26th September 2023

The one-day, super-charged, in-person Summit.

WIW Summit will provide you with actionable takeaways that will make you feel bolder and more confident about embedding policies, benefits and practices that positively impact women at all critical life stages: from menstruation to menopause.

09.00: Opening session and wake-up call - what does a “successful” career path look like for a woman throughout her life trajectory? 

  • Mariella Frostrup is one of the UK’s most respected broadcasters and columnists. Her contribution to arts and literature along with her advocacy on gender and social issues have placed her at the forefront of the cultural landscape. She made the groundbreaking BBC1 documentary The Truth about Menopause and she currently presents her own daily show on Times Radio covering issues of the day.

9.15 -9.45: Ministerial Interview - Labour and Conservative Perspectives on Women in the Workplace: Policies, Pitfalls and Hopes for the Future.

  • Where are we now? Where will we be in five years? A discussion around flexible working policies, economic impact and society at large. What can we learn from other countries and economies? What’s the all-party vision for gender equity at critical life-stages within the workforce?

  • Mariella Frostrup is one of the UK’s most respected broadcasters and columnists. Her contribution to arts and literature along with her advocacy on gender and social issues have placed her at the forefront of the cultural landscape. She made the ground breaking BBC1 documentary The Truth about Menopause and she currently presents her own daily show on Times Radio covering issues of the day.

  • MP for Swansea East, Carolyn Harris, chairs the Menopause All Party Parliamentary Group and co-chairs the government’s Menopause Taskforce. Her Private Members Bill in 2021, led to commitments from the government to dramatically reduce the cost of NHS HRT prescriptions in England and to tackle wider societal issues that impact women’s menopause experiences.

  • Anneliese Dodds is the Labour (Co-op) MP for Oxford East, and has been an MP continuously since 8 June 2017. She currently undertakes the roles of Chair of Labour Policy Review, and Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. In addition, she is Party Chair, Labour Party.

  • The Right Hon. Caroline Nokes was Minister of State for Immigration from 8 January 2018 to 24 July 2019. She was elected Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North in 2010.

    During her time in Parliament Caroline has served on the Environmental Audit and Education Select Committees, and was Chair of the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art. Caroline has served as a Principal Private Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Transport. Between July 2016 and June 2017 Caroline served as Minister for Welfare Delivery at DWP .

9.45-10.00: The Economic Argument: Why supporting women in the workplace is not just morally good, but economically essential 

  • The hard business case for advancing women at all levels and the impact on business growth.

10.00-10.20: Visible Women - Creating High-Profile Female Role Models to Inspire a New Generation of Female Leaders.

  • It’s important to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. To inspire more women at all levels in business, we need highly visible ambassadors and role models who show (not tell) younger women the way. We’ll hear how to create high-profile senior female mentors and advocates at work, who help raise other women up by setting an example

  • Sharon became the John Lewis Partnership's sixth Chairman in February 2020. Sharon moved from Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, where she served as Chief Executive for approaching five years. Before joining Ofcom, Sharon was Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, responsible for overseeing the public finances. She also held Board level positions at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for International Development, worked as an adviser at the Prime Minister's Policy Unit and in Washington DC as a senior economist at the World Bank. Sharon is a non-executive Board member of Barratt Developments Plc. She is a trained economist and studied at Cambridge University and University College London.

10.50-11.30: C-LEVEL PANEL - What Can the C-Suite do to Hold the Business (and themselves) to Account.

  • A policy is a piece of paper - what really matters is culture. And, “the culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate” (Gruenert & Whitaker). So what can business leaders do to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, beyond polite conversations and company presentations?

  • Sarah Bentley joined Thames Water as Chief Executive Officer in September 2020. Previously, Sarah was on the Executive Committee at Severn Trent plc where she was appointed as Chief Customer Officer in 2014, leading the Consumer Retail, Wholesale Network Operations, Group Technology and Transformation divisions. She is also a Non-Executive Director of Lloyds Bank plc and Bank of Scotland plc.

