Alexandra Walters

Director, Academi Wales
Alex is the Director of Academi Wales; the centre for excellence in leadership and management for public services in Wales. Established in September 2012, Academi Wales is part of the portfolio of the Welsh Government Minister for Finance and Local Government.

Alex has occupied a number of leadership positions during her civil service career, at the UK Border Agency, Information Commissioner’s Office and most recently at Companies House, where she had responsibility for leading a fundamental series of legislative reforms to support the organisation’s transformation.

She is a qualified executive coach and mentor, and is passionate about engagement, development, collaboration and inclusivity. Her focus at Academi Wales will be on ensuring it continues to provide a world class suite of programmes and events, whilst collaborating across Wales to ensure the learning offer remains fit for purpose, relevant and current as we look to an uncertain future.

Shereen Williams MBE OStJ DL

Chief Executive, Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales and Secretary to the Boundary Commission for Wales

Shereen Williams MBE OStJ DL is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales (LDBCW) and Secretary to the Boundary Commission for Wales (BCW). She has recently led on the completion an all-Wales electoral review programme which has resulted in the largest changes to local government electoral arrangements in over 20 years and is currently overseeing the Parliamentary Constituencies Review which will reduce the number of MPs in Wales to 32. Prior to this, she worked in local government for nearly a decade across Newport and Monmouthshire Local Authorities as the Connected Communities Manager and before that as the Regional Community Cohesion Co-ordinator for East Gwent. The team she managed were responsible for the delivery of strategic priorities including Migration, Preventing Violent Extremism, Equalities and Community Cohesion.

Over the past 16 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. In 2010, she received a Welsh Government Recognising Achievement Award for services to Community Cohesion from the then First Minister of Wales, Rt. Hon. Carwyn Jones AM. 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. Following her admission as an Officer of the Order of St John in February 2020, she was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant in Gwent in November 2021.

In her free time, she sits as a magistrate on the Gwent bench and is a governor of two Welsh medium primary schools in Newport. More recently, due to the ridiculous amount of time she spends at the rugby club that her two young sons play for, she is now a member of the club’s Minis and Juniors Committee.

Dr Andrew Goodall

Permanent Secretary, Welsh Government

Dr Andrew Goodall was appointed to the role of Welsh Government Permanent Secretary in November 2021 and leads the Welsh Government Civil Service in delivering the priorities of the First Minister and acts as the Principal Accounting Officer for the Welsh Government. Prior to this he was Director General of Health and Social Services/Chief Executive NHS Wales, a position he had held since June 2014.

Dr Goodall has been an NHS Chief Executive in Wales for 16 years. Previous posts include Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, a position held from the Health Board’s inception in October 2009 until 2014 after NHS re-organisation to the integrated Health Board model.

During his 30 year NHS career, Dr Goodall has held planning and operational positions across a number of NHS organisations across South Wales as well as national roles. He has particular areas of interest in improving patient safety, quality and patient experience; partnership working and collaboration across Public Services; and delivering frontline services through service improvement and modernisation.

Dr Goodall has a law degree from Essex University and a PhD in Health Service Management from Cardiff Business School. Dr Goodall was awarded a CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours for his services to the NHS and public services.

Julie Rogers

Deputy Chief Executive / Director of Workforce and Organisational Development, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)

A chartered fellow of the CIPD, Julie has worked in the Welsh public sector for almost four decades.

She has enjoyed a varied career in Government and the NHS, spanning a wide range of social policy, OD and HR roles. In 2013, Julie became the National Workforce & Organisational Development Director for NHS Wales, a role that she held until April 2018 when she joined Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).

Since joining HEIW, Julie has led the development of the first ‘Health and Care Workforce Strategy for Wales 2020-30’; supported the national response to the roll-out of the covid vaccination programme and overseen the development of a range of resources and programmes to embed compassionate leadership at all levels across NHS Wales.

Nazir Afzal OBE

Nazir Afzal OBE, was Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England and formerly Director in London. He was Chief Executive of the country’s Police & Crime Commissioners and most recently, National Adviser to the Welsh Government. During a 30 year career, has prosecuted the most high profile cases in the country & advised on many others and led nationally on several legal topics including Violence against Women & Girls, child sexual abuse, and honour based violence. He had responsibility for more than 100,000 prosecutions each year. His prosecutions of the so called Rochdale grooming gang and hundreds of others were groundbreaking and changed the landscape of child protection.

