciously) to go from having no self-confidence as an 18 year-old to feeling much more confident/comfortable in his own skin

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.markmetry.com

mark@vudream.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-metry/

Dennis Ossipov-Grodsky: CEO/Founder at agile5.co

Leila is joined by Dennis Ossipov-Grodsky, CEO/Founder at agile5.co and ex-Head of Vayner Consulting and SVP Digital Strategy at VaynerMedia

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Dennis’ exciting new venture in growth mentoring for CEOs of SMEs

· The importance of freedom of expression, personal growth and having pride in your personal achievements in the workplace for all individuals

· How vital cultural intelligence/awareness is becoming in an ever more global/internationalised business world in Dennis’ experience after travelling to and working with teams in 50 countries

· “People are universes that walk”: how “mental diversity” can enable organisations to see things differently e.g. assembling a team with experience from other sectors/countries

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-ossipov-grodsky/

Karin Hurt: CEO at Let’s Grow Leaders

Leila is joined by Karin Hurt, CEO at Let's Grow Leaders, award winning author, Inc Top 100 Leadership Speaker and former Verizon Executive.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How vital it is for a company to get the balance right between its results and its customer relationships

· “Micro innovations” and how crucial it is for leaders to listen with two ears and one mouth

· Karin’s thoughts on the practice of business leaders using fear and intimidation tactics

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-hurt/

https://letsgrowleaders.com/

https://letsgrowleaders.com/blog-2/

Keith Antoine: Performance Coach at 3rd Leg Ltd

Leila is joined by Keith Antoine: Performance Coach at 3rd Leg Ltd.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· The importance of motivation in performance coaching: clarity and credible goals are particularly crucial

· Keith’s work with Richard Whitehead, the renowned British athlete and multiple Paralympic medal winner

· How crucial it is to diversify your organisational leadership in order for them to be able to properly understand the differing needs of individuals from different backgrounds, etc. in their workforce

· The importance of individuals also being able to define what inclusion means to them on a personal level: what do they personally need in order to feel included within an organisation?

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-antoine-4b15694/

Christoph Bauer: Innovation Evangelist at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking (SGCIB)

Leila is joined by Christoph Bauer, Innovation Evangelist at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How innovation specifically can profit from different groups of people coming together to form something new

· How diversity of thought is leading to us all becoming more generalist in terms of “soft skills” e.g. empathy, communication, team leadership, etc.

· The growing importance of emotional intelligence as a commodity for business leaders in an ever more digital world

· How important it is to be able to demonstrate your vulnerable side at work as an employee

· Christoph’s admiration for diverse/different cultural artists such as Björk and Stanley Kubrick

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Twitter @christophbauer

https://de.linkedin.com/in/bauerchristoph

Graham Frost: Professional Speaker and Trainer

Leila is joined by Graham Frost, Professional Speaker/Trainer and professional member of the Professional Speaking Association.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Graham’s journey in life so far, from leaving school with 1 GCSE and conquering testicular cancer in his early 20s to leaving a full-time role in order to become a professional speaker

· His courageous decision to move out of his parents’ home at the age of 17 due to leaving the fundamentalist church

· Graham’s passion for giving people equal opportunities regardless of their gender, class, race, colour or disability – “It shouldn’t be about jobs for the boys or the girls or whatever”

· How useful servant leadership can be within an organisation to encourage positive change

· How crucial it is to never give up on anything and to find your passion in order to be happy and successful in life, while also making the most of “happy accidents” and serendipity like Graham

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

graham@grahamfrost.com

(+44(0))7766916317

www.linkedin.com/in/grafrost/

www.grahamfrost.com

Martin Pong: Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman

Leila is joined by Martin Pong: Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman, Global Chair of the LGBT+ Network and Financial Times & Yahoo Finance Top 10 Global Future Leader

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Martin’s experience growing up as the LGBTQ+ son of Chinese immigrant parents in Manchester, UK

· The impact bullying at school had on Martin’s relationship with his Chinese heritage throughout his childhood

· How the modern day corporate focus on D&I helped Martin understand, accept and embrace the fact that his differences are also some of his key strengths

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-pong-5401b872/

Leila is joined by Bobby Umar, President at Raeallan, CEO at DYPB and renowned leadership speaker/speaking coach.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Bobby’s career journey, from his beginnings as an engineer to working as a teacher and brand marketer, before finally finding his passion in professional speaking

· How you can build your own personal brand through storytelling in public speaking

· Some of Bobby’s public speaking stories from over the years, such as 20-second hugs!

