New speakers will be announced every week. Watch this space!
French national born in 1967, Magali Anderson became a member of the Group Executive Committee in October 2019.She graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from INSA Lyon, France, and started her career as a field engineer on offshore rigs in Nigeria.
She spent 27 years in the oil and gas industry, mainly with Schlumberger, holding operational line management positions including Angola CEO and Region Head Europe.
During her career she also held several functional roles, including Vice President Marketing & Sales, Vice President Shared Services Organisation for the Europe and Africa region and Global Head of Maintenance.
Magali joined LafargeHolcim as Group Head of Health and Safety in October 2016.
Gareth Parkes leads data, innovation and digital transformation projects at Sir Robert McAlpine. Gareth is passionate about making best use of organisational knowledge and finding innovative solutions to established problems.
He believes collaboration and empowering people are the best ways to make change last. One way he’s making that happen is through his role in setting up the Construction Data Trust. Gareth oversees the regular Project:Hack events, where teams use data to find new ways of doing things better. He studied Chemical Engineering at Nottingham and Economics & Policy at UCL. In his free time, Gareth loves travelling and spending time with his young family.
Victoria joined the RTPI in April 2018 and utilises her 21 years’ experience and expertise in the fields of planning, transport and organisational leadership and development to drive forward the vision and strategic priorities for the 25,000 members strong RTPI.
Victoria previously worked for all three Mayors of London and was Chief Executive Officer of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, where she established the UK’s second Mayoral Development Corporation.
As Chief Executive of the RTPI, Victoria uses the convening role of the Institute to make the case for resourcing planning and advocating the important role of putting planning at the heart of government delivery for the quality places that people want to live in. Driving forward the RTPI’s new Corporate Strategy will see a focus on raising the profile of planning, elevating the value of professionalism, and promoting a diverse and inclusive profession to ensure genuine representation of the society in which we work.
Over the last 10 years Chrissi has steered the business delivering consultancy, training and research to organisations inside and outside the construction sector. Bringing the terminology Fairness, Inclusion and Respect to the construction sector, Creating the Change Tack Programme for career progression, winning and delivering significant high level contracts with CITB, launching Constructing Equality Ltd.’s Engage programmes and also gaining further industry and government recognition through representation on strategic boards including the image group for 2025 Construction and Industry Leadership Group for Fairness, Inclusion and Respect. Chrissi started her career as a Setting-Out Engineer then as a site manager, while playing an integral role in the delivery of numerous projects, including Peckham Library, Manchester Interchange, a range of BSF Schemes, and a school in Uganda for charity.
Michèle started her career at the Greater London Council (GLC) after completing her PhD in transport and land use planning and became a chartered civil engineer through the GLC’s transport planning graduate scheme. She spent fifteen years in the private sector with Halcrow Fox becoming the board director for urban transport. She joined Transport for London (TfL) in 2000 as director of Congestion Charging on a job share basis with Malcolm Murray-Clark and Managing Director of Planning in 2007.
Michèle led TfL's strategic thinking on the future transport needs of London, testing and challenging solutions; providing clear direction on appropriate transport solutions for the future; she was responsible for the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and transport requirements for the Mayor’s 2050 Infrastructure Plan; coordinating the implementation of local plans and borough partnerships; and developing major scheme interchanges.
Michele is now responsible for developing Crossrail 2 and gaining funding and powers for it. Michele is a visiting professor for UCL and is chair of an international committee PRESCOM for the UITP which promotes public transport research and best practice globally. Most recently, Michele has joined the Major Projects Association as a Board member and has become a Trustee for the London Transport Museum.
Sam Stacey is Challenge Director – Transforming Construction at UKRI. He is leading the Transforming Construction Challenge, a £170 million research and innovation investment, matched by £250 million from industry, to create high-performing, cost-effective buildings for the UK and beyond. Linked to the Construction Sector Deal, the programme includes the Active Building Centre supporting the wide-scale roll-out of energy-positive buildings, the Construction Innovation Hub to propagate standardised building products and processes, plus a Construction Network and funding for piloting of new construction solutions.
Before joining UKRI, Sam was Director of Innovation, Industrialisation and Business Improvement at Skanska UK, a Trustee of the Building Research Establishment, and Chairman of the National Platform for Construction. Sam has also worked for Wates Construction and Buro Happold Engineering. He is a Chartered Structural Engineer with an MBA from Henley Business School and degrees in Civil Engineering, Architecture and Philosophy from Imperial College and Cambridge University.
Sam is married with two children and lives in London and Suffolk.
