Sara Mcracken

Sara McCracken

Sara McCracken is an award-winning communications specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in different areas including environment, health, education, politics, equestrian and agri-rural businesses. She has worked in a range of businesses – a trade union, charities, political party, membership organisations and an alpaca farm.

Sara has been involved in activist campaigns including smoke free workplaces; organ donation; minimum pricing of alcohol; chest, heart and stroke illnesses; care of older people; education; children and young people; mental health; and the environment. She also co-found Women in PR Northern Ireland in 2018.

Sara led the CIPR double-award winning Revive our World campaign for RSPB NI, which resulted in climate change legislation being passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

 

Anthony Taylor

Anthony Taylor 

Anthony Taylor is a mental skills and leadership coach and facilitator who specialises in evidence based transformational solutions that help people, teams, and organisations make the most of their talent. 

He brings the experience of a 20-year career across the private and public sector both nationally and internationally. He was Head of Communications in both public and private sector organisations and ran a successful publishing company in the Caribbean.

Anthony has been coaching since 2006 and has coached leaders from the US to Australia. Over the last five years Anthony has worked with clients across numerous sectors including social housing, professional services, automotive, public sector, armed forces, retail, construction, energy and technology.

He specialises in working with forward-thinking companies who are concerned about improving the performance of their people while preserving their mental well-being. He is an accomplished and regular speaker about the role of mindset in leadership and team work. He is a qualified coach, a member of the EMCC, holds various accreditations in a variety of psychometrics and is a Master Practitioner in Emotional Intelligence through the Institute of Leadership.

Nichole McGill Higgins MCC

Nichole McGill-Higgins is an international best-selling author, visionary thought leader, dynamic global keynote speaker, Soul Transformation Therapist, founder of BEE-Longing by Nichole McGill-Higgins and Changez.Life, facilitating her signature programs in the diversity, inclusion, and belonging space, using a coaching and co-creation methodology. Partnering with clients and organisations to create cultures where everyone is/feels included. ‘It shouldn’t have to happen to you to matter to you!’ – Danielle Coke

“I believe if we’re radically honest with who we are, where we’re from, and become more willing to have dialogue based upon curiosity and openness and develop a genuine awareness that “more connects us, than separates us”, we are on our way to unpacking and cultivating a more inclusive experience of what it is to be human and what belonging means to ourselves in relation to everything else. Belonging, equity, balance and inclusion are the results of deep inner work and a willingness to challenge the status quo and power structures. We talk about dismantling beliefs and removing masks and societal labels that keep us hidden or compartmentalised but how does we do this work? It is important to dig deep into generational, societal, cultural, religious, and systemic beliefs. Stereotypes and assumptions don’t upgrade themselves; we have the responsibility to ensure that Human frameworks replace institutional structures so that learnt behaviours don’t go unchecked to become habits and “unconscious triggers”.

Her Soul’s mission is to help individuals and leaders deepen their emotional landscapes to challenge current beliefs and truths in order to foster a fresh way of thinking about inclusivity and connection. It is through radical self-awareness, empathy, and accountability that transformational conversations can take place making our lived experiences safe to share, be seen, heard, validated, and witnessed.

Nichole has worked with corporate, non-profit, educational, and private sector clients bringing her engaging methodologies, coaching and storytelling skills to start and further the important journey of Bee-longing.

Tony Cash

Tony Cash

Tony Cash is an expert on policy, strategy and regulatory best practice. He is a former civil servant and his roles included Head of Strategy and Communications for the Joint Trade Policy Unit and Deputy Director of the Department for Business internal training team. He has trained people in strategic thinking, policy making best practice, and better regulation across the UK and overseas.

Helen Eaton

Helen Eaton

Helen Eaton is an engaging and enthusiastic Neurodiversity specialist with 20 years’ experience of designing and delivering leadership and communication skills training across IT, defence, retail and public sector organisations.

Helen’s work very much celebrates the strengths of Neurodiversity, and the power and creativity of neurodivergent minds. Her Neurodiversity in the Workplace training sessions have been well received as she combines an understanding of neurodiverse teams and organisations with lived experience and relevant real-life stories.

She has extensive experience of supporting children, teens and adults with neurodevelopmental differences, giving her a solid understanding of the lifelong day to day impact of these conditions.

Alongside this, she has published two Autism books, spoken at a National Autistic Society conference, and been  guest speaker on BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth show and Anna Kennedy OBE’s Women’s Radio Station show.

Luan Wise PNG - 300 x 300

Luan Wise

Luan Wise is a chartered marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) with over 25 years’ experience working in agency, client-side and consultancy roles. Luan has worked with organisations across B2B ad B2C, public and private sector plus not-for-profit – bringing a wealth of experience and insights to her training courses. A recognised specialist in the world of social media, Luan is a course instructor for LinkedIn Learning, an accredited lead trainer for Meta and the author of multiple award-winning books.

rob neil obe

Rob Neil OBE

Rob Neil OBE was elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum – an umbrella network of BAME Staff Networks – in September 2016, ending his tenure at CSRF in 2018 and continues to support the CSRF as an advisor. Rob chaired the MoJ’s Diverse Leaders Taskforce in support of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy until March 2019 and after 35 years with the MoJ departed in April 2019 to support the Department for Education [DfE] with Embedding Culture Change.