• He is the Chancellor of the University of Manchester
• He is Chair of Hopwood Hall FE College
• Strategic Adviser to the People’s Powerhouse
• He sits on the Independent Press Standards Organisation
• Independent member of Oxfam’s Safeguarding & Ethics Committee
• Trustee of Association of Safeguarding Partners
• He sits on the National Police Chiefs Ethics Committee
• He was appointed the first ever independent Chair of the Catholic Church’s Safeguarding Agency.
• He was Chair of the Independent Review of Culture of London Fire Brigade
• Trustee of WOW (World of Women) Foundation

His memoirs 'The Prosecutor' published in 2020 are currently being adapted for a British multipart drama. His new book 'The Race to the Top' was published in Sept 2022. His BBC R4 ‘Desert Island Discs’ programme was the 3rd most listened to in 2021. His podcast has been given rave reviews.

Nazir is a tutor for several leadership programmes in the public and private sector. He has made presentations to dozens of diverse organisations in this country and abroad. He has given hundreds of interviews in all forms of media. Nazir gives a considerable amount of time to charitable work and is trustee & Patron of several NGOs including ServiceSix, DVAssist, Jan Trust, Samantha Sykes Foundation, Karma Nirvana, Halo Project & SaveraUK and was Chair of the Prince of Wales’ Mosaic Trust.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire and Glyndwyr University, and awarded Honorary Doctorates in Law by the University of Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford, Leicester & London South Bank Universities. He has chaired conferences in New York, Madrid, Paris, Norway and Geneva. He has assisted the Governments of Somalia, Ukraine & Pakistan on Rule of Law reform.

Nazir has received many accolades, in 2005, he was awarded an OBE by the Queen for his work. He has also had the honour of being the only lawyer to ever prosecute a case before the Queen. In 2007, he received the UK Government’s Justice Award 2007 and was awarded the Daily Mirror newspaper “People’s award” voted for by readers.

Nazir was also selected for the Asian Power 100 along with the Muslim Power 100 list, recognised as one of the 100 most influential leading Muslims and Asians in the UK. He is listed in the Pakistan Power100 which regards him as one of the 100 most influential people of Pakistani origin in the world today. He was Asian Media Group’s “Man of the Year 2012.” Most recently, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pride of Birmingham awards 2022. He was awarded the first ever “Disruptor for Good” award at the Northern Power Women Awards 2022.
The acclaimed BBC Film “Three Girls” was based on his case

“An inspiring figure, forensically intelligent” - Times Editorial Nov 2012
“Until recently crimes encountered by pioneering prosecutor rarely troubled a courtroom, now these issues have risen to the top of the Policy agenda” – The Independent July 2012
“The authentic face of British Justice” – New York Times Saturday Profile 2013

Owen Evans

HM Chief Inspector, Estyn

In January 2022, Owen Evans was appointed HM Chief Inspector and is responsible for the inspection of education and training in Wales, as well as the management, staffing and organisation of Estyn. He provides independent advice to Welsh Ministers which contributes to the development and review of policy in Wales. Owen also plays a key role in working closely with the other inspection, audit and regulation bodies in Wales, to underpin joint planning and working. In addition, as Estyn’s Accounting Officer he ensures that resources are used properly and provide value for money. The Chief Inspector also publishes an Annual Report on the standards and quality of education and training in Wales.

Welsh speaking, Owen was educated at Ysgol Penweddig and Coleg Ceredigion, Aberystwyth before graduating in economics from Swansea University. Owen joined Estyn from his position of Chief Executive of S4C, the Welsh language Broadcaster. Prior to joining S4C, he was Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Government, responsible for Education and Public Services. Between 2008 and 2010 he was director of Business in the Community Wales and for 10 years before that he worked for BT, including as a member of the UK team developing BT's broadband strategy. He has served as a member of the Welsh Language Board and previously chaired the Cardiff Education Development Board. 

He is currently a member of Marie Curie's advisory board in Wales, is part of the Speakers for Schools programme and chairs WEPCo. He is a former member of Aberystwyth University's Council.

Thimon de Jong

Strategic foresight expert and passionate, interactive speaker

Able to use socio-psychological and cultural change to meet the strategic needs of different industries, it is little wonder Thimon is becoming one of the most sought-after speakers of his generation.

Over the past ten years Thimon has worked as keynote speaker and leadership trainer for organisations like Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, HP, Ikea, Vodafone, Tetra Pak, Novartis, Kellogg, Merck & Luxottica.

After studying cultural studies and international business, he wrote his Master’s thesis on subcultures and started his working career in journalism.

