Speakers
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Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE DL 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.
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Helen Dean Chair, Standard Life Master Trust
Helen has spent her working life working in government and in financial services, where she has focussed on improving financial resilience for individuals and families across the UK.
After studying Psychology, Helen started her career in Government where she developed the policy and legislation for the pension reforms that led to auto enrolment and the establishment of National Employment Savings Trust (Nest). Helen moved to work at Nest which launched in 2012, and after undertaking a variety of Executive roles at Nest, in 2015 she was appointed as CEO. Helen led Nest through a period of substantial and rapid growth where the membership rose from 2 million to over 13 million people and pension assets grew from £600m to over £40b.
Helen cares deeply about delivering great outcomes for savers through sustainable and responsible investment, connecting with the new cohort of savers generated by auto enrolment and about promoting diversity across financial services industry. She is a mentor to younger professionals, offering guidance and coaching. Helen’s early life, growing up on a council estate in Newcastle Upon Tyne, followed by several years working in local benefit offices across London left her with a passionate interest in addressing financial inequalities and promoting financial resilience across society.
Helen left Nest in 2024, and she is now Chair of the Standard Life Master trust pension scheme, a Trustee and Board member of Step Change debt charity, she is also Chair of the Your Island Pension, the scheme which the government of Guernsey has established for their new programme of auto enrolment into pensions and she is also a Non-Executive Director of the Scottish Government.
Helen was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for her services to pension saving.
