Meet Our Day 2 – Keynote Speakers

Andrew Wilkinson

Chief Operating Officer Office and Production

Andrew is a facilities management professional with 30 years’ experience in all aspects of property, facilities, and outsourced business services. His career includes a variety of board level client advisory and supply side roles working for large consultants and integrated contractors like WS Atkins plc and Sodexo.

Andrew has worked with both private and public sector clients operating all over the world, including some of the world’s largest property owners/ occupiers in the financial service sector, pharmaceutical, and FMCG/ manufacturing sectors.

Andrew is passionate about the future of work and creating experiences that help Clients to attract, retain and engage employees through enabling diverse and inclusive work experiences.

Andrew and his teams have won a variety of industry awards covering partnering and innovation. Andrew is a Fellow of the RICS. Andrew has always been interested in innovation and particularly how digital technology can be used to transform the work(place) experience for the benefit of clients and  consumers.

Andrew joins ISS A/S from Taylor Wimpey plc where he was the Divisional Chair sitting on the Group Management Team.

Prior to this Andrew was the CEO for Sodexo’s Schools and Universities segment in the UK & Ireland region delivering Integrated FM and Food services at over 600 sites across the UK&I region.

He has held operational, strategic and marketing roles in the Corporate Services segment while at Sodexo.

Bukola Bayo-Yusuf

Global HR Director, Heidrick Consulting and Founder of Excellerate Black Futures

Bukola is an award winning Global HR Director, speaker and executive coach with decades of expertise working with some of the world’s Top Tier A rated financial companies, public institutions and management consulting companies. Her expertise cuts across various facets of HR including Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Reward, Diversity & Inclusion, Performance and Leadership Development.

Currently the Global HR Director at Heidrick and Struggles, the premier provider of executive search, corporate culture, and leadership consulting services – in this role, she collaborates with senior-level executives and Board Members leveraging expertise in strategic HR business partnering, developing and delivering tactical HR plans in alignment with business goals.

In 2021, Bukola founded Excellerate Black Futures, a social initiative aimed at fostering development opportunities for young black professionals. EBF’s focus revolves around group talent programs, leadership coaching, and regular educational and inspirational events. Presently, they’ve broadened the scope by cultivating partnerships with executive search firms and organizations to facilitate C-suite opportunities for diverse talent.

As an advocate for diversity and career development, Bukola has received awards such as the “Recruiting Diverse Talent Award” by Race for Opportunity in 2014 and the “We Are The City Award” for HR and Recruitment in 2021. She has also been invited to share HR insights derived from practical experiences in cultivating motivated and high-performing workforces at the UK Black British Week and the Black Tech Fest.

Dan Rider

HR Director BT Group

Daniel Rider is a seasoned HR professional with a rich international career in Financial Services, where a deep curiosity about people and cultures has been a cornerstone of his work.

As a senior HR leader, Daniel is dedicated to crafting and implementing innovative people strategies that align with and propel the group’s strategy forward. Central to his approach is a focus on talent acquisition and fostering an inclusive workplace where every colleague has the opportunity to excel.

Daniel’s personal journey as a member of the LGBTQ+ community has given him a unique perspective on the transformative power of an inclusive environment. He is a strong advocate for the HR profession’s potential to shape organisational cultures and leadership to realise this vision for all employees.

In anticipation of the Black Women in HR event in September 2024, Daniel’s commitment to inclusion and excellence in HR is especially relevant, as he brings his wealth of experience and insight to support and uplift the community.

Athalie Williams

Chief Human Resources Officer at BT

As the Chief Human Resources Officer at BT since December 2022, I hold a pivotal role on the Executive Committee, directly influencing transformative change across the organisation. My journey in HR leadership spans the mining and resources sector, where I championed diversity, advocating for the inclusion of women and underrepresented groups in mining. My efforts focused on dismantling barriers to female workforce participation and fostering a culture of flexibility and inclusivity.

As a mother to twin twenty-one-year-old Chinese daughters, my personal experiences have deepened my understanding of the challenges surrounding racism, equity, and injustice. Witnessing my daughters navigate similar gender-based hurdles I faced early in my career, compounded by racial complexities, underscores the urgency for progress. Change is imperative, yet it unfolds at a frustratingly gradual pace.