Emma has worked in the construction industry for 11 years and returned to Story Contracting as Construction Managing Director in April 2019 after a successful stretch at Arup, Emma is responsible for the delivery of a forecasted £30m turnover in 2019/20 and is closely involved in socio-economic aspects, stakeholder engagement and business development.
With a strong reputation for delivery and understanding the local economy, Emma has successfully worked on a variety of projects across the county with organisations such as Sellafield, Iggesund, Cumbria County Council, Pirelli, McVities, Innovia and Nestle. Her psychology degree and INSEAD MBA mean she understands people and business.
Emma has a strong desire to make a difference and sits on the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership Board to help the county to achieve its full potential. As part of this role, she has been appointed as Chair of the Construction Sector Panel.
Sarah is responsible for supporting construction employers in localities to be able to access the people and training that their businesses need. Leading on collective action working with employers, Local Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, training providers, educators and other stakeholders to provide collaborative skills solutions to meet employer needs.
Previously Sarah was also responsible for leading the CITB GB strategy and collaborative work on supporting the Construction Industry to address Image and Recruitment. Sarah set up and led on bringing employers, educators, Government agencies and other parties together to co-design, co-invest and co-deliver the Go Construct Careers initiative.
Sarah has also worked as an Apprenticeships Manager covering the NE and Y&H regions where her team worked with over 3,000 apprentices at any one time. She has also worked as a Company Development Adviser for construction companies operating in the West Yorkshire Area.
Bill is Chief Executive of Galliford Try, one of the UK’s leading Construction and Investments groups. The business employs c3,100 people and generates a turnover of £1.3bn operating in the public, regulated and private sectors.
Prior to joining Galliford Try, Bill - a civil engineer by training - spent 25 years with Skanska UK culminating in the position of Executive Vice President. He also served as a non-executive director on the boards of Skanska in Finland, Latin America and USA Civil.
Bill is a strong advocate for increasing inclusivity and diversity in the company and has enabled people at all levels of Galliford Try to achieve a more flexible work-life balance, through its Smart and Agile Working programmes.
Originally from Zimbabwe, Bill lives with his wife and two children in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Yewande is a chartered engineer, innovator and speaker. Her engineering experience includes the design and construction, innovation and manufacture of buildings and systems in the built environment. She has worked on projects in the UK, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia and has been named the UK Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering & Technology. She has also been awarded the Exceptional Achiever Award from the Association for BAME Engineers and the Association of Consultancy and Engineering, U.K. (ACE). She is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster. She is passionate about STEM communication and has presented Engineering programmes for Television. In the 2020 New Year Honours list, Yewande was awarded an MBE for services to engineering innovation and diversity in STEM.
Michaela started her first company Design and Build UK, the largest online and hard copy journal within the construction industry, at the age of 25 after hitting a glass ceiling working elsewhere.
After 2 years of trading she invested in Vantage Utility Connections, a utility connections company, after a successful run with these she decided to apply for BBC The Apprentice for mentoring as well as the investment, unfortunately she was runner up but still secured the investment after the show aired, in her lead gen platform We Connect Construction.
Michaela has 10 years experience within the construction industry and since the apprentice has been involved heavily in championing women into the construction industry.
Regularly credited for her responsiveness, diligence, and reliability, Rena L. Scott has been assisting clients primarily in the area of international arbitration and dispute resolution, with a particular focus on complex, high-value disputes involving major construction projects (commercial, retail, residential, high rise, low rise, infrastructure) and consortia and joint venture agreements for more than 12 years. Rena also provides delivery assistance and construction project dispute avoidance assistance to construction development and delivery teams. Rena is regularly invited to speak on issues in the construction sector.
A Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Alison Cox joined Sir Robert McAlpine after graduating from the University of Oxford in Engineering Science. With 20 years’ experience in the industry, she manages large teams on major, complex projects, such as Bloomberg London and Battersea Phase 3a. Through her many career achievements in construction, she has established her reputation as a leader and a driver of technical excellence, now serving as the Executive Director of Engineering & Technical Services.
Dr. Jenni Barrett is Director of coLAB, a consultancy specialising in training and research for the construction industry. She is also Senior Lecturer and researcher at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Her industry experience and research relating to the social psychology of digital and traditional collaboration in construction teams, underpins coLAB’s evidence-based training programmes, which support organisations in embedding the skills needed to create inclusive, digital project teams and workplaces. Jenni is member of the Institute for Research into Organisations, Work, and Employment (iROWE) at UCLan and core team member of the Women In BIM network.
A core member of Women in BIM, Vicki works hard to support, retain, and provide opportunities for women in the digital construction environment and believes strongly that the industry must diversify in order to successfully digitalise. She works hard to encourage women of all ages and experience to consider construction as a viable and rewarding career option.