  • Mark was appointed CEO of WPP in September 2018. He has held multiple leadership positions at WPP since joining in 1989, including Head of Strategy and CEO of WPP Digital. In 2015, he became Global CEO of Wunderman.

    Earlier in his career, Mark co-founded internet start-up WebRewards and specialised in media and marketing as a principal at consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton. He was recognised as an INvolve Heroes Champion of Women in Business for the fifth consecutive year in 2022 and was named #1 in its Empower Advocates list which recognises leaders who create diverse and inclusive business environments. In 2021 Mark was awarded Fellow of the IPA status for outstanding services to the industry and since 2022 has been Chairman of the Natural History Museum Digital Council.

11.30-11.50: Why Fatherhood Matters and How Industry Can Support Working Dads

  • A lack of shared parental leave takeup in the UK has a major impact on gender equity. The childcare affordability crisis and low take up by fathers of shared parental leave threatens to exacerbate gender inequality, and is pricing a growing number of women out of work. The shared parental leave system was introduced to encourage fathers to take more parental leave. However, it has had very low uptake from families, estimated at just 2-8% in 2019.

  • Elliott Rae is the founder of the parenting platform MusicFootballFatherhood, called the ‘Mumsnet for Dads’ by the BBC.

    Elliott is a media commentator on issues around fatherhood and mental health, having written for The Independent and The Telegraph and featured live on Loose Women, BBC News, Channel 4 and Radio 5 Live.

    Elliott is also the co-founder of the Working Dads Employer Awards which launched in Parliament in May and celebrates employers who are supporting working dads.

    Elliott is one of the UK’s most prominent speakers and writers on topics around fatherhood, masculinity, mental health, equal parenting and gender equality.

11.50-12.10: Case Study: How to Embed a Top-Down Culture that Embraces Equity and Leads by Example.

  • When culture eats everything else for breakfast, a policy means nothing unless it’s supported and championed right from the very top. It’s not just the C-suite who are influential here, but every level of the hierarchy - including line managers. Hear the lived experience of how Alex went from education, to implementation to engagement and built a culture of inclusivity.

  • Alex is CEO of Channel 4 and is a passionate and committed advocate for inclusive work environments. Channel 4’s gender equality staff network, 4Women, developed and launched a menopause policy in 2019, providing women and colleagues with the tools, support and guidance needed before, during and after menopause. In 2020 that policy was made freely available to everyone and since then it has been downloaded over 2,000 times.

12.10-12.50: Shifting hearts and mindsets: Winning over influential male allies in the workplace by taking a very different approach -  C-Level Discussion

  • Anger, guilt and evangelism can very often be wasted emotions and approaches at work, where rationality and self-preservation reign supreme. Rather than fight the system, it can be better to unpack it and gently dismantle it, one mindset at a time. This panel will explore the male C-suite perspective, where we’ll hear very candid perspectives and experiences from men in business and their advice on how to cultivate workforces that support all genders.

  • Lori worked in teaching, advertising, management consultancy and the BBC before co-founding the agency Joint in 2012. After a successful decade working with the likes of Amazon, Vue, Google and Reach Plc, Lori left Joint to pursue her own work centred around engaging more men and boys in gender equality. In this and as an Exec member of WACL, Lori encourages better representation of people who are marginalised or misrepresented in media, products and comms, helping future generations to achieve their full potential, whatever their gender. Her book 'No More Menemies' will be out mid 2023. Follow Lori on LinkedIn for opinions, information and updates.

  • Paul has over 20 years’ experience in building and leading some of the most disruptive and established consumer financial services businesses in the UK and overseas. He currently fills a range of roles as either Chair, Non-Executive Director, Board Adviser and/or investor in a range of disruptive financial services businesses.

    Amongst his executive roles Paul was the first Group Chief Executive Officer at Virgin Money, launching the business in the UK and Australia, before becoming the Managing Director of Consumer Banking & Payments at Lloyds Banking Group. Paul was the CEO of TSB Banking Group for seven years.

