Paul Schanzer

Director, Academi Wales
Paul has over 25 years’ experience in leadership development after joining NHS Wales as a development practitioner during the 1990s. Paul has worked in Academi Wales, Welsh Government since 2013. During this time, he has taken the lead on governance, executive and board level development across the public and third sectors in Wales.

Having developed senior team-assessment frameworks for leaders, Paul is involved in enabling senior teams and boards, helping them to identify the characteristics, approaches and strategies required for organisations to implement and sustain organisational high performance.

Paul has a particular interest in exploring concepts around individual, group and system dynamics and their impact on effective decision making at board level. Following completion of the ‘Board Level Dynamics Programme’ with the Tavistock Institute, he contributed a case study chapter to ‘High Performing Boards – exploring the influence of unconscious behaviours for the Dynamics at Boardroom Level’ (A Tavistock Primer for Leaders, Coaches and Consultants), published in 2019 by Routledge.

Laura Storm

Laura is the Founder of Regenerators and an international thought leader and expert on regenerative leadership and has spent her entire career advising global leaders on sustainability and building impact- and purpose-driven organizations, and movements.

She has been awarded the title 'Worldchanger' by Greenbiz, named one of the 30 leading women within sustainability and regeneration by Sustainable Brands, is selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a World Economic Forum Sustainability Expert and serves on many Boards.

Jenny Williams

Jenny is a highly skilled Executive and Systemic Team Coach. Running her own coaching business for the last 11 years - completing over 2500 coaching hours, working with CEOs, directors, and other talented individuals and teams to make lasting change.

Qualified as an ICF accredited Master Coach (one of only 57 in the UK), certified Systemic Team Coach, NLP Master Practitioner and Enneagram Practitioner.

Jenny lectures at Cambridge University on leadership and entrepreneurship.

Jenny has a diverse client base in the public, private and not for profit sectors; bringing a wealth of experience in different organisational systems and ability to navigate the complex.

Co-authored the short book 'What Is My Type?' based on understanding the personality using the Enneagram and applying it to the workplace. Author of 'The Millennial World' helping both millennials and non-millennials to flex their styles in the workplace.

Fully committed to using her coaching skills to help others:

• mentoring for the charity Friendship Works
• coaching long-term unemployed women for the charity Smart Works for the last 8 years.

Byron Lee

Added Value Learning
Byron has a background in health and social care, community, adult and higher education, counselling and leadership development; and has spent the past 30 years supporting individuals, team, community and organisational development, as well as systems and culture change.

Originally training as a nurse he went on to train as a teacher, counsellor, coach, and mindfulness teacher. During his career, he has supported many small, medium and large organisations in the public, voluntary and business sectors, working with front-line workers, senior leaders and whole teams. His passion is supporting individuals, teams and organisations weave together different sources of knowledge, wisdom and practice to support collaborative learning; navigate and engage with complexity; and build high performing practices and cultures that meet the needs of service users.

His current work involves supporting the development of compassionate and inclusive leadership within health and social care; system-wide culture change programmes; and building wellbeing and resilience into the system.

Shan Morgan

Permanent Secretary, Welsh Government
Shan’s career has spanned a wide range of roles in the Civil Service and Diplomatic Service. On graduation from Kent University, she joined the Employment Department, working in the Manpower Services Commission in a variety of employment and training policy roles.

From 1994-1997 Shan was the UK Government delegate to the International Labour Organisation’s Governing Body before a secondment to the British Embassy in Paris as Labour and Social Affairs Attaché. She then took up her first appointment to the UK Representation in Brussels as the Counsellor responsible for Social, Environmental and Regional affairs.

On return to London in 2006 after the UK Presidency of the EU, Shan transferred to the Diplomatic Service as Director, European Union in the Foreign Office, responsible for negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty and leading the UK parliamentary process of ratification.