IJ is a Programme Controls Expert and Business Leader, currently leading the Strategic Programmes Controls team at Heathrow Airport to make accurate data driven decisions on large-scale complex construction programme performance.
As an ambassador for building inclusive high performing teams, she is the founder of ‘Speak-Up’ - a Public speaking & Leadership forum for employees at all levels of public speaking abilities. She also founded ‘T&T Mentoring Circles’ - a platform to change the narrative for gender balance in construction and empower technical professionals keen to transition into leadership positions.
She is married with two children and serves on a primary school Governor's Board, contributing her leadership skills to provide strategic direction to the school.
As Group Strategic Project Manager at Keltbray Group, Lucy is responsible for delivering & implementing strategy for group-wide projects, ensuring joined-up thinking and a tactical approach to major opportunities - currently focusing on Heathrow Expansion.
Lucy has worked at Keltbray Group for over 5 years, beginning her career in the construction industry as Group Business Development Manager.
As a passionate advocate of equality, Lucy is the founder of FLI (Keltbray Female Leadership Initiative), an employee resource group looking to make a difference to women’s work lives and champion female leaders at both Keltbray and in the Construction Industry.
Lucy has a 10 year background in Event & Hospitality Management working for clients including Google & Samsung.
Julie began her career as an apprentice and is now an Arup Director, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Honorary Fellow of the Association for Project Management. With over 25 years of experience in the Construction Industry much of this involved in the leadership delivery of Major Complex Projects. These include projects such as the Glaxo Group Research Campus, McLaren HQ, The Francis Crick Institute and most recently the HS2 Euston Station. Operating successfully in a Volatile, Uncertain, Challenging and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment, providing calm leadership to multi-headed clients and navigating such challenging circumstances with success.
She has been a Non-Executive Director for over10 years. The global leader of programme and project management for 10 years, to 2019, expanding and deepening the expertise across a broad spectrum of sectors and developing future leaders.
Julie is a member of the governing Editorial Panel of Civil Engineering the flagship journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the London Mayor’s Infrastructure Advisory Panel and a liveryman for the Worshipful Company of Engineers. She draws on an enormous capacity for high intensity work and an ability to quickly grasp complex problems often against a political landscape to the significant benefit of projects and clients.
Natalie is a Senior Construction Engineer at Mace, where she specialises in providing construction solutions and temporary works designs for large-scale London building projects. She has over 20 years’ experience working in the UK and Australia. Her career began in consulting, where she designed civil-structures, bridges and building structures for Arup and Robert Bird, before joining Mace in 2013. Natalie describes the highlight of her career as working on Mace’s innovative and award-winning Jump Factory.
Natalie was selected for Mace’s inaugural Women of the Future programme, runs the Engineering Apprenticeship scheme and sits on the Pride at Mace Steering Committee.
Emily is a construction professional. She works at Mid Group, a contractor specialising in Modern Methods of Construction, as the Client Solutions Director. She is recognised in the industry as a specialist in offsite construction with a focus on Education.
With a Masters’ degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Emily has previously held roles for leading construction consultants; Arup and Mott MacDonald. Earlier in her career she taught physics and was Head of Science and Technology at a secondary school, giving her exceptional practical insight into teaching and learning.
Alongside sustainable construction, Emily is passionate about promoting diversity in our industry.
Fritha Bevin-McCrimmon, Project Engineer at Stantec, listed as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering in 2019 and the WISE Award Rising Star Award Winner in 2018. In her final year of university in New Zealand the earthquake struck Christchurch. As a graduate she then worked as a project engineer on the Earthquake Rebuild Team helping to manage large wastewater, stormwater, fresh water, road construction and structural projects. In 2015 she then moved to the North East of England where she now designs water and wastewater infrastructure on the Northumbrian Water Framework.
Fritha holds several other roles including the Newcastle Community Leader Representative for Stantec organizing school and community engagement, the ICE Education Panel Member, the North of England Representative and Newsletter Editor for Engineers New Zealand and part of an ICE Fairness Inclusion and Respect Focus Group.
Leila is a chartered environmentalist who has worked within the construction industry for over ten years as an environmental sustainability professional. Having previously worked in the rail sector, she now works at Canary Wharf Contractors, on a project providing mixed residential, commercial, retail and community use. The development will broaden and extend the Canary Wharf Estate, however during construction, Leila supports and works with the design and construction teams in achieving the vision as set out in the Sustainability Report, to ‘Make Sustainability Real’. It is an exciting time to be working in this sector, as through BREEAM and other sustainability rating systems, Leila co-ordinates the different project teams to meet the high targets and to promote best sustainability practice, whilst on the journey to making Canary Wharf a circular city.