My advocacy extends to education, recognising its power as a catalyst for opportunity among marginalised communities and as a beacon that illuminates social injustices. I am committed to accelerating change, empowering the next generation of HR leaders, and advocating for a world where equity is not an aspiration but a reality.

In anticipation of the Black Women in HR event in September 2024, Daniel’s commitment to inclusion and excellence in HR is especially relevant, as he brings his wealth of experience and insight to support and uplift the community.

Fiona Daniel

CEO & Founder @ FD2I | USP in Driving Inclusion | Non-Executive Director | Trustee | Founder @ Archangelica

Fiona has over 25 years’ financial services experience and has held a range of roles within Retail and Wealth Management, Commercial Bank, Customer Experience and Learning and Development. She is an HR qualified, diversity and inclusion leader with many years of experience leading and growing the national and global diversity & inclusion agenda for one of the largest banking and financial service organisations in the world.

Her diversity and inclusion credentials are many, including being the UK Lead for Ethnicity, founder of the first Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority network in 2011, and its chair for 3 years. She then went on to be the first Global Head of Employee Networks, a Senior Global D&I Relationship Manager, the interim Global Head of D&I and the first Head of Diversity and Inclusion for HSBC UK.

She is now an independent consultant working in partnership with companies to implement and embed diversity and inclusion through her strategic framework for DEI. Fiona is also career coach and mentor, DEI facilitator, a Women Onboards UK ambassador. She has recently combined this passion to create Achangelica™ a holistic approach to growing, developing and excelling diverse talent at early, mid and senior careers.

Fiona is a Non-Executive Director sitting on two different boards, a Trustee, an awards judge, diversity and inclusion speaker and panellist.

She has been named as one of the most influential D&I Leaders of 2020 in the Hive Learning List, one of the Top 50 Must Follow Black Female Entrepreneurs, Influencers and Speakers in 2020 and named as one of the Most Influential Black Women in Business to Follow in 2021 and 2023 by CIO Views Magazine.

Mark Ewen

Managing Director Buildings & Cities – UK & Europe

Leader of Mott MacDonald’s Buildings & Cities Unit, which forms part of Mott MacDonald’s UK & Europe Region. The Unit encompasses over 2000 staff across the UK & Europe, delivering engineering, design & advisory services across multiple sectors, including defence, health & education.

Mark is a chartered civil engineer and experienced project manager with extensive experience in the co-ordination, management and technical design and supervision of many wide ranging, multidisciplinary projects.

He has worked for Mott MacDonald for over 20 years in a number of senior leadership roles.

Kameka Mclean

Founder of Let’s Talk Diversity and Inclusion, Co-founder of SHR Consultancy, Wellbeing, DEI, HR Best Practices advocate and Public Speaker

As a seasoned HR visionary with a global leadership experience, Kameka has led transformative HR initiatives across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, touching over 40 countries. Her expertise lies in navigating the intricacies of diverse, multicultural landscapes, fostering inclusive cultures, and championing DEI efforts that resonate worldwide.

With a career built on strategic acumen, she has been pivotal in aligning HR with core business strategies, driving organisational success through change management, talent strategy, and organisational development.

Kameka is passionate about developing innovative HR solutions that not only meet but exceed organisational goals, enhancing employee engagement and compliance awareness while nurturing a culture of continuous learning.

Her thought leadership in HR is demonstrated through prolific public speaking, advocating for progressive HR practices and DEI principles globally.

Harvey Francis

Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer, Skanska Uk Plc

Harvey is a board member of Skanska UK Plc and a member of the Executive Management Team with functionsl leadership responsibility for Human Resources; Communications & Workplace.

He is a member of Skanska Uk’s Ethics Committee and Tender Board.

He has served as Chairman of Skanska Construction Services Trustee Ltd. since 2011.

Harvey joined Skanska in 2007, having spent the early part of his career in Retail Management before moving into HR.

He previously held senior HR and general management roles at Pfizer, BT, House of Fraser, and Virgin Group.

Harvey was inducted to HR Magazine’s Most Influential Hall of Fame’ in 2022, having been named in the annual Most Influential awards since 2015.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Building’s External Affairs Advisory Board, and an editorial panel member of the HR Director magazine.

