Speakers
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Professor Anand Menon Director, UK in a Changing Europe
Anand is a leading expert on the UK’s relationship with Europe, and on home and foreign affairs more widely. He is a Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, and the Director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank. In an academic career stretching over thirty years, he has taught and researched British and European politics at several leading universities and is a respected voice on EU-UK relations in the media. He introduces a fresh perspective on the future of the UK and its relations with its nearest neighbour and most important trade partner. Beyond the evolution of both UK domestic policy and UK-EU relations, Anand also examines what the future could hold for the EU itself – from expansion to economic growth to security – and the implications for the whole world.
Alongside regular appearances on radio and television, including Question Time and Newsnight, the Today programme and Analysis on Radio 4, he has written for many specialist foreign policy and political, as well as mainstream, publications including The Times, the FT, Le Monde, The Guardian, the Mirror and New Statesman.
Anand is also co-author of Brexit and British Politics, which delivers an objective exploration of the underlying reasons behind the Brexit vote, the relationship between people and politics, and the implications for democracy and democratic debate in the UK.
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Guillermo Donadini Independent Age
Guillermo is a seasoned insurance investment professional with over 30 years of experience. He serves as a Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee for Independent Age, a national charity providing support for older people facing financial hardship.
Previously, Guillermo worked as the Global CIO for General Insurance at AIG. In this role, he managed AIG’s extensive $100bn portfolio, spanning 50 countries, guiding strategic asset allocation and investment outcomes. His dynamic career encompasses senior leadership roles in international investment across Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific, offering a global perspective on the insurance and investment sectors.
Guillermo is a passionate advocate for diversity, equality, and inclusion, actively supporting Employee Resource Groups and upholding ethical standards. He invests in talent management, coaching, and mentoring, promoting high potential colleagues within the industry.
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Jenny Segal Motivational Speaker and Author
Jenny is passionate about improving workplace culture and has written three books on motivation at work: Building Better Workplace Cultures, Purpose & Hybrid Working and Board Effectiveness & Culture.
Jenny has had a long and varied career in finance, with a mathematics degree from Oxford University, qualifying as an actuary and working as a pensions and investment consultant. With her flair for management and communication, she specialised in leading sales teams for asset management companies, most recently as global head of distribution for Fidelity International.
A spat with cancer gave her a new perspective on purpose, and she now enjoys a portfolio career, encompassing public speaking, writing, consultancy, non-executive directorships, lecturing at King’s Business School and is an ambassador for The Diversity Project and Chief Investment Officer for Nesta Trust. Jenny spends her free time preparing for a piano diploma, running half-marathons and taking (what she hopes are) beautiful photographs.
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Patrick Alley Co-founder, Global Witness
Patrick co-founded Global Witness in 1995. Since then Global Witness has become a global leader in its field, described by Aryeh Neier, former President of the Open Society Foundations, thus: “Global Witness brings together the issues of human rights, corruption, the trade in natural resources, the role of banks, the arms trade, conflict. It is the only organisation that does this. Period.”
Patrick has taken part in over fifty field investigations in South East Asia, Africa and Europe and in subsequent advocacy activities. Patrick conceived several of Global Witness’ campaigns and focuses on corruption, conflict resources, forests and land, and environmental defenders. He is a board director of Global Witness and is involved in the organisation’s strategic leadership.
Alongside his two co-founders, Patrick received the 2014 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
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Professor Lewis Dartnell Research Scientist, Presenter, and Author
Lewis is a Science Researcher and Writer, and holds a Professorship at the University of Westminster. His research is in the field of astrobiology and the search for bacterial life beyond the Earth. Lewis explores how microbial life, and signs of its past existence, might survive the bombardment of cosmic radiation on the surface of Mars, and what are the best ways to try and detect it.
Lewis’ books include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World From Scratch, which discusses how to reboot civilisation after an apocalypse, and Origins: How The Earth Shaped Human History, which is a deep dive into how features of the planet have influenced the course of history. Origins has been translated into twenty-six languages, and a copy of The Knowledge even exists on the surface of the moon.
Lewis has appeared on BBC Horizon, Wonders of the Universe, Stargazing Live, and Sky at Night, as well as on the DVD extras for the sci-fi film Monsters. He acted as scientific consultant and scriptwriter for films including a full-dome planetarium show We Are Aliens, and documentaries with Brian Cox. Lewis has been interviewed on the BBC World Service, the Guardian Science Weekly podcast, talkSPORT and on Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC Radio 6 Music.
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Dawid Konotey-Ahulu Co-founder of mallowstreet
Dawid is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded Redington and mallowstreet with Robert Gardner. Dawid remains involved in mallowstreet as a Board Director.
Most recently Dawid co-founded The #10000BlackInterns programme with Jonathan Sorrell (President of Capstone Investment Advisers), Michael Barrington-Hibbert (founder of Barrington-Hibbert Associates), and Wol Kolade (Managing Partner of Livingbridge), the group which founded #100BlackInterns in August 2020.
Through the #100BlackInterns initiative, leading players in the investment management industry have come together to address the chronic underrepresentation of Black talent in that sector. Since its launch, the programme has garnered extraordinary support with 200 investment management companies offering internships in the Summer of 2021 to Black students in the United Kingdom as a way of attracting a more diverse range of talent to their industry.
Following the launch of #100BlackInterns, the #10000BlackInterns initiative has been designed to help transform the horizons and prospects of young Black people in the United Kingdom. The 10,000 Black Interns programme will offer paid work experience across a wide range of sectors, providing training and development opportunities and creating a sustainable cycle of mentorship and sponsorship for the Black community.