Brittany is a Civil Engineer turned Entrepreneur. After years working in construction and engineering, she and her co-founder Jade Cohen decided turn their talents to tackling global challenges by driving change in construction. In April 2018 they founded Qflow, a SaaS platform that enables construction teams to get real value from their environmental data, and achieve a stress free environmentally compliant project.
Brittany has built a team of amazing developers, designers and industry experts to help realise her vision for a more sustainable future and has lead the company to launch Qflow on major construction projects across England; taking her experience and frustrations as a Civil Engineer and turning it into a high impact business.
Manon is the Development Director of the Major Projects Association ensuring the day to day delivery of the Association. She has specific responsibility for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative which aims to support members to improve the diversity and inclusion within their major projects. In this capacity she Chairs the Infrastructure Client Group Equality, Diversity and Inclusion group.
As a competitive drug-free power-lifter Manon is used to being in male-dominated environments such as infrastructure. In the 15 years that she has been competing she has won 13 World Championships, 9 European Championships and held 7 World Records and a host of British titles and records. She currently holds 4 British records, 2 European records and 2 World records. In 2019 she was awarded Oxfordshire Sportswoman of the year in recognition of her hard work.
She is a keen writer and a practiced speaker and Chair. She has written on topics close to her heart in a number of online publications including “Infrastructure Intelligence”, “The Guardian” and in online publications as well as via her own blog “Passionate about Powerlifting” and she has contributed to a number of events as speaker and Chair including the Women in Construction Summit 2018; the 2018 Oxford Literary Festival; All Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure panel on The Feminist City (July 2018).
Pia Höök is VP Culture at Skanska, a Swedish construction- and project development company with operations in the Nordics, UK, Central Europe and the US. As VP Culture her main focus is to reinforce an inclusive and value-based culture that supports Skanska’s long-term business aspirations. Pia has had different global roles at Skanska, including global head of Diversity & Inclusion and Community Investment. During her years with Skanska the percentage of women in the company’s top four most senior levels has increased from 13 % (2012) to 25 % (2019). Also, Skanska scores well above industry benchmark when it comes to employee experience of a value-based and inclusive culture. The company has also managed to establish an internal business case for inclusive leadership, linking inclusive leadership to employee effectiveness and intention to stay. Prior to working for Skanska, Pia was Global Diversity Director for Volvo Group. She has a PhD in Organization and Management from Stockholm School of Economics and in 2010 she became an Associate Professor of Organization, Management and Gender at the Royal Institute of Technology. Twice she has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, and also served as an expert to the Swedish Government in governmental studies and delegations.
Anna is the Global Head of Leadership Development at Skanska, one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups, since 2014. In this role, she develops goals and priorities for management development in the group and manages the global leadership development programs. Improving diversity and inclusion is a priority at every level of Skanska and a core element in the global leadership development programs.
Anna started her career much outside of the construction industry in Sweden’s pioneering internet company, then moved on to work at a management consultancy agency in Sweden and abroad. The main theme throughout her career is to develop the business through leadership development as well as implementing solutions that drive real change, for the company and its leadership.
Natalie started her career working as a site-based project manager gaining experience within a variety of end user organisations and sectors including; Airports, Housing, Museums, Healthcare, Media and Broadcasting organisations throughout the United Kingdom. With over 10 years of experience she has developed a strong track record of large complex projects covering existing building cut and carve, refurbishment and major new build in central London, along with several European and South African developments.
Since joining Buro Four in 2012 Natalie has developed her role and become a team leader within the organisation and, in 2019 became a Trustee of Buro Four’s Employee Benefit Trust. Natalie continues to support industry research studies with a key focus on developing the future generation of project managers.
Anna is one of Sweden’s young structural engineering talents who has quickly worked her way up from entry level- to major project assignments such as hospitals- and commercial buildings. She started her career at one of the major structural engineering firms in Sweden and has then moved her way abroad to the British firm Price & Myers. In just six years she has gained insight and experience from project coordination and structural engineering in both countries. To top it all off she doesn’t only know how to coordinate projects and design buildings, she also knows her way around drafting and designing in design authoring software such as Revit & Microstation. When she is not busy designing buildings, she is traveling around the world meeting new people and is passionate about making a contribution to changing the industry to the better for women in construction.
Katya is a thinker, not a clicker. With her work, she aims to clear architectural design and modeling of dull and repetitive tasks so that designers can dedicate all their resources to what they do best – design.
Katya is part of Archilizer – an award-winning BIM consultancy based in London. She has 5 years of architectural experience in various international architectural practices prior to embarking on her consultancy journey. She has worked in the Residential and Sports sectors but her most significant experience was in Healthcare.