His specialities include inclusion & diversity, business tranformation, organisation development and culture change, people strategy, HR transformation, and talent management.

Terry Roberts

Chief People Officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH)

Terry Roberts is the Chief People Officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), one of the largest NHS teaching Trusts in England, and has been in post since February 2020. As a key member of the Trust Board, Terry has embedded the core values of excellence, compassion, respect, delivery, learning and improvement across the organisation during an unprecedented period for the NHS.

Terry has Board level responsibility for Workforce, Organisational Development, Communications, Staff Engagement, Employee Relations, Equality, diversity and Inclusion, learning and development and culture and leadership.

Terry is passionate about working with all people to have a positive impact on patient care and staff experience and is committed to making OUH a great place to work where all feel they belong.

Terry has worked at a national level at NHS England as Joint Director of Equality and Inclusion where he led the development of a national equality and diversity improvement plan for the NHS and has worked regionally to address health inequalities across the South East during covid.

Before joining OUH, Terry has held a number of other senior positions within NHS Trusts across the country and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Terry is the 2023 Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) HR Director of the Year and was also voted one of the HR Most Influential Top Practitioners List for HR Excellence Awards in 2023 and 2024.

Jax Uhi

Founder Wholistic Business Catalysts and Business Leadership Coach 

Jax has deep experience spanning 3 decades and 4 continents within Global organisations.

She has led teams, transformed P&L’s and improved customer outcomes within HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, ANZ and Ambank.

Jax is an experienced retail banking strategic executive with a tenured and proven track record of developing sustainable customer solutions, driving innovation to improve regulation and building succession programmes that build sustainable diverse talent pipelines.

She is adept at building highly engaged, agile teams that collaborate to drive the business agenda to another level.

She has a wealth of global experience in executing transformational change management deliverables with design and implementation of organisational culture shifts and organisational design changes.

Jax builds strong business visions and executes the strategy to deliver sustainable results, innovative change and builds market share growth.

Jax has a degree in Creative Arts and a post graduate degree in Corporate Management. These two things seamlessly come together and give Jax her edge – creativity combined with the ability to deliver and execute.

Jax has been trained extensively in change management methodologies , that have given her depth of capability to drive operational challenges, mitigate and manage risk, whilst delivering efficiency gains that result in long term shareholder return Jax is an accredited Focalpoint Business and Executive Coach, certified in the Science of Well-being , is Certified Mentorloop qualified , accredited to deliver DISC/EQ assessments and accredited to coach Positive Intelligence .

Jax has hosted many external panel discussions, led regulator and union meetings, facilitated team days, hosted development conferences and delivered keynote addresses. Jax brings a strong sense of confidence and energy to her work.

Having lived and worked across the globe, Jax has an innate ability to work adaptively within the fabric of organisations and cultures to deliver the desired outcomes.

She boldly but thoughtfully challenges and drive leadership accountability, ensuring that improved performance outcomes are at the heart of her transformations.

Deb Lee

Group Chief People Officer, Compass Group PLC.

Deborah Lee joined Compass as Group Engagement Director in August 2019. Attracted by the strategic focus on Performance, People and Purpose and the opportunity to help Compass bring their commitments to the c.600,000 people to life everyday.

She was promoted to Group Chief People Officer in September 2021.

Previously as Chief People Officer at Yoox Net-A-Porter (the No.1 luxury fashion e-commerce business) she led a globally-diverse team leveraging the energy and talents of the predominantly-female Millennial workforce, integrating the team into the Richemont Group’s portfolio and working on the triparty joint venture between Alibaba, Richemont and YNAP.

Lee joined YNAP from BT (British Telecommunications) where she held roles of chief HR officer for global services, chief learning officer and HR Director for BT Retail. During her time at BT she built their Academy for c.97,000 people; launched the Tech Literacy campaign to 400,000 children via 15,000 teachers; led the initial people and cultural integration stream for the £12.5 billion acquisition of EE; and was part of the executive team to launch BT Sport in 2013 from London’s Olympic Park.

Lee holds a degree in chemistry and management from Imperial College London, a master’s in HR management from London’s University of Westminster, and an executive master’s in HR leadership from Milan’s SDA Bocconi and New Jersey’s Rutgers University.