Shan was HM Ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay from 2008-2012, a period which included the 30th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the Falklands. She returned to UKRep, Brussels, as Deputy Permanent Representative in 2012, representing the UK on the Committee of Representatives of the Member States (Coreper I) in the Council. She was responsible for leading negotiations across a wide range of subject areas including climate change, environment, energy, fisheries, social affairs, health, transport, and other Single Market issues.

In February 2017, Shan was appointed Welsh Government Permanent Secretary, and leads the Welsh Government Civil Service in delivering the priorities of Ministers, accountable for a budget of £17 billion.

Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE

Paralympian, Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, Motivational Speaker and Broadcaster
One of Britain's greatest Paralympic athletes, Tanni amassed a remarkable medal haul over 16 years and five Paralympic Games of 11 gold, 4 silver and a bronze. Over her career, Tanni broke 30 World Records on the track.

Tanni has continued to be involved in sport and physical activity. She is a Board Member of the London Marathon, the Sportsaid Foundation, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Join In. In addition to this she is also a Board Member of several organisations including Transport for London, the London Legacy Development Corporation and the London 2017 Organising Committee.

Tanni has received numerous accolades and awards in recognition of her Paralympic and sporting achievements. In 2005 she became ‘Dame’ Tanni Grey-Thompson for her services to sport. In 2010 Tanni became an Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, taking the title Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham. As a working peer Tanni uses her experience and knowledge during debates in the House and she has spoken on a range of issues including Disability Rights, Welfare Reform, and of course, Sport.

Shereen Williams MBE OStJ

Chief Executive, Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales
Shereen Williams is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales. Prior to taking up this role in January 2019, she worked in local government for nearly a decade. As a local government officer, she worked across Newport and Monmouthshire Local Authorities as the Connected Communities Manager and was responsible for the delivery of strategic priorities including Migration, VAWDASV, Welsh Language, Equalities and Community Cohesion.

Over the past 15 years, she has volunteered in numerous roles in the Third Sector as well as for statutory bodies and is currently a trustee of St John Ambulance Cymru and the Institute of Welsh Affairs. She is also school governor and a serving magistrate in Gwent.

For her work in the Third Sector, Shereen was presented with the Uthman Dan Fodio Award for Excellence in Community Development at the UK Muslim News Awards in 2009 and the Welsh Government Recognising Achievement Award for services to Community Cohesion. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary MBE for community service and in 2018 she was recognised by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in their Influential Leaders Challenge, which honours notable international alumni from AACSB-accredited business schools. In February 2020, she was made an Officer of the Order of St John.

Thimon de Jong

WHETSTON / strategic foresight
Thimon de Jong runs WHETSTON / strategic foresight, a think tank specialised in future human behaviour, societal change & business strategy.

He is an experienced keynote presenter and leadership trainer and has worked for clients like Morgan Stanley, Vodafone, and IKEA. Thimon also lectures at the social psychology department of Utrecht University where he teaches master students how academic research can be practically applied to improve business strategy.

He has a master’s degree in Cultural Studies with a minor in International Business Studies. He is a former insights & strategy director at TrendsActive, researcher at FreedomLab Future Studies and editor in-chief of RELOAD Magazine.

Amy Brann

Director, Synaptic Potential
Amy is the Director of Synaptic Potential, the international team of thought leaders applying cutting edge science to organizations. They have worked with companies such as Warner Brothers, EY, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Twinings, the NHS, News UK, and Mondelez International. Their bespoke approach means they partner with organizations to help them strengthen their strategy, culture and performance.

The team works globally sharing reliably simple applications of neuroscience that lead to game changing insights and results. Having partnered with Bangor University’s Behavior Change Centre the approaches used gained additional credibility from the input of diverse researchers.

When Amy speaks she passionately delivers the message that you and your organization have a huge amount of potential that can be better accessed if you understand how to work with your brain optimally.

Leaving UCL medical school with a fascination around how to get people who are good to be even better Amy weaves all these insights into practical takeaways. Your brain may not be the whole answer…but it is the best place to start!