Currently, Katya supports world-renowned architecture practices such as Alisson Brooks Architects and Grimshaw Architects in their endeavours to deliver competitive digital information to their clients. She is working on Residential, Infrastructure and Masterplanning projects.
She makes people passionate about things they hate.
She is a multi-award-winning Sustainability specialist and Quality/Environmental leader at CS Demolition with over 13 years’ of experience in the environmental field. Amanda has also founded the Swedish Hallbarprofil Podcast with has over 5000 listeners, where she interviews sustainability profiles. She has also worked as a Business Development Adviser for construction companies operating in West region of Sweden. Her career is wide spanning; Amanda started as an apprentice in Local community and she now works for a National consultancy, CS within the demolition industry, dedicating her time to leading client projects and coaching a multi-disciplinary team.
Talk to her about: Reuse of demolition waste, circular economy, deconstruction instead of demolition, fossil free and electric machines.
Ioana is an experienced chartered landscape architect, currently working in the Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Department (LUD) at WSP, Devonshire Square London headquarters.
Working previously in the Netherlands and Germany, before working extensively in the UK for the past six years has allowed Ioana to have an interdisciplinary approach to landscape architecture.
Ioana’s expertise includes various sectors with a particular focus on public and private residential schemes, through all design stages, from concept, to planning and delivery.
Besides exciting public realm projects, Ioana has been involved in Future Ready, a WSP unique future proofing approach that ensures design outcomes are relevant to the changing nature of the world we live in, with identified influential key factors like climate, resource, society and technology, in implementing exciting all age inclusive and flexible public spaces.
Anna has worked throughout her career with a dedication to driving and developing the highest standards of Digital Engineering to best deliver value for clients and stakeholders. Her focus has been achieving improvements in quality, productivity, compliance and certainty in delivery through the effective implementation of digital strategies, initiatives and solutions.
She has worked in both Digital and Technical roles within Laing O’Rourke for 6 years across multiple sectors, and is a Chartered member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. She is proud to be a Women in Construction Ambassador, a STEM Ambassador and an industry mentor.
Anusha Shah is a Director, Resilient Cities at Arcadis. She was previously the Founder & CEO of Plan for Earth, consultancy offering advisory services on Water, Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience, Sustainability and Inclusive Design. A chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Anusha has specialisation in Water & Environmental Engineering with nearly 20 years’ experience in designing, managing and leading projects and programmes both in the UK and internationally.
Anusha recently completed a tenure as Chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership, charity working towards sustainable management of the Thames Estuary. She is currently a Visiting Professor at King’s College London on Climate Adaptation & Resilience, Sustainability and Inclusive Design. She is also an External Examiner in the Civil Engineering and Built Environment department at the Leeds Beckett University.
Anusha was the Co-Chair of ICE London and South-East Diversity & Inclusion Task Force and a member of the ICE Fairness, Inclusion and Respect Panel. She was the youngest and first female Chair of the ICE - London Region in 2010, General Council Member and Trustee of the ICE for two consecutive terms, Non-Exec Director on the Thomas Telford Board (ICE’s business wing), Member of the ICE Executive Board, Member of the ICE Research & Development Panel and Member of ICE Qualifications Panel.
Isabel is a chartered civil engineer, who’s 23-year career has been largely spent in the delivery railway infrastructure and leading major/mega infrastructure projects. Following two and a half years as Project Director for Skanska Costain Strabag JV heading up an international team on HS2 Main Works, she has recently been appointed as Managing Director of In House Services and Estates at the House of Commons. Isabel is Fellow of the ICE and is an Independent Advisor for High-Speed Rail Group.
Isabel is passionate about changing and challenging the culture of construction. She believes it needs to become inclusive and collaborative and that this requires brave thinking and leadership attention to the organisational cultures that are created.
Elin is an expert and policy maker on Vocational education training at the Swedish Construction Federation responsible for talent acquisition and attracting competence to the construction industry. With a background from education than 15 years as a teacher, lecturer and a head of higher education within construction, she is an expert on attracting competence and creating inspiring programs within the field construction, engineering and technology. The Swedish Construction Federation is a trade organization with 3700 members including: the biggest construction firms in Sweden such as Skanska, NCC, Peab and Veidekke.
Clementine has been involved in and led several complex restoration projects since joining Formation Architects in 2008. This has focused on high quality residential restoration projects such as the Grade II listed Dudley House (100 park Lane), and 11 Upper Phillimore Gardens gave her the opportunity to flourish in her role, leading the project from concept to delivery and rising in the practice to Associate. More recently she has been running a private residential fit out project on Upper Brook Street in Mayfair.