    Having previously been an adviser to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and HM Treasury on competition issues in banking, Paul is a passionate advocate for consumers’ interests and, amongst other current roles, Chairs Fairer Finance’s Consumer Advisory Board.

  • Varun Chandra is the global managing partner of Hakluyt, which advises leaders of the world’s largest companies and investment firms on the opportunities and risks facing their businesses.

    Prior to joining Hakluyt, Varun worked in investment and merchant banking, advising on M&A, private equity investments, and business development. Initially trained at Lehman Brothers, he went on to help build a regulated advisory firm for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    He sits on various charitable and commercial boards, including Sesame Workshop, the world’s leading early learning media platform, IP Group, Inc (an early-stage technology investment firm based in the US), the British Asian Trust, the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, and the Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation.

  • Pete Markey is Chief Marketing Officer for Boots where he is responsible for brand and marketing for the UK and ROI. Pete is also the Exec Sponsor for Marketing for Change and the Boots Pride BRG network as well as co-Exec sponsor for the Boots/Macmillan partnership.

    Pete has previously held senior leadership roles at TSB, Aviva, the Post Office, RSA and MORE TH>N with his early career at One.Tel, the AA and British Gas. He has experience of working across a range of disciplines including marketing, sales, digital, data & analytics, customer experience, operations and strategy.

    Pete has been awarded four prestigious Marketer of the Year awards and is a Fellow of the Marketing Society and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Pete is very active in the marketing industry and is Vice President at ISBA. He has regularly featured in the “Hall of Fame” in the Campaign Power 100 and the Marketing Week Top 100 most effective marketing leaders.

    Pete has been recognised for his extensive work on diversity and inclusion winning both the Diversity Ally award at the European Diversity Awards in 2019 and the Corporate Ally award at the Rainbow Honours Awards in 2022. Pete is also a mentor for The Marketing Academy and Solent University.

14.00-14.30: Debate: Is the Post-Pandemic Shift of Working from Home Full-Time Good for Women?

  • Two of the biggest barriers for women in the workplace are unequal pay and a lack of flexibility. Much has been written about how the pandemic has put women’s careers at risk: with three groups particularly at risk: working mothers, women in senior management positions, and Black women (McKinsey). With the hybrid working (should we, shouldn’t we?) raging, some are expressing a hidden fear around home-working disguised as “flexibility” actually putting women back (more housework, more childcare, less face time with senior managers). Here we will hear two opposing perspectives and encourage audience participation!

14.30-14.50: Case study: Translating the facts into a business case

  • Presenting a rational business case for women’s health policies is not a walk in the park. Particularly at male-dominated organisations, predominantly led by men. Hear how Ruth made a powerful, evidence based business case to senior leaders and decision makers, how she managed resistance and why it is so important to talk in the language of the majority to make a case for the minority.

  • Ruth Busby is People and Transformation Director for Great Western Railway (GWR) and Network Rail Wales and Western region, leading the people and internal communications agenda for over 11,000 colleagues in two organisations. As HR Director for GWR (until January 2023) Ruth’s focus on engagement, leadership, customer experience, kindness, equality, inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing led to industry leading engagement results and improved customer experience outcomes, in addition to the successful delivery of major change. Ruth is a leader on wellbeing and inclusion across the rail industry, as Executive Sponsor for Rail Wellbeing Live, and sponsor for a Samaritans study on improving the mental health of railway colleagues. Ruth is also a Non-Executive Director for Youth Futures Foundation (YFF), a not-for-profit organisation established to improve employment outcomes for young people from marginalised backgrounds. Ruth previously worked in Defence, Higher Education and the Civil Service before joining the rail industry.

14.50-15.10: Clinical Keynote: The Biological Business Case: What we Know About Critical Health Stages - The Latest Research

  • Dame Lesley Regan will accessibly break down the key stages in a woman’s life where we need to adapt and make workplaces more hospitable. We’ll also examine when biology is as much a productivity driver as a potential barrier.