Amy is the author of three books: ‘Make Your Brain Work’, ‘Neuroscience for Coaches’ & ‘Engaged: The neuroscience behind creating productive people in successful organizations’.

She is also an associate at Cambridge University’s Moller Institute and visiting lecturer to Manchester Metropolitan University teaching the neuroscience of leadership on the Master of Sports Directorship programme.

amybrann.com

Andy Lopata

Author, speaker and podcaster on professional relationships
A specialist in professional relationships and networking for over 20 years, Andy Lopata was called ‘one of Europe’s leading business networking strategists’ by the Financial Times and ‘a true master of networking’ by the Independent and Forbes.com.

A very experienced international speaker, Andy is the author of five books, has been quoted in a number of other business books and regularly quoted in the international press.

Andy is a Fellow and a Board Member of the Professional Speaking Association UK & Ireland (PSA) and a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute as well as a Master of the Institute for Sales Management. He is also one of just 26 recipients of the PSA’s top honour, the ‘Award of Excellence’.

Professor Richard Bolden

Professor of Leadership and Management at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England
I joined Bristol Business School in autumn 2013 as Professor of Leadership and Management. In 2014 I established, and became Director of, Bristol Leadership Centre and led its expansion and re-launch in 2016 as Bristol Leadership and Change Centre, one of the largest and most active university-based centres of its kind.

I am committed to applied scholarship that has an impact well beyond academia. My teaching and research explores the interface between individual and collective approaches to leadership and leadership development, with a particular focus on issues of identity, culture and collaboration.

I have published widely on topics including distributed leadership, systems leadership, leadership in higher education, worldly leadership and leadership development evaluation. My books include 'Exploring Leadership: Individual, organizational and societal perspectives' (Oxford University Press, 2011) and 'Leadership Paradoxes: Rethinking leadership for an uncertain world' (Routledge, 2016), the latter of which was shortlisted for the 2017 CMI Management Book of the Year Award. I am Associate Editor for the journal Leadership and regularly conduct reviews for leading international journals.

My academic background is in leadership/organisation studies and applied psychology. Prior to joining UWE I spent over ten years at the Centre for Leadership Studies, University of Exeter - initially as a Research Fellow, then Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Head of Centre. I have also worked in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at Exeter and as a Research Psychologist at the Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield.

Outside of higher education, I have worked as an independent consultant (conducting evaluation projects in Egypt and Bosnia amongst other places) and spent two years at an IT company in France developing and marketing the English-language version of their survey design and analysis software.

My research, education and engagement activities involve working closely with a range of groups and organisations, including the NHS Leadership Academy, Bristol Golden Key, Bristol Mayor's City Office, Singapore Civil Service College, Leadership Centre and Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

I teach on a number of programmes at UWE, including the Bristol MBA, BA Management and Leadership and ILM accredited courses on leadership and management. I supervise PhD and Masters students in areas related to my research interests and am always pleased to consider new proposals.

UWE web page
@bolden_richard

Rebecca Evans MS

Minister for Finance and Local Government, Welsh Government
Rebecca Evans was first elected to the Senedd in May 2011 to represent the Mid and West Wales region. In 2016 she became Assembly Member for Gower.

Rebecca received a degree in History from the University of Leeds, and a Master of Philosophy degree in Historical Studies from Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. Before being elected, Rebecca worked in the third sector.

Rebecca has served on the Senedd Environment and Sustainable Development Committee and its Common Agricultural Policy Task and Finish Group. She has also served on the Health and Social Care Committee, and the Children, Young People and Education Committee.

In June 2014, Rebecca was appointed Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, and in May 2016 she became Minister for Social Services and Public Health. In November 2017, she was appointed Minister for Housing and Regeneration, and in December 2018 she joined the Cabinet as Minister for Finance and Trefnydd. On 13 May 2021 Rebecca was appointed Minister for Finance and Local Government.