Along with the creative and technical aspects that come with her role, she particularly enjoys building long term and collaborative relationships with world renowned interior designers, highly skilled crafts people and being hands-on when on-site with contractors.
Externally, Clementine is our “Inspiring Woman” nominee, as part of our NLA programme, where she has been invited to speak at regular industry panel and speed mentoring events. She has also been selected by the Fluid diversity mentoring programme and enjoys nurturing the next generation. In 2019 we she selected as a Finalist as Best Female Mentor in the WICE awards.
Urszula Kanturska is Construction Data & Technology Integration Lead for the Bylor JV delivering £2b main civil works contract on Hinkley Point C. She defined digital delivery strategy for the project and leads its implementation, through a programme of initiatives focused on eliminating key project risks, enhancing productivity and automating information flow through project lifecycle. Urszula has previously worked in the Engineering Excellence Group of Laing O’Rourke and Advanced Technology & Research team of Arup, and has a track record of leading successful R&D initiatives and delivering practical high-impact solutions, working across all project functions, with client, suppliers and technology partners.
Claire is Deputy Programme Director delivering the £5bn civils programme at Hinkley Point C and actively challenges the diversity and inclusivity practices across the engineering and construction industry through the ICE and at HS2. Claire has a background in engineering and construction management, leading and delivering major infrastructure projects including HS2, Crossrail, Pacific North West LNG, Great Western Route Modernisation and Reading Station Area Redevelopment. Claire is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Chartered Project Professional.
Nathalie Rozencwajg is the founder of international architecture practice, NAME.
Her work is diverse, bespoke and distinctive, creating culturally significant projects which maximise the architectural potential of buildings.
Her projects include the award winning Grade II listed Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, The Castle Lane apartments in Westminster, an Arctic resort in Lapland, and shopping mall in Bangkok.
Nathalie is a graduate of the AA. She was shortlisted for the AJ’s Emerging Woman Architect of the Year and identified by The Guardian newspaper as one of its ‘10 women architects to watch’.
Sandra Green is the founder of the Women Leaders Association (WLA) which she established in 2015. Her passion is about helping females break their inner and outer glass ceiling. Sandra is also a certified executive coach, coaching both male and female leaders in how to bring their best selves into work every day.
Her client work has taken her to Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, Africa and recently to the Caribbean. Sandra published her first book entitled ‘Handbags in the Boardroom’ in September 2015 and has recently published a second book entitled ‘Smash The Glass Ceiling’. She is a highly popular speaker at conferences in Britain and has participated in the prestigious International WIN Conference in Rome.
Outside of work, Sandra has two teenage children, and lives in Cheshire. She enjoys reading, walking, spending time with her family and one of her claims to fame is spending 12 months as a licensed on-course bookmaker.
Jo Field is the award-winning Founder & Managing Director of JFG Communications, a boutique consultancy specialising in stakeholder engagement and diversity for the transport and infrastructure sectors.
Jo advises the industry on how to improve workforce gender balance and uses stakeholder engagement and research to develop policy and set the direction on equalities issues. She has over 16 years’ experience in creating innovative ways to connect people and policymakers, and helping companies engage their stakeholders and build advocacy for their plans.
Jo is especially passionate about addressing women’s under-representation. She helps organisations profile female role models and works with women to build their personal brand and raise their profile.
Jo is a Board Member of Women in Transport and worked parliamentarians to set up the first ever All-Party Parliamentary Group for Women in Transport in 2016. In the same year, Jo was named everywoman in Transport & Logistics Industry Champion for her work attracting and retaining women and inspiring young people to choose transport careers. Last year Jo was named among the top ten most inspirational women in public affairs.
Sally is a chartered engineer and chartered environmentalist. She is National Programme Manager for Asset Management at the Environment Agency and is also Sustainability Lead for her directorate. Sally is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of WES and a member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management. She is also a director at Engineers for Overseas Development, an engineering charity that helps young engineers and technicians become professionally qualified through the design and construction of community projects in sub-Sahara Africa. Sally is also a trustee of the Women’s Engineering Society and chairs the Karen Burt judging panel.
Sophia Cavalli, Founder of Sophia Cavalli, is an acclaimed High Performance and Brain Hack Specialist, speaker, and coach known for her extensive knowledge in brain hacking and proven cutting-edge strategies. She has helped hundreds of individuals tap into their inner brilliance, clear blocks to success and reach their goals, and eliminate stress.
She has studied evidence-based brain strategies and wellness modalities across the globe. With previously held senior leadership roles in corporate companies, Sophia blends her business knowledge with proven strategies for rewiring the brain and reprogramming the mind for success.
