Charles Cotton is the senior adviser for performance and reward to the CIPD. He directs its reward research agenda and recently produced a survey on UK reward management. He is also responsible for the CIPD’s public policy work in the area of reward and has given evidence to select committees on banking pay executive remuneration and politicians’ expenses as well responding to various consultations, such as on pensions, retirement and corporate governance.

Charles frequently appears in the media commentating on reward and is often invited to present at events. You can follow Charles through Twitter (http://twitter.com/CharlesMCotton).

Vivienne is the CEO of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, the UK’s business-led voluntary framework, supported by Government to improve the representation of women on the Boards and Leadership teams of the FTSE 350 and 50 of the UK’s largest private companies.

Vivienne is also a NED and holds a number of expert advisory roles supporting businesses in their data, privacy and digital strategies, with a focus on AI and new technologies, anti-financial crime and equality & diversity.  Vivienne has over twenty five years experience in global financial and professional services sectors, including at the London Stock Exchange Group, Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters and Citibank. Vivienne is the AI and Data Lead at the International Business & Diplomatic Exchange, was chapter co-lead of the City of London “Vision for Economic Growth” report, and has advised UK government on international data transfer strategies.

Vivienne is an exceptional advocate for gender balance in business, is a Patron of Women in Finance Rwanda, and is the former CEO of Women in Banking and Finance. She was awarded an OBE for services to Financial Services and Gender Diversity in 2021.

Jennifer Thomas is a prominent diversity & inclusion and communications specialist with over 25 years combined experience in leading external and internal Communications as well as introducing and developing equity, diversity and inclusion strategies within various organisations.

She is currently the Global Head of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) leading the EDI strategy and agenda for LSEG. Jennifer was previously the Head of Communications for the Data & Analytics division of LSEG and prior to that she consulted at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to lead the next phase of their global diversity and inclusion strategy. She is also the Senior Independent Director for England Netball and UK Athletics.

Previous roles include Director of Internal Communications, Experience & Sustainability and Director of Financial Communications at Direct Line Group.

She also had a former career as a 400m runner and hurdler for England.

Joanna has held senior international Talent roles in blue chip and private equity organisations across multiple sectors before taking the decision to embark on a career change and follow her desire to work within equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Joanna is now a Director at WiHTL, Diversity in Retail and their boutique consultancy arm, inclusion in.

WiHTL and Diversity in Retail are Collaboration Communities that aim to support companies across the sector to create diverse and inclusive environments where anyone can thrive and reach their potential.

Joanna is also known as a keynote speaker on EDI and for her desire to make meaningful change.

Rose Sargent is the EDI Lead and an employment and skills policy adviser within Make UK’s policy directorate.

She was recently awarded a place on TAF’s ‘30 Under 30’ List for women in trade associations and was instrumental in the organisation and reporting of Make UK’s Industrial Strategy Skills Commission, which focused on issues with the Apprenticeship Levy and wider skills system for the manufacturing sector.

In her spare time, Rose volunteers as a speaker with Neurodiverse Sport, delivering workshops on improving neuroinclusive practice in this area. This year, she has spoken at British Rowing’s annual coaching conference in January and continues to raise awareness on her LinkedIn.

Michelle Gyimah is the founder and lead pay gaps strategist for the consultancy ‘Equality Pays’ whose remit is to help medium-sized organisations address their pay transparency challenges and close their pay gaps. She brings nuanced analysis to these complex issues, with a proven track record for clients like LinkedIn and L’Oreal.

A certified financial coach and a gender equality “LinkedIn Top Voice,” she also hosts the podcast ‘Pay Gap Strategies for HR Leaders’ and holds a Master’s in Human Rights from Manchester University.

Jenny is the founder of a leading pay gap reporting platform and an equity and inclusion consultant, specialising in closing pay gaps. As a registered Occupational Psychologist with CIPD credentials and a strong background in HR, she combines deep psychological insight with practical, data-driven approaches to workplace equity.

Drawing on years of expertise, Jenny partners with organisations to uncover and address pay disparities, translating complex data into actionable strategies. Her global career is shaped by an evidence-based commitment to advancing pay equity and embedding best-in-class DEI and wellbeing solutions for clients.

I lead our gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting services in the UK and Ireland and according to the Financial Times, I am an “expert” on gender pay gap reporting.

I help employers from all sectors – but particularly advertising, technology, retail and professional services – with all aspects of pay gap reporting.

I have years of experience at getting to the root causes of a pay gap and helping employers understand where, and how much, they need to change gender diversity to improve their gaps. I work with clients to carry out targeted interrogations of data, hypothesis testing, and tests against a range of additional statistics, so I can find where gaps are coming from I can help clients identify specific targeted measures that will have a meaningful impact on workplace diversity and reduce their gender pay gaps.

I also have a Masters degree in Statistics

Neil is the Director of HR and Communications for FTSE100 water company, Severn Trent with responsibility for the HR, communications, press and marketing teams.  Prior to joining Severn Trent his career has taken him across multiple industries and sectors, including media, retail, B2B and the public sector.

From his early career supporting the delivery of one of the first private finance partnerships in the NHS, through the introduction of pioneering ecommerce in retail, he has led organisation through significant change and was one of the leads in the global merger between Penguin and Random House, the largest merger in publishing history.

Neil sits on the Youth Futures Foundation Board and has previously served on the board of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development and the Board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. He was one of the inaugural members of the REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign and sits on the Social Mobility Commission’s Employer Panel.

Melanie joined Cardiff Business School in 2015 having previously held positions in the University of Sheffield and Swansea University.

Her research in empirical labour economics involves the quantitative analysis of large scale secondary data.  She has worked on a variety of policy relevant issues in collaboration with a range of external organisations including the Low Pay Commission and the Office of Manpower Economics the but has a particular interest in gender equality and the interaction between health and the labour market.

Her recent research has tried to answer questions such as Is the gender pay gap larger in the public or private sector? What can we learn from the narrow gender pay gap in Northern Ireland? Is there earnings discrimination against disabled individuals?  Do older workers have more accidents and injuries at work?  Do disabled individuals have a different perception of their treatment at work? She is committed to using this evidence to inform policy and practice such as through the collaboration disability@work: www.disabilityatwork.co.uk

The person behind Ofgem’s Disability Smart Award-winning Optimal Working Passport, the first digital workplace adjustment passport in the Civil Service, which streamlines how employees request accommodations, ensures quick approvals and maintains robust data security.

Charles Cotton is the senior adviser for performance and reward to the CIPD. He directs its reward research agenda and recently produced a survey on UK reward management. He is also responsible for the CIPD’s public policy work in the area of reward and has given evidence to select committees on banking pay executive remuneration and politicians’ expenses as well responding to various consultations, such as on pensions, retirement and corporate governance.

Charles frequently appears in the media commentating on reward and is often invited to present at events. You can follow Charles through Twitter (http://twitter.com/CharlesMCotton).