Rob was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’ and was also the inaugural winner of Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in Nov 2018.

Rob departed the public sector to launch his own consultancy Krystal Alliance supporting organisations across all sectors to be more inclusive. In October 2021 Rob was included in HR Magazine’s list of fifty ‘Most Influential Thinkers’.

Susan Rome PhD ACC FInstCPD

Susan is a professional leadership and performance coach with expertise in the healthcare industry. With more than 20 years’ experience in global medical communications, extensive experience in team development and leadership, and a seasoned strategist, Susan is adept at swiftly getting to the heart of the matter and supporting individuals and teams to achieve stretching professional and personal goals.
As an executive coach and mentor, Susan has worked with C-suite, mid-level leaders and subject matter experts to live their values through their work, achieve their full potential, and increase their influence and impact. Susan’s approach focuses on her understanding of neuroscience and positive psychology to explore her client’s values, raise awareness, and instil the motivation and commitment to achieve meaningful change.
Susan has her professional coaching certification from The Coaching Academy, with whom she is additionally accredited in DISC Personality Profiling. She holds ACC accreditation with the International Coaching Federation and Coach of Excellence accreditation from the CPD Standards Office. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of CPD. Outside of her professional development qualifications, Susan has a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology and a PhD in Clinical Neurology.

Chris Grose

Chris Grose

Chris Grose provides specialist support to a variety of organisations such as local authorities, housing providers and the police in key areas such as Customer Service, tackling Anti-Social Behaviour, Safeguarding, Domestic Abuse, Housing Management, Housing Law, Governance, Consumer Regulation, and much more. Chris has held operational and senior positions at various organisations including an Arms Length Management Organisation, The Chartered Institute of Housing and a leading national law firm Capsticks LLP. Chris sits on the CIH South West Board, and has also worked closely with the Home Office in the development of the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014, giving evidence at the House of Commons Select committee and advising peers in the House of Lords.

Helen Dyer

Helen Dyer

Helen Dyer is a member of the Caldicott Guardian Council, she joined the Council in 2015. She is the clinical director at Checked Ltd and the Caldicott Guardian for a children’s domiciliary care provider. Her specialist field is continuing healthcare and children’s continuing care. She is passionate about helping individuals to navigate the continuing care maze so that they can receive the levels of care that they need to thrive and reach their full potential.

Tom Bell

Tom is an author, business consultant, trainer, and former NHS manager. He uses his unique mix of learned, lived, and professional experience to support healthcare organisations provide safe services. A regular speaker at the annual Patient Safety Congress Tom was invited to comment on NHS culture for Newsnight and LBC in the wake of the Lucy Letby case. He has sat on numerous steering groups contributing to nationally significant topics including Open Government, the Justice System, and NHS leadership. He believes improvement begins with understanding and our ignorance is the greatest enemy we face.

Tom has authored two books, No Wealth But LifeWhat’s Gone Wrong with Healthcare in Britain & How We Can Save the NHS (2023) and Lions, Liars, Donkeys and Penguins – The Killing of Alison (2020), a critically acclaimed true story of the events preceding the suicide of his sister following abuse by a nurse in an NHS mental health hospital. He is an AQUA (Advancing Quality Alliance) Associate, an NHS Leadership Academy Facilitator, and a patient safety partner.

deborah barnet

Deborah Barnett

Deborah Barnett is a published author of articles and books relating to safeguarding adults and self-neglect / hoarding. Deborah is the independent chair and author of Safeguarding Adult Reviews and Domestic Homicide Reviews and provides Safeguarding Adults Boards with consultancy services. Deborah is qualified to act as an expert practitioner in equality and diversity for court purposes, qualified as a social worker, teacher and manager and has also worked as a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment (MARAC) Chair. Training and consultancy are services that Deborah provides.  

Human Rights, ethical consideration and evidence-based decision making are central to Deborah’s practice.   

George Rhodes

George Rhodes

George is an experienced and award winning public sector professional having worked with Central and Local Government, Universities, Colleges, Schools, NHS, Police Forces, Fire & Rescue Services and more to deliver value for money, effective and secure IT services. For several years George’s focus has been on the delivery of accessible and inclusive services for all citizens. Known for his extensive knowledge on UK accessibility legislation, he is the author of the only example of monitoring accessibility statements in Europe and his work on both statements and disproportionate burden misuse has been discussed by the European Commission as an exemplar for delivering accessibility for public services. George is a well recognised speaker, having delivered talks up and down the country including; TechShare Pro 2019 and 2020, events for UCISA, the BCS , the All Party Parliamentary Group for Assistive Technologies and the European Disability Forum. Alongside his Co-Founder Ben Watson, George has led a county wide initiative to improve accessibility of public sector organisations. The result of the initiative created the Lexdis Digital Accessibility Toolkit, an award winning set of free resources to help people improve their digital accessibility. His years of involvement with academia have seen George guest lecturing about accessibility as part of Computer Science curriculums and help set best practice for accessibility in educational materials. George and Ben are now engaged in research directing the Further Education sector on accessibility. In his spare time George studies for a PhD to develop improvements for tactile maps used in navigation.