Gemma Morgan

Gemma Morgan is an inspiring keynote speaker and leadership coach who has more than 25 years’ experience across the military, business and elite sport. She is often called upon for expert opinions on a range of subjects including women in leadership, resilience and what it takes to build a high-performing team. She is a published writer, who loves to challenge conventional thinking and empower others to lead authentically.

Gemma began her career as an Army Officer and was the first woman to be awarded the Carmen Sword from HRH Princess Royal. She is a former International Athlete and Welsh Captain, gaining 85 Caps and ranked the ‘Most Valuable player in Europe’ at the 1997 Games. Today, she is the Founder of Morgan Eight Ltd, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management (FinstLM) and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (MPNLP)

Gemma has featured on our TV screens, starring in the the BBC documentary ‘Gareth Malone and the invictus Games Choir’. She also appeared alongside HRH Prince Harry and Warner Brothers in the promotion of ‘Dunkirk’, the movie. She is an Ambassador for the charity ‘Help for Heroes’, supporting wounded, injured and sick British Armed Forces Veterans. Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress as a result of her military service, she campaigns to promote mental health awareness in organisations today.

Jeremy Vaughan

Chief Constable, South Wales Police
Jeremy Vaughan was promoted to Chief Constable of South Wales Police in November 2020.

Jeremy began his policing career in 1996 with North Wales Police. He served the communities of North Wales across a number of roles for twenty years, working up to the rank of Chief Superintendent, where he took responsibility for Local Policing Services.

In 2016 Jeremy transferred to South Wales Police as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Specialist Operations, including Professional Standards, Criminal Justice, Operational Planning and the Public Service Centre. In December 2017 he took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio including leading on Neighbourhood and Response Policing. He remained as Head of this portfolio until he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2019.

In addition to his Force responsibilities, Jeremy is the UK Police lead for Facial Matching (Identification), supporting the national development and use of facial recognition technology by the police forces of England and Wales.

Jeremy is the Welsh lead for gender equality and was recognised for his work in this area by the International Association of Women in Policing in 2019 with the HeForShe award. He has a strong track record in leading on Equalities and in 2019 was recognised with a Leading Wales Award – Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Jeremy was appointed to the Gorsedd Cymru in 2019 for services to the Welsh language which reflects his work within South Wales Police in promoting the use of Welsh and improving the service the force provides to individuals within Welsh speaking communities.

Professor Uzo Iwobi OBE

Specialist Adviser on Equalities to Welsh Government
Originally from Nigeria, Uzo holds a law degree from the University of Nigeria and she qualified as a solicitor and a barrister and was called to the Nigerian Bar.

After qualifying as a barrister in Nigeria, Uzo moved to Wales where she now serves as the chief executive officer of Race Council Cymru and sits on the board of several voluntary organisations. This includes serving as the chairperson of the African Community Centre in Wales, which she founded in 2004.

Uzo has served with the Police National Diversity team, based at the Home Office, where she was involved in developing national policies on race relations and diversity.

After moving to Wales, she worked as a Lecturer in Law at the Swansea Law School for 9yrs. She obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) with distinction from the University of Wales. She completed a Master’s Degree qualification in Business Management at the University of Glamorgan.

In 2004, she joined South Wales Police and in the same year, she founded the very first African Community Centre (ACC) in Wales and served as Chairperson for ACC for 15yrs.

Uzo was appointed to the Police National Diversity Team (PNDT) based at the Home Office to represent the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the 43 police forces in the UK on a high level strategic tripartite partnership including the Home Office, the Police Authority (APA) and Her Majesty’s’ Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) tasked with developing national policies on equality and diversity.

Uzo served with the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) UK as a Commissioner until it merged with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in October 2007. In 2008 she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to community relations and South Wales communities.

Uzo is a fully accredited Level 7 Executive Coach with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).

