Mary Ann Sieghart is author of the bestselling book The Authority Gap: Why We Still Take Women Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It. She is a Visiting Professor at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, as well as Senior Independent Director at Pantheon International and Non-Executive Director and RemCo Chair at Guardian Media Group. She is a former Lex Columnist at the FT, and Assistant Editor and political columnist at The Times. Mary Ann researched The Authority Gap as a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. She has chaired the Social Market Foundation think tank and was Chair of the Judges for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022.

Will Dawkins is former head of the UK board and CEO practice of Spencer Stuart,  the international executive search, board and leadership consulting firm. Previously, he was publishing editor of the Financial Times, following a career as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Paris and Tokyo. Currently, he holds a number of non-executive positions including with the Evelyn Trust, a Cambridge based medical research grant giving charity; the Fitzwilliam Museum and with the Perse School.

Julian Misell is an expert quantitative practitioner and insight consultant whose background covers public affairs, employee engagement, and customer research. He began his career working for Philip Gould, who was at the time the Prime Minister’s strategy advisor, and went on to lead the customer research practice at Ipsos MORI, managing a team of 25 researchers. Julian has a degree in Economics from Manchester University.

Karen Cooper is the founder of Living Brands, a consultancy that delivers high-quality insights and strategies to help brands thrive. With over 20 years of experience, Karen’s career spans management consultancy at Monitor, strategic planning at AMV BBDO and insight specialist at Living Brands. She is a skilled qualitative practitioner, workshop facilitator and also enjoys data analysis. Karen has a degree in Politics & Economics from Cambridge University.

Tracey Gray served as Chief People Officer for Ascential PLC from June 2020 for four years and was recruited to lead on all global separation and people activities for a strategic change program that saw the business split into three separate entities. Prior to this role, she ran her own boutique consulting business working with C Suite Executives providing coaching, leadership development and transition support. She has over 30 years’ experience in Human Resources, leading on organisational change programmes, integrations of mergers and acquisitions and working to build healthy and inclusive growth cultures. Tracey has an MSc in Organizational Consulting from Hult International Business School (Ashridge Executive Education).

Robert has spent 40 years as a consultant and now trains and coaches business executives to help them develop their inclusive leadership skills. He is a Board member of European Women on Boards and a Trustee of UN Women, UK. Robert is Disrupter in Residence on the Global MBA Program at EDHEC Business School and also a visiting lecturer on Male Allyship at the University of Amsterdam Academy. In recognition of his work in gender balance, Robert was named a Top 50 Trailblazer in Gender Equity in January 2023 by We Are The City and was awarded Corporate Male Champion of the Year 2024 by Women in Management.

Lou is an experienced facilitator and trainer, skilled at engaging audiences to tackle difficult subjects and achieve desirable outcomes. She has worked across many industries delivering organisational and behavioural change programmes. Lou has an MSc in Human Resources and is a qualified executive coach.

Upasna has over 15 years of experience fostering gender balance and inclusive leadership for global organisations. She has led and facilitated DEI and Talent initiatives sponsored by organisations such as Google and the Government Equalities Office.

Upasna has extensive experience facilitating transformational learning online and in person with a range of participants from grassroots communities to board members and senior teams. She has a BA in Politics, and a Masters in International Security and Terrorism from the University of Nottingham and completed an Executive Programme in Gender Balance at Insead Business School.