· Bobby’s belief in the importance of being authentic about vulnerability and mental health

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.raeallan.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyumar/

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @raehanbobby

WARNING: There is some strong language in this podcast.

Desiree Barnes: Founder and Managing Partner at BRKDN Strategies LLC

Leila is joined by Desiree Barnes, Founder and Managing Partner at BRKDN Strategies LLC, as well as ex-Communications and Public Engagement Specialist for Barack and Michelle Obama.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Desiree’s recent/current projects in communications and public engagement, from taking the dangerous step of founding her own consultancy BRKDWN Strategies LLC to working on various projects for the Obamas, both in and out of office at the White House

· Her passion for art, which has come from her love of graffiti and hip-hop music after growing up in New York

· Her achievement of going to college/university a year early despite a difficult upbringing by a single parent as an only child and dealing with various challenging circumstances e.g. addiction

· How she owed her success with the Obamas to her outstanding work ethic

· The story of Desiree’s battles with anxiety and depression when she was younger

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-n-barnes-912372156/

Instagram @dnbarnes

Lisa Targett: UK General Manager at TRIBE

Leila is joined by Lisa Targett, UK General Manager at TRIBE, member of the Drum’s #50Under30 and one of Diversity Journal's Women Worth Watching in 2018.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Lisa’s leadership stories throughout her career so far, such as managing a team of 30 in her early 20s at a Microsoft/Channel 9 (Australia) joint venture

· How Lisa grew up with inspirational role models who influenced her career through hard work, entrepreneurialism and lack of entitlement

· How the new challenges of technology and changes in identity have shaped younger generations

· The importance of embracing authenticity and “truth seeking”

· “Be comfortable in the uncomfortable”: how business innovation can lead to development of resilience to making mistakes

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisatargett/

http://tribegroup.co

Leila is joined by Leendert Den Hollander, Vice President & General Manager at Coca-Cola European Partners and President of the British Soft Drinks Association.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Some of CCEP’s exciting cross-functional initiatives in employee engagement and D&I (which is referred to internally as Inclusion & Diversity at CCEP)

· The thinking behind the creation of the three key values of I&D at CCEP: Be Yourself, Be Valued and Belong

· Leendert’s personal journey and background in his career to date

· Collaborative/connected leadership and motivational factors: “You need to connect at all levels”

· CCEP’s key management principle: “You challenge the professional and not the individual”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leendert-den-hollander-9820672/

Leila is joined by John Stapleton, Non-Executive Director at the Grocery Accelerator and a well-known FMCG entrepreneur/investor/speaker/advisor/mentor

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· How John has gone from setting up new businesses to focusing on helping entrepreneurial businesses grow

· John’s own entrepreneurial journey (which has now lasted 30+ years and is still ongoing)

· The importance of not trying to be an expert at everything as an entrepreneur, and instead bringing on board, leading and inspiring the right people

· The reasons for John’s belief that a male-female partnership can be the strongest type of partnership in business

· John’s opinion that D&I is more than just “box ticking” and how essential it is to focus on outputs/results

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.johnstapleton.eu/

John@stapleton.eu

Leila is joined by Hither Mann, CEO at Fortune Academy and the world’s first female trader/educator.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Hither’s business journey: going from a medical degree to establishing her own multi-million property development portfolio by the age of 25, and then creating Fortune Academy

· Fortune Academy’s offering of a lifelong wealth education and its executive IPO services

· Hither’s experience as a young female Asian business leader

· The importance of differentiating between individuals controlling money and being controlled by money and prioritising inspiring people as well

· What Hither looks for in potential employees: free spirits and entrepreneurialism

· Hither’s passion for encouraging females to “raise their game”

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hithermann/

https://www.instagram.com/hithermann/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/hithermann/

www.fortuneacademy.co.uk/events

Andrew Pearce: Managing Director at Accenture

Leila is joined by Andrew Pearce, Managing Director at Accenture, Executive Sponsor of the Accenture African and Caribbean network and UK Chair of the ELC.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· “Formative years”: Andrew’s adoption experience as a black baby to white parents and how this fostered his lack of judgment regarding gender, race, etc.