Sophia believes in unleashing the power of human potential through her coaching and workshops designed to engage, enliven, and empower.
Emily Miles is a PhD researcher at University College London (UCL) on gender equality in UK major projects. Emily’s background is in leadership and organisational development in the health sector. She is a passionate believer in the importance of equalities and inclusion, and in enabling people to thrive. Last year, she published an APM report which made the case for a different approach to gender balance and diversity in major projects. This led her to create RECONSTRUCT, a network and a community that puts research into action and sets out a vision for a vibrant and inclusive industry.
As head of learning, Frank is responsible for the successful delivery of NG Bailey’s industry leading development programmes.
Joining the business in 2012 he was instrumental in implementing changes to the company’s apprenticeship model and the subsequent increase in the number of programmes it runs.
Introducing LEAP in 2016, to help people leaders develop their own self-awareness, and MyJourney, a development programme with a rare self and peer nomination process, Frank believes that creating a fair organisation is vital to on-going, sustainable success.
With more than 15 years’ experience in L&D, Frank was awarded an MBE for his work in education in 2020.
Sophie is a Construction Manager at Mace, specialising in residential high-rise construction and logistics. Recently, she has moved into the newly-formed Mace Tech business sector – championing innovation and driving new construction delivery methods through the supply chain and the wider industry, building on her experience gained on the award winning Jump Factory. A crucial part of the N06 team, Sophie is currently leading one of the towers on the UK’s first fully-fledged installation of Mace Tech’s industry-changing HRS system. Sophie is excited at the prospect of being at the forefront of construction technology within the UK and can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
Antony Childs is the Head of People Development & Operations at Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. With over 20 years’ experience within Human Resources Antony has developed and launched a range of change initiatives designed to improve employee engagement and work life balance. These include the introduction of improved benefit offerings, enhanced flexible working practices and sabbatical leave together with the launch of a new suite of ‘Family First’ policies, a new approach to family leave shaped around the needs of the modern-day family.
Antony is a father of two (Megan aged 11 and Isobel aged 8) and lives with his wife Sarah in St.Albans.
Lisa Kelvey is a KPMG Partner and leads on Project, Programme and Portfolio management across the Infrastructure and Government sector. She has over 20 years’ experience of delivering major programmes using a practical, people-focussed approach to deliver sustainable change in complex and time-pressured environments. She specialises in supporting programme leaders with strategy, planning, decision-making and assurance for major programmes and portfolios.
A Chartered Civil Engineer, Lisa started her career with a major contractor before moving into design, project management and advisory roles. She has worked on a large number of major programmes in locations as diverse as Singapore, Dubai, Kazakhstan, Mexico and the Caribbean. Lisa is a passionate champion of inclusion and diversity, particularly improving gender balance in the leadership of major projects.
With over 12 years of construction industry experience, Michelle and has held a number of positions in both engineering and management. Michelle is passionate about giving a “refreshingly honest account” of what life is like on site, to help inspire the next generation and provoke thought as to why the industry still suffers from such low rates of women on site. She documents her journey via YouTube, Instagram and her blog. Last year Michelle’s pregnancy gained international media attention, portraying the message women really can do it all after she released a picture of her “building two things, at once”.
Lauretta is an electrical building services design engineer with several years of experience. She has worked on diverse projects both local and international. Her electrical design projects include a Four Seasons hotel in Fiji, Data Centers in the UK, A Warehouse in Belgium, Fit-out and New Build Commercial Offices in London and Europe.
Lauretta is a Member of CIBSE and has signed up to be a buddy in the new maternity improvement project soon to be launched in her company. She loves research and has written 5 papers in her career.
Outside of work, Lauretta has 5 children between the ages of 1 and 12 and loves spending time with them. She enjoys public speaking, reading, writing and has written several devotionals.
Anna is a RIBA Chartered member and an Associate at CZWG Architects LLP. Previous collaborations include architectural practices in Greece, Barcelona, Scotland, on a broad range of project sectors. She has fronted two of CZWG’s most high profile public building projects:
Canada Water Library for Southwark Borough Council, the recipient of numerous awards including the RIBA Regional Award 2012, the Civic Trusts Award 2013 and the Selwyn Goldsmith Award for Universal Design 2013.
The Curve, which is a Cultural Centre / Library, undertaken as a JV for Slough Borough Council and Morgan Sindall Enterprises.
Collaborations with local authorities on the delivery of “landmark” buildings have enabled Anna to manage complex, high profile projects on sites which have been in forefront of the public eye.
She has a strong interest in Delivery, Construction Project Management and Business Development.
