Speakers

Helena Kennedy QC is one of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers. She has practiced at the Bar for over 40 years in the field of criminal law and has conducted many of the leading cases in those years, including the Balcombe Street Siege, the Brighton bombing trial, the Guildford Four Appeal, the Michael Bettany Espionage case and the Jihadist fertiliser bomb plot. She has championed law reform for women, especially relating to sexual and domestic violence and developed the defence of Battered Women’s syndrome in the British courts.

Adrian was educated at the London School of Economics where he obtained a distinction in an MSc Econ., and at Oxford University where he completed a doctorate in 1981. He has subsequently earned a D.Sc and D.Litt degree. Previously a lecturer in Psychology at Pembroke College, Oxford, he was Professor of Psychology at University College London from 1992 to 2018. He has also been a Visiting Professor of Management at Henley Management College and has been made Adjunct Professor of Management at the Norwegian School of Management (2009) and Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (2014).

He is currently the Principal Psychologist at Stamford Associates. He consults to many organisations in various different sectors (particularly airlines, banks, civil service) and in many different countries. He has written over 1300 scientific papers and 95 books and is on the editorial board of a number of international journals, as well as the past elected President of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences.

Declan Curry has been a writer and broadcaster for more than twenty-five years covering business, the economy and politics.

He broadcasts daily on LBC News. He was the business presenter on BBC One’s breakfast TV for almost a decade. He presented BBC Two's Working Lunch, and his own programmes on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC News TV channel.

He chairs conferences and speaks at events around the world, in person and virtually on Zoom or other digital platforms. He has won several awards for his broadcasting, and is an honorary doctor of Middlesex University.

Hashi is a barrister at No5 Chambers and a Broadcaster and published author. In 2010, he joined The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn and completed his barrister training in London in 2012. Now at No5 Chambers, Hashi practices in public law; his main area of focus is Planning & Environmental law. Hashi has been consistently listed as one of the highest rated junior planning barristers in England and Wales.

Hashi presents documentaries on BBC Radio 4, most recently on planning, politics and housing; 20 years since the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and on access to the top professions – with particular focus on the law. Hashi writes regularly in various newspaper publications, including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Tortoise Magazine and Prospect Magazine.

Hashi's book on social mobility in Britain, People Like Us, What it Takes to Make it in Modern Britain was released in January 2020, and was BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Hashi's second book, A Home of One's Own, focusing on the housing crisis and what we need to do about it, was released in September 2022.

Kristina is a work psychologist with a special interest in science-based approaches that encourage healthy behaviours and enhance high performing teams. Kristina joined Freshfields' Global Diversity and Inclusion team in 2017, with a focus on building the firm’s global approach to mental health, and more recently wellbeing. She has led and implemented a number of interventions, including their Global Mental Health First Aid programme, with over 300 people trained in mental health first aid skills across their global network. Kristina holds an MSc in Occupational and Business Psychology, an MBA from Henley Business School, she is a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and an Executive Coach with the Academy of Executive Coaching

Charles joined Clifford Chance in 2022 as the firm's first Global Head of Wellbeing and People Experience. As a member of the Global HR Leadership team his focus is on protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of people in all locations and creating a great workplace where bright people love to come to. He is a member of the Alliance Manchester Business School's National Forum for Health and Wellbeing at Work and volunteers as a Board Trustee of the mental health charity Dorset Mind. He is a Chartered Manager (CMI), a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England) and holds an MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing from the University of Nottingham.

Yvonne's role at Dentons is to help create a high performance culture through innovative development solutions and to bring out the best in individuals and teams by enhancing self-confidence, motivation and engagement. She has over 20 years’ experience in developing talent within leading technology companies and law firms. Yvonne has a BSc psychology, MA HR Management, is a qualified coach, and previously has lived and worked in the Netherlands and Caribbean.

With a background as a health and safety solicitor, Jo has advised some of the biggest FTSE 100 companies on compliance with health and safety law including how to manage work-related mental health risks and introduce impactful wellbeing programmes. Now working in-house at Osborne Clarke, Jo has introduced a data driven approach to the firm's management of mental health risks in the form of a wellbeing strategy which identifies the key risk areas for poor wellbeing within work design/culture, prioritises actions, contains clear metrics for success and is reported on to the Board via quantitative and qualitative data. Through this formalised approach to wellbeing governance, Jo is passionate about achieving tangible, positive change at root cause (cultural) level for their people, with budget, time and resource focussed on the areas which matter to them most.

Raphael Mokades is the founder and Managing Director of Rare, the multi award-winning leaders in diversity graduate recruitment.