· The disturbing use of language around sensitive topics such as gender, sexuality and race that he experienced earlier in his career, and the acceptance of this as the norm

· The importance of using inclusion to make a difference in order to avoid treating D&I as just ‘box ticking’

· “Cross-culture”: how working and living abroad can contribute to the D&I agenda

· How Andrew has overcome racism and confirmational bias during his career through always overdelivering and encouraging others to treat people as individuals

· Pressure to conform in the workplace and how best to respond to this

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewchpearce/

Twitter: @AndrewCPea

Fiona McDonnell: European Director - Beer, Wines & Spirits at Amazon

Leila is joined by Fiona McDonnell, European Director - Beer, Wines & Spirits at Amazon.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· What Fiona gets up to on a day to day business as European Director – Beer, Wines & Spirits and as Amazon’s Executive Sponsor for Diversity in the UK

· What Amazon can do to change the world of tech, while also making sure that they are “doing the right thing” in general

· The recent launch of Amazon’s Amplify programme in order to attract more female talent into STEM

· The importance of making job descriptions more appealing to women and giving them more recognition at senior level

· “Running into walls and learning lessons”: Fiona’s own personal journey to becoming a more collaborative leader while ensuring that she has still remained focused on her strengths

· The importance of equal contributions and voices in a D&I context

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

Research: https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Making-a-Difference-why-women-in-STEM-become-innovators.pdf https://www.linkedin.com/in/happiness/

BBC Breakfast March 7th:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6510462292092551168

Telegraph Co-ed article March 7th:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/03/07/gender-diversity-innovation-not-just-right-thing-do-also-makes/

Twitter: @McDonnellFiona

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionamcdonnell/

Leila is joined by Alexandra Watson, Editor In Chief at SHINE UK Magazine, Founder of TRUE Leadership for Women, Keynote Speaker and Best-Selling Author

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

· Alexandra’s documentary film project about women’s careers at senior level and their representation as icons

· The career challenges facing women in the present day and future

· Alexandra’s passion for the advancement of women and the doors that she can open in the battle against gender pay gaps and gender training gaps

· The behavioral and personality differences between men and women and the impact that this can have on careers

· How to be a commanding leader instead of a demanding one: “Heart and soul leadership”

· Access to leadership training specifically for women via the 2020 Initiative

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

http://alexandrawatson.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/happiness/

success@shineukmagazine.com

Leila is joined by Davide Moro, Marketing VP at Nespresso

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:

Davide’s life abroad as an expat in various locations all over the world
The importance of adapting your approach as a leader to different leadership cultures
How to navigate ‘corporate culture’ at multinational companies compared to more entrepreneurial businesses
The concept of ‘global citizenship’
The importance of learning from your failures
How crucial it is as a leader to maintain communication and open, respectful long-term relationships

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davide-moro/

Leila is joined by Sharon Amesu, Chair of the Institute of Directors (loD), founder at SA Consulting and award-winning public speaker.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

The need for courage in the context of Diversity & Inclusion.
The story of Sharon’s life and career so far, from being born and bred in Whalley Range, Manchester during the 1970s and 1980s to her current passion for D&I.
How her father’s social activism inspired her to become a lawyer in order to use her voice to support disenfranchised and marginalised people in society, and later to have an even more positive impact on these people outside of law through coaching and chairing the IoD.
How Sharon is making a difference through coaching and professional speaking in the North West community.
The importance of engaging future leaders and empowering them to make their own contributions.
How important it is to say yes to opportunities and therefore raise the bar to enable your own ceiling to become someone else’s floor.
How essential it is to be able to hold difficult/courageous conversations with peers, direct reports and line managers.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION MENTIONED

www.sharonamesu.co.uk

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonamesu/

https://www.iod.com

In this teaser episode Leila Mckenzie shares her vision for the new podcast series “Diverse and inclusive Leaders” and how it came about.

Throughout this series Leila will be speaking to some of the most successful and inspiring thought leaders of today, unearthing their stories of diversity and inclusion and spreading positive thoughts and ideas that she hopes will inspire others to make the world a better place..