  • Dame Lesley Regan is Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Imperial College London at St Mary's Hospital Campus where she continues her clinical practice in Reproductive Medicine. As Past President RCOG, she led the "Better for Women" report, published in December 2019, which shone a spotlight on taboo topics such as poor access to contraception, abortion, period problems, menopause and domestic violence and abuse. The key recommendation of this hard hitting report was the urgent need for an NHS-led Women's Health Strategy. In 2020, Lesley was awarded a DBE for her services to Women’s health in the late Queen's New Years Honours list. In June 2022 she was appointed Women's health Ambassador for England to help implementation of the DHSC's Women's Health Strategy.

15:50-16.30: One Size Does NOT fit all: How to Move Away from Generic Initiatives to Support Diverse and Complex Needs

  • A supported and happy workforce is a productive one. And businesses that acknowledge the complexity of women’s health journeys and life changes are more likely to generate better outcomes. So how can businesses move beyond the generic policies: i.e. one where salaries aren’t cut by 20% for a four-day week; where parental leave is considered beyond standard time lines and where every unique path is considered and respected? Hear and learn from innovative leaders on how to redesign workplaces for a new generation.

16.30-17.00: PANEL: What Gets Measured Gets Managed: What Does Success Actually Look Like?

  • To make non-incremental gains we need to have a clear idea as to what success looks like. Increased employee engagement? Better retention overall? Focused retention of a specific group? Productivity? Profitability? This session will explore what different businesses are looking at to gauge success.

  • Pamela is the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg. In this role, she leads the company’s global diversity and inclusion initiatives around the world whilst establishing strategic direction, goals, and accountability.

    Pamela is cited as one of the most visible and vocal thought leaders and advocates for diversity across the private sector and has more than 20 years’ experience in managing diversity across engineering, financial services, technology, and media.

    Pamela recently received an OBE in the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s Honours List for her services to Diversity and Inclusion in the Financial Services sector.

    Pamela was inducted as a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC) in 2020 and she serves on the Employers’ Board at The Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL) at Kings College London. In January 2021, Pamela became a Trustee at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

  • Helen Normoyle is a women’s wellness champion and has held Chief Marketing Officer roles with Boots, the BBC and DFS has also worked in the mobile technology sector with Motorola and in broadcast and telecoms regulation at Ofcom. She is a non-executive director at Allied Irish Bank, Ireland’s leading financial services provider and #1 digital bank, where she also chairs the Sustainable Business Advisory Committee. Helen is also a non-executive director of Travelodge.

  • Deborah B. Williams is the Founder & CEO of The Women's Association.

    Since starting her work in 2014, Deborah has worked with thousands of women and girls partnering with Sky, Stella McCartney, EY, Investec, Bloom & Wild, and more.

    In 2014 Deborah did a dissertation exposing her to some of the harsh realities of women in the workplace. This inspired her to start doing events bringing female professionals into schools, colleges, and universities. Two years later she went back and studied for an MBA at Open University alongside an MA in Gender and Women’s Studies at Lancaster University. She completed both masters in 2019 which is when she created The Women’s Association.

    Deborah’s mission is to make sure that women and girls have the support and infrastructure needed to dream freely and make those dreams a reality. Beyond this and most importantly, Deborah is a mum to her 2-year-old son, Zion, and 8-month-old daughter, Phoenix.

  • Anna Delaney is People Director at the AA, the UK’s largest motoring organisation. Over the last 22 years, Anna has held various HR roles across a broad range of sectors; in companies such as William Hill, RBS, The Forensic Science Service, Superdrug and Iceland.

End of Day Networking & Cocktail Reception

 

After a day of deep learning and discussions, join our evening networking reception. 

Drawing together speakers, partners, sponsors and attendees you will be able to informally network with other business peers, expand your network and enjoy an interesting evening at our spectacular venue.