Raphael founded Rare in 2005. Today, Rare works with over 100 elite employers, including all five Magic Circle law firms, the top three global strategy consulting firms, two of the world’s top three investment banks, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Rare has over 40,000 candidates on its books, and its contextualised recruitment software has processed over a million graduate job applications.

Raphael has a first-class degree from Oxford University. He has written for the Guardian, Times and Financial Times. He has been named in the Economist’s Top 50 Global Diversity List, the FT’s Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives list, and as Legal Week’s Outstanding Innovator.

Chris has been involved in Individual and Organisation Development for over 25 years, leading projects which range from Business Transformation to Organisation Improvement and from Leadership Development programmes and Board Transformation Coaching to scenario based risk maturity programmes. In his current role, Chris and his team provide a full spectrum of learning interventions to Partners, Fee Earners and Business colleagues across the HFW global network.

Prior to joining HFW, Chris worked for some of the world's leading organisations across the shipping, construction, energy, not-for profit, mining and pharma sectors and spanning regions including Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Middle East, USA and Europe.

He regularly speaks and leads sessions at cross-industry conferences, on a range of subjects most recently on how business is preparing for the post-pandemic recovery with c-suite representatives from across industry. Chris holds an MA in Organisation Development and is an internationally recognised Executive and Board Coach.

Chris is currently HR Director at Gowling WLG having joined in 2015. He coaches and develops senior leadership teams and boards, helping them to achieve business success through their people, talent and inclusion strategies. Chris has spent his career in the City working across different sectors, predominantly in complex global international financial services companies as an HR Director and Chief Operating Officer. Chris thrives on change and progress that has a positive purpose. He joined the People in Law committee in 2019 and is part of the Wellbeing Opinion Leaders group. Further afield he is a judge for the Business Culture Awards and an Advisory Board member for a local secondary school.

Born and educated in Lancaster, Chris moved to Hertfordshire over twenty years ago, having completed his degree in Birmingham and his CIPD qualifications in Suffolk. He and his wife, Sarah, have two children. Outside of a busy work life Chris enjoys participating (badly) in many sports, travelling and being a taxi service for his children!

Julia works with the firm to ensure that it provides the perfect conditions for its people to be able to deliver high quality work to its clients and to have fulfilling careers with Lewis Silkin.

Julia has over 20 years’ experience in HR and Learning and Development roles within Professional Services, and previously worked for a leading UK firm of Chartered Accountants. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Justine focuses on all aspects of ESG law (including ‘soft’ law) and regulation, for clients across all sectors. Justine also has significant in-house experience leading the legal aspects of transformation programmes as well as advising boards in connection with best practice for all aspects of financial services, governance – including ESG governance – and embedding ESG and legal risk management as part of the enterprise risk framework. Justine is a member of the City of London Solicitors Company, The Lawyer Influencers Panel, LexisNexis’ Banking and Finance Experts Panel, Lawyers for Net Zero and a regular speaker on all aspects of legal critical thinking. Justine is registered as a solicitor with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Gwenllian gained a B.A., M.Sc. and a Ph.D in Scotland. She is a doctor of psychology and became a chartered occupational psychologist in 1995. She is also a Meyler Campbell trained executive coach with a reputation for a no-nonsense approach to unblocking potential.

She leads projects across all deWinton-Williams service offerings and has a market reputation for bringing pragmatism and creativity in equal measure. Her work in development has contributed to two national awards from the Legal Education and Training Group and she has been voted Trainer of the Year. Her talent work has delivered many national and international awards for deWinton-Williams and their clients. Through 2020 she converted the full talent development portfolio to enable virtual delivery which is now moving to hybrid format. Gwenllian has worked with lawyers for over 20 years and specialises in workplace resilience, using her research background to give pragmatic advice on how to look after mind, body and soul when under pressure. She has developed a range of services in this area and is currently supporting firms as they move to hybrid working.

Gwenllian is also a qualified mediator and specialises in workplace and family business mediation.

In her most recent role Laura leads the graduate recruitment and development teams, both of which have won awards for ground-breaking initiatives focused on improving access to the legal profession, innovation in the sector and tackling the stigma of mental health and sexual harassment in the workplace. She is also Co-Chair of the London Inclusion Committee.

In 2020 she founded the Sustainable Recruitment Alliance and is currently Chair of the Alliance steering group.

With over eighteen years' graduate recruitment experience and five years' HR experience, she is a Fellow of the CIPD, a Trustee of the Bridge Group, an Opinion Leader for People in Law, Steering Committee member of GROW mentoring and a member of the National Student Pride Advisory Board.

She is also a former Board Director of the Institute of Student Employers and member of the Advisory Board of The Apples & Pears Foundation.