Uzo was recognised and commended when she was given the awards listed below by various bodies:

• 2006 Recognition of outstanding achievement in community work by the Swansea Bay Woman of the Year (Community Achievement) Award 2006
• 2008 In recognition of Uzo’s achievement in terms of community contributions, on the 14th of June 2008, the Queen Awarded an OBE (Officer to the Order of the British Empire) for her contributions to community race relations and South Wales Communities.
• 2009 The Women’s National Commission featured Uzo’s story in their journal entitled, “A guide to Women in Public Life”.
• 2010 Uzo was presented with the First Ministers’ Recognition Award for her contributions to race equality and race relations in Wales
• 2011 Uzo was honoured and featured in the British Council in Nigeria’s Reflections Report.
• 2011 Uzo received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Association of Nigerian Communities (NANC –UK)
• 2015 Uzo received an Outstanding Black Woman Achievement Award in Wales for contributions to the Black History Movement in Wales
• 2017 Uzo received a Recognition Award as a Founder of the Black History Movement in Wales
• 2017 Uzo received the Ethnic Minority Welsh Women’s Achievement Award (EMWWAA) Wales-wide Award for Leadership and Management
• 2017 Uzo received the prestigious EMWWAA Ambassador for Wales Award
• 2018 September 29th Uzo was featured in the Walesonline publication of Black Brilliant and Welsh, Uzo featured as no 30 on the list of Top 100 Africans and African Caribbeans in Wales

Uzo was asked by Ruth Kelly, the then Secretary of State, to serve as a commissioner to the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) UK until it merged with other commissions to form the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in October 2007.

Uzo achieved a distinction grade in Executive Level 7 Coaching and Management with the Institute of Leadership and Management and served as a trustee of the British Red Cross for 6yrs as well as a trustee of the United World College – Atlantic College. Uzo leads learning and development schemes for African Caribbean elders across Wales through the Black History Cymru Elders Scheme. Uzo mentors young people and adult learners to achieve their visions and aspirations through the coaching cadre she facilitates.

Uzo works as the first Black woman to be appointed as a Specialist Adviser on Equalities to Welsh Government.

Uzo was appointed an honorary Fellowship at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and a Professor at Practice of UWTSD.

Matthew Taylor CBE

Chief Executive, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
Matthew Taylor has been Chief Executive of the RSA since November 2006.

During his tenure, the Society has substantially increased its output of research and innovation, provided new routes to support the charitable initiatives of its 30,000 fellows, and developed a global profile as a platform for ideas.

In July 2017 Matthew published the report ‘Good Work’; an independent review into modern employment, commissioned by the UK Prime Minister.

In September 2019, Matthew started a new part-time role as the Government’s Director of Labour Market Enforcement and is also a member of its Industrial Strategy Council.

Matthew is a regular media performer, having appeared several times on the Today programme, The Daily Politics and Newsnight. He has written and presented several Radio Four documentaries and is a panellist on the programme Moral Maze. He has posted more than a thousand times on his RSA blog site and tweets as @RSAMatthew. He is also Senior Editor of the Thames & Hudson Big Ideas series.

Prior to this appointment, Matthew was Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, and he then became Chief Adviser on political strategy to the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Previous roles included, Labour Party Director of Policy, and Assistant General Secretary of The Labour Party.

Professor Ilona Boniwell

Chief Executive, Positran
Professor Ilona Boniwell is one of the founders of positive psychologist in Europe, working in the field for over 20 years. She is the CEO of Positran Ltd, heads the International MSc in Positive Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, wrote or edited seven books and delivered over 200 keynotes.

Emmanuel Gobillot

Described as ‘the first leadership guru for the digital generation’ and ‘the freshest voice in leadership today’, Emmanuel has consulted globally with organisations ranging from Astra Zeneca to Zurich Financial Services via Google and The United Nations.

For over 20 years, his interventions have focused on creating the capability in organisations to deliver results through world-class leadership.

One of Europe’s most sought after leadership speakers; he is the author of 4 UK and US bestsellers and co-author of two books including ‘Crisis Leadership’ published at the start of the COVID19 pandemic. His books have established him as one of the foremost thinkers on new leadership models.

@egobillot