She takes an active role in representing women in the construction industry, whilst facilitating future collaborations by instigating numerous business development initiatives within the practice.
Asia Joanna Grzybowska is an associate architect at Powell Tuck Associates, Founder of Mycelium Studio and co-founder of an art collective Sisters and Tiger, that encourages collaborations between different professions.
Asia set up Mycelium Studio to provide a platform for experimental workshops and exchange programmes that focus on improving equality and diversity in the built environment. Mycelium Studio supports architects and other professionals to better understand the needs of different stages of life and ever-changing human requirements.
Asia runs Empathy Workshops and Tours using senior age simulation suits, wheelchairs, crutches etc. She invites designers, architects, building contractors, urban planners and any curious souls, to experience various stages of life first hand using the props and simulation suits.
Louise Hetherington is a structural engineer with Atkins, working on a range of structures across different industries. Since joining the company in 2016, Louise has been an advocate for Diversity and Inclusion, leading the Infrastructure Business Diversity and Inclusion plan for 18 months. Following this position, she became the co-chair of Atkins Disability Network exploring how to make recruitment into and working for Atkins more accessible. Alongside this role, Louise is a Mental Health First Aider and a co-founder of the “Constructing Mindsets” podcast, striving to open the Mental Health conversation in the construction industry.
Julie Dennis partners with organisations across the UK to introduce menopause as an inclusive topic, educate leaders and improve the experience of people working through menopause.
She is the leading provider for clients across the public and private sector including Royal London Group, Lionheart and National Museum of Wales.
Prior to entering the health and wellness field Julie was employed in a variety of corporate roles spanning executive search, management consultancy and the mining industry.
The powerful combination of her personal experience of menopause and corporate background means she is ideally placed to meet the needs of the individual and the demands of the business.
Alicia Nahmad Vazquez is the founder of Architecture Extrapolated (R-Ex) and works as studio master at the Architectural Association Design Research Lab (AADRL).
As a research-based practising architect, Alicia explores materials and digital design and fabrication technology along with the digitization of building trades and the wisdom of traditional building cultures. Her projects include the construction of award-winning ‘Knit-Candela’ and diverse collaborations with practice and academic institutions on the development and construction of shell structures.
She holds a PhD in human-robot collaborative (HRC) design from Cardiff University. Alicia previously worked developing design tools for practices like Populous and Zaha Hadid architects. Alicia has also been an Artist-In-Residence at Autodesk Pier 9, and has taught and lectured extensively in Latin America and Europe. Her research has been widely published in internationally in journals and conference proceedings.
Catarina Marques Rodrigues is a multi-awarded journalist, host and moderator. Having worked with several organisations such as United Nations and European Commission, she is considered an expert in women's rights, diversity and inclusion. In 2020, Catarina was invited to Brussels by the European Parliament to attend a seminar about Gender Equality, in the occasion of International Women's Day. Prior to this event, she was appointed Ambassador for Human Rights of ID-Europa and nominated IVLP Alumni from the US Embassy in Lisbon. Her curriculum experience includes being a book author, podcast host and Journalism teacher at University Lusofona, in Portugal.
Magdalena's first role was within a mixed Mechanical Engineering and Project Controls team working on various projects, most notably ports and railways serving a mine in West Guinea Africa. After that she had the opportunity to work on major rail infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, where she had been responsible for the field assurance of a number of mechanical and public health packages. In the last two years Magdalena has worked as a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer across power and rail industries. Throughout her career she has been passionate about championing diversity and inclusion in the workplace, from office to construction site. In her time on Crossrail she had the opportunity to develop training workshops and organise STEM events on our construction sites.
Stephen is the Head of Programme for Mates in Mind, a framework to support construction companies in improving mental health & wellbeing. He is a specialist in the design, implementation and management of workplace health & wellbeing programmes and co-founder of the C3 Workplace Health Movement, a global networking body of HR and workplace health professionals. Stephen is also an advisor to the Mayor of London’s Healthy Workplace Charter as well as an assessor of London based organisations, examining and advising on the Healthy Workplace Charter standards. Stephen is also a member of the Time to Change Learning Peer Network, sharing good practice surrounding mental health.
Eloho started off in the construction industry as a document controller and within a few years has worked her way into becoming a Quantity Surveyor for Berkeley Group St Williams. Eloho is currently working on a multimillion pound residential project in South West London and is currently on their Commercial Academy which is aimed at fast tracking experienced individuals through the company. Eloho has a degree in Electronic Engineering and previous experience as a Jr Surveyor working in building services.
Eloho is a member of multiple organisations including the Worshipful Company of Constructors and the Black Professionals in Construction Network.
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