In his role as editor-in-chief of a youth platform (magazine & website) he discovered his passion for interdisciplinary people research and started working as a youth and media researcher for Science of the Time and FreedomLab Future Studies. In 2007, Thimon took the role of Insights and Strategy director for TrendsActive, an international trend interpretation agency. In this role, he travelled the world consulting and presenting to numerous multinational companies. In 2010 he starred as a jury member in Holland’s Best Idea – a primetime TV-show.

In 2011 he co-produced an executive programme for decision makers at Utrecht University on the topic of using sociocultural trends for strategic decision making. In 2014 he founded Whetston / strategic foresight, a think tank on future human behaviour & societal change and the impact on strategic decision making.

Thimon is determined not only to inform his audience of research, insights and business cases, but also to provide them with practical strategic take-aways on how to utilise the information and help their business grow.

Strategic Foresight - Whetston.com (external)

Jyoti Banerjee

North Star Transition

Jyoti is co-founder of North Star Transition, and was project director of the team that created the Integrated Reporting (six capitals) movement globally. He also chaired the Integrated Thinking and Strategy group, a collaboration of over fifty global organisations, including the World Bank, BASF and Novo Nordisk. He has been involved in impact investing for two decades. At North Star Transition, he leads all the Transition Labs (Wales / Scotland / Regenerative Investment).

Dr Andy Cope

Art of Brilliance

Andy specialises in positive psychology and the science of human flourishing. The reward for grinding out his PhD is that he gets to call himself a Dr of Happiness.

If you put the cheesy title to one side, the good doctor believes there has never been a more important time to focus on mental health and wellbeing. 

Andy has been described as a ‘wellbeing revolutionary’. His mission is to change the narrative and re-focus psychology away from what’s wrong with people to what’s right. His messages act as a gentle nudge towards people taking charge of their own mental health.

People love Andy’s simplicity and humour. His keynotes have been delivered to rave reviews all over the world.  

Described by his mother as ‘not even the best writer in this family’, Andy has somehow managed to become a best-selling author. His ‘Spy Dog’ children’s series was a worldwide hit and he now writes about wellbeing and happiness for children, teenagers and adults.

In his spare time Andy sabotages his happiness by watching Derby County.

Art of Brilliance (external)

andy@artofbrilliance.co.uk

@beingbrilliant

Byron Lee

Byron has a background in health and social care, community and higher education, leadership development; and has spent the past 30 years supporting individuals, teams, communities and organisations build supportive and inclusive practices, systems and cultures. His passion is supporting individuals, teams and organisations weave together different sources of knowledge, wisdom and practice to support collaborative learning and change. His current work involves supporting leaders develop a compassionate and inclusive approach in their work so they can be better engaged with real world complexity and make a difference.

Professor Uzo Iwobi CBE

Uzo is a qualified lawyer by profession, she was called to the Nigerian Bar. She was a Strategic Advisor to the Police National Diversity Team based at the Home Office. She was a commissioner to the commission for racial equality UK.

Uzo was one of two people from Wales highlighted by National Lottery Heritage Cymru to have her image highlighted on Stonehenge for her voluntary contributions to culture and heritage in Wales.

She is the Chief Executive of Race Council Cymru - which is an Antiracism umbrella body in Wales. 

Uzo is a founding member and coordinator of Black History Wales and oversees the work of the Windrush Cymru elders and served as project director of the Windrush Exhibition called Our Voices, Our Stories, Our History which is touring Wales now. 

Uzo works as the first Black woman to be appointed as a Specialist Policy Adviser on Equalities to Welsh Government advising the Minister for Social Justice and the First Minister. 

In October 2021, Uzo was ranked the 6th out of 15 most influential Black Icons in Wales by Walesonline. Uzo was appointed an honorary Fellowship at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and a Professor at Practice at UWTSD, a fellow of Royal College of Arts, fellow of Glyndwr University, Fellow Bridgend College. In 2021 Uzo was appointed a trustee of  Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL) which includes Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II honoured Uzo in her Platinum Jubilee Honours List with a CBE for her services to race equality and championing diversity and inclusion. In 2022 Uzo became a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2023, Uzo was appointed at independent Adviser to the Senedd Parliamentary Commission.

Professor Eugene Sadler-Smith

Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey

Eugene Sadler-Smith is Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey. His research interests are hubris (in leadership) and intuition (in decision-making). Amongst his most recent publications are Hubristic Leadership (SAGE, 2018) and Intuition in Business (Oxford University Press, 2023). Before becoming an academic he worked in the gas industry.

University of Surrey (external)

Rebecca Evans MS

Minister for Finance and Local Government, Welsh Government, Senedd

Rebecca Evans was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales 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 National Assembly for Wales' 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.