The mother of two daughters, she is an enthusiastic equestrian. She is Chinese-British (mixed race) heritage.

Marcus Ryder

CEO Film and TV Charity

Marcus Ryder is one of the most important figures in the UK, and globally, in the efforts to increase diversity and representation in the media industry.

In 2023he was appointed CEO of the Film and TV Charity. A Charity dedicated to supporting the mental, physical, and financial wellbeing of people working in the film, TV and cinema industry.

The same year he was named by Variety magazine as one the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry – one of only 47 from the UK.

In April 2021 Marcus was appointed the Chair of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), one of the UK’s most prestigious and influential drama schools.

In January 2021 Marcus published his first book, co-authored with Sir Lenny Henry, Access All Areas – the Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond.

He was instrumental in diversity being written into the BBC Charter for the first time

and changing the public funding model of how the BBC funds UK “ethnic” press. He also coordinated the campaign for film and television “diversity tax breaks” to increase the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people working in the film and television industry.

He co-edited, with Lenny Henry, “Black British Lives Matter” a collection of essays published later in 2021 by Faber and Faber. The book detailed the importance of Black contributions to every part of British society and included contributions from; Doreen Lawrence, Kit de Waal, David Olusoga, Leroy Logan, Nadine White, Anne-Marie Imafidon, Kehinde Andrews, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Dawn Butler MP, Nels Abbey, David Adjay and Alexandra Wilson.

In March 2020 Marcus launched the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, an independent body bringing academics and media professionals together to bring academic rigour to the practical implementation of diversity policies in the media industry.

The Centre has worked with all the UK’s major Broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 and Sky.

He has worked throughout the UK and the world including, Manchester, Glasgow, Beijing, Kulal Lumpur and London.

He is a keen amateur runner and has run over 20 marathons on every continent in the world except Antarctica.

Amanda Loraine Rajkumar

Board HR Practitioner /Non-Exec Director

Amanda is a Board HR practioner and proactive thought leader & writer on People, Leadership, Culture and Workplace Equity.

With over 28 years People & HR experience, her global career spans Financial Services and Consumer. She was most recently the Executive Board Member for Human Resources, People & Culture at adidas for three years. She joined adidas in January 2021 and was responsible for creating and implementing a new People Strategy, improving the employee culture and experience and improving leadership and talent capabilities across the organisation.

Amanda also served as the Labour Director. In September 2022, Amanda was awarded the Female Allstar Board of 2022 by Handelsblatt and Bain & Co. Amanda joined adidas from BNP Paribas, where she held various global HR leadership roles based in Europe and the US.

In her last role, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Americas region, with responsibility for the Intermediary Holding Company of BNP Paribas in the Americas overseeing the retail and wholesale divisions. Prior to this, Amanda held various senior HR leadership and managerial positions at JPMorgan Chase.

Amanda began her professional career as a research psychologist before joining the London-based recruitment consultancy JM Management.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Goldsmiths College, London University, UK. In January 2024, Amanda relocated back to London and is a Contributing Writer for Raconteur and HR World.

Amanda has been a Board Trustee for the Black British Initiative since 2023 and now serves as Chair.

Dr. Adeshola Cole

CEO of Tritek Consulting Limited

Dr. Adeshola Cole is the CEO of Tritek Consulting Limited, whose incredible journey from simple beginnings to her remarkable achievements is truly inspiring.

With a degree in Literature in English and certifications in PRINCE2, change management, Scrum, and Scrum Master, Dr. Cole has gained expertise in various areas. Dr. Cole’s determination led her to discover her passion for mentoring and community development, leading to the establishment of Tritek Consulting Limited.

Her numerous awards, including Woman of the Year 2022, Outstanding Woman in Tech 2023, Emerging CEO of the Year 2022, Top 100 Influential Global Voices 2024, and recognition among 100 Iconic African Leaders, highlight her significant impact. Featured in Forbes Africa, Dr. Cole’s motto, “Make a Way, Not an Excuse,” resonates with her journey of overcoming obstacles.

Dr. Adeshola Cole is the CEO of Tritek Consulting Limited, a true leader and an inspiration to others to reach their highest potential.