WorkPride 2024: The Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion

Speakers:

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  Emily Abbam ACIPD (she/her)

  Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  Rapport Guest Services

  Hi everyone! My name is Emily and my role is Head of DEI working for Rapport Guest Services. I believe in the importance of putting diversity, inclusion and equity at the heart of what we do and providing opportunities to educate, share diverse views and opinions and give back to the community. I also enjoy getting creative looking at ways to engage our teams with different events and initiatives. I understand the importance of investing in personal progression and have recently self-funded and completed my CIPD Level 5 Diploma in Learning and Development with Acacia Learning.

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  Natasha Whitehurst

  Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
  Rolls-Royce

  Hi there, I’m Natasha and I’m the Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Rolls-Royce. I have extensive experience within multiple industries, where I have gained operational and generalist HR experience, over the last 5 years I have specialised in Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. I’m an experienced speaker, facilitator and training professional, and use my own lived experience to help business leaders develop their own inclusion confidence. I co-founded and co-host ‘D&I Spy: Inclusion Uncovered’ a weekly podcast, taking inclusion back to basics, tackling often unspoken topics with a number of high-profile guests from the entertainment, sport and business worlds. I am experienced working with people and talent teams to establish more inclusive recruitment practices, and attracting diverse talent, which earned her a coveted spot on the Global Diversity List 2020.  I live in London, but a proud northerner. I have endometriosis from which I found a passion for running. I love reading and learning, often travelling to feed my curiosity.

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  Nikki Phinyapincha

  Founder
  TransTalents Consulting Group

  Nikki Phinyapincha (she/her) is the founder of TransTalents Consulting Group, Thailand's first LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace consulting firm, aiming to help transform the future of inclusive businesses by empowering LGBTQI+ employees through an ESG and sustainability framework. She helps multisectoral businesses to reframe their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) policy and practices to thrive profitably and purposefully. She believes in the power of communication to connect and collaborate people for "all" people. As a former PR director for 8 years specializing in branding and communication, she becomes a DE&I speaker, advocating for transgender professional leadership on both the national and international stage, challenging the status quo of traditional social stigma and the business community. She is also the chair of the PRCA APAC Pride Network, the country director of the ASEAN Youth Advocate Network, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI PFP) 2022 awarded by US government and recently the Future List 100 by Koktail magazine. She also plays basketball and competes in the Spartan Race, fills her brain with people and power management books/podcasts, and has a network obsessed with growth.

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  Angela Qithi

  EMEA Inclusive Talent Advisory & Global C&I Strategic Partne
  Oracle

  I am a Global Strategic Partnerships Leader and Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Leader at a Fortune 500 company. In addition, a Masters class part time University Lecturer at a top 5 University in Africa. I have over 15 years of experience leading Human Resources, Culture transformation, Talent Management, Employer Branding and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion teams in alignment to organisational strategies. This is evident in the impact I made at the notable, successful and listed organisations I have worked at. I was awarded the best overall achiever for my Master of Commerce: Human Resources and Labour Relations qualification by the South Africa Board of People Practices at the University of Pretoria. I am on the Dean’s prestigious list awarded at the Economic Management Sciences Faculty at UP. I am also qualified in Commercial Business Management and enabling the people side of mergers & acquisitions. I have over the years successfully established and led new functions, business branches, employee resource groups, affinity groups locally and globally. My professional experience and qualifications have moulded me to be the bridge between business and people strategies whilst leveraging technology to enable an inclusive and equitable culture. My love for technology and ability to make it a business enabler whilst leading and developing others is the reason I am also a HR Data Metrics and Analytics Lecturer for Masters Commercial students at one of the top universities in South Africa. Generally, I am good at knowledge sharing. My overall life purpose is to take Black girls to school all over the world. This was inspired by me being a recipient of many bursaries and scholarships growing up. I aim to pay that forward by partnering with corporates as part of their sustainability goals. Personally, I love life. I am a natural networker, socialist and collaborator which makes me able to engage at all business levels, across different continents and industries.

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  Rhodri Evans

  D&I Lead
  BBC

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