Derek Walker

Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

Previously CEO of Cwmpas, the UK’s largest co-operative development agency, he worked to support people and communities to create jobs and strengthen communities, and changed the organisation’s focus to development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations.

He has also worked as Head of External Affairs at the Big Lottery Fund (Wales), as Head of Policy and Campaigns at the Wales TUC and was the first employee of Stonewall Cymru.

The previous Commissioner was Sophie Howe who took up post in 2016 and finished her term in January 2023. During her time as Commissioner, Sophie led high profile interventions around transport planning, education reform and climate change challenging the Government and others to demonstrate how they are taking account of future generations.

Described by the 'Big Issue Magazine' as one of the UK’s leading Changemakers, Sophie's interventions helped secured fundamental changes to land use planning policy, major transport schemes and Government policy on housing - ensuring that decisions taken today are fit for the future. Sophie also represented Wales at the UN, the OECD and on a number of International Forums including Chairing the Network of Institutions for Future Generations.

Ian Bancroft 

Chief Executive, Wrexham County Borough Council

Ian took up his post as Chief Executive of Wrexham Council in August 2018 and for the previous fourteen years worked at a senior leadership level within large public service organisations in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and North East Wales. Most recently, since 2014, this has been at Flintshire County Council as a Chief Officer leading successfully the development and implementation of a number of major strategic programmes.

Ian is committed to public service delivery and aims to work with partners, local communities and residents to build and deliver a clear vision that achieves outstanding results. Ian has lived in Wrexham for the last 20 years and is passionate about the current positive opportunities Wrexham and Wales provides and the potential for the future.

The Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB

The BARONESS CASEY OF BLACKSTOCK became a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords in October 2021. She is an independent advisor for social welfare, crime, inclusion and diversity and a range of other topical issues.

A former British government official (also known as a ‘Czar’), she worked on issues relating to social welfare for five Prime Ministers over the last 25 years. She was made head of the Rough Sleepers’ Unit in 1999, where she successfully led the strategy to reduce the numbers of people living on the streets by two thirds.  Baroness Casey went on to hold several leadership positions including the Director of the National Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, the Respect Task Force and the Troubled Families programme, as well as the UK’s first Victims’ Commissioner.

She left the civil service in 2017, to establish the Institute for Global Homelessness, with the aim of delivering an international solution to homelessness across the world. In 2020, Baroness Casey returned to Whitehall where she led the Government’s COVID-19 rough sleeping response and ran the “Everyone In” strategy, getting over 6,000 homeless people off the streets and into safe accommodation. More latterly, she spent over 12 months in the Metropolitan Police in London undertaking a Review into Culture and Standards published in March 2023.

Baroness Casey is heavily involved in a number of charities including as a trustee of The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund and is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. 

Chris Moon MBE

One Step Beyond

Chris Moon helps people and organisations around the world grow and improve personal and team performance. He’s been a keynote speaker and run change and leadership programs for twenty years working with the public and private sector and international business schools. He’s one of the most fortunate people to be alive you’re likely to meet.  His exploits have been covered in a Discovery documentary 'I Shouldn’t Be Alive'.

Chris is a former British Army Officer with three year’s operational experience who left to work for a charity clearing landmines. He’s survived being taken prisoner in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge (one of the most brutal terror groups in history) and negotiated his release and that of two colleagues from threatened execution.

In 1995 he was blown up in a supposedly safe area of a minefield in remote East Africa losing an arm and a leg (ironically doing one of the least dangerous things he did). He survived initially because he treated himself. About fourteen hours after injury, he arrived in South Africa where doctors say they’d never seen anyone live with such a small amount of blood.

He recovered four times faster than expected and in 1996; within a year of leaving hospital ran the London Marathon, raised significant sums to help disabled people in the developing world and successfully completed a full time Master’s Degree in human behaviour.

Chris taught himself to run and is thought to be the world’s first amputee ultra-distance runner after completing the Marathon De Sables in 1997. He’s run the world’s toughest ultra-marathons, most recently the Badwater Death Valley 135 mile ultra and the Devon Coast to Coast 117-mile Race. He’s led numerous teams to complete rigorous challenges ranging from climbing mountains to cycling the length of Cambodia. 

When it comes to challenging the concept of limitation, adapting to change, and overcoming adversity Chris walks the talk. He has a passion for the process of achievement and uses his unique experiences to help people do what they do better. Chris speaks with enthusiasm and humour on resilience, diversity, change, personal and strategic leadership, and all aspects of behavioural choices. His interactive presentations and workshops are tailored to desired outcomes and actions.