Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Thursday 14th & Friday 15th November 2024 | Diageo HQ, London
Missed out on the day?
Catch up on The Changemakers Summit 24 here!
A huge thank you to our photographers, Louise Morris, Mia Klodowska, & Leilana Mallard-Shaw, and our videographer, Harry Howells!
Watch the highlights
Hear what our members said!
About The Changemakers Summit
The Changemakers Summit 2024 was a premier event for networking with female changemakers, offering a unique platform where innovation, inspiration, and influence converge.
Here's why it was the place to be in Autumn 2024:
🧠 Unparalleled Networking opportunities
Diverse Attendees: The Changemakers summit brought together women leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators from various industries and backgrounds, fostering a rich environment for collaboration and connection.
High-Profile Speakers: We engaged with influential women who have successfully driven change in their fields, offering insights that can spark new ideas and partnerships.
Interactive Sessions: We participate in workshops, panel discussions, and roundtables that were designed to facilitate meaningful interactions and networking opportunities.
💡 Access to Cutting-Edge Ideas
Innovative Solutions: Attendees were exposed to the latest trends and breakthroughs in change, transformation, social impact, sustainability, technology, and leadership, providing fresh perspectives and actionable strategies.
Inspirational Stories: We heard from women and men who have overcome significant challenges to create lasting change, inspiring attendees to apply these lessons to their own ventures.
📈 Long-Term Impact and ROI
Building Strategic Partnerships: The connections made at the Changemakers Summit lead to long-term collaborations, joint ventures, and business opportunities that extend far beyond the event itself.
Thought Leadership: By participating in or supporting the event, you position your organisation as a leader in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, which can enhance your reputation and drive business growth.
💪 Empowerment and Social Responsibility
Supporting a Cause: Investing in attending the Changemakers summit is also an investment in a broader movement to empower women, promote diversity, and drive social change, aligning with corporate social responsibility goals.
The Change Makers Summit 2024 was a catalyst for meaningful connections, innovation, and impact. By participating, you positioned yourself at the forefront of change, with the potential to drive both immediate and long-term rewards for your business and the wider community.
Interested in sponsoring the Changemakers Summit? Download the information pack here.
Agenda
Day 1: Thursday 14th November
08:30 - 09:15
Arrived and had Breakfast
09:15 - 09:30
Welcome Speech
From Founder & CEO of Women in Change and our Sponsor, Diageo
09:35 - 10:00
2M Steps
Stephen Johnson, Managing Director, Quooker
We discovered how Stephen embarked on a remarkable journey, walking an astonishing 2 million steps to raise £50,000 for the Grief Encounter Charity. But that wasn’t all – he’s revolutionising the engineering side of Quooker by shaking things up and leading the charge to bring more women into the industry!
10:05 - 11:00
The Top 3 Change Challenges: Fireside Chat with Lou Robey, our MD of Women in Change
Lou Robey was joined by panelists Monica Calinescu (WIC Awards winner), Polina Mironova (Virgin Paysend), Michael Hughes (Change Right) and Angela O'Brien (WIC Awards winner).
11:00 - 11:30
Break & Networking
11:30 - 12:30
How & Why We Must Redefine Life after 50
Lyndsey Simpson, 55/Redefined
Lyndsey Simpson revealed why the time is now to revolutionise life after 50. Inspired by her firsthand encounters with ageism across finance, HR, and consumer brands, and by the groundbreaking research from Professor Andrew Scott’s ‘The 100-Year Life’, Lyndsey is challenging outdated views of aging. With longer life expectancies and a new era of health and wellness, she’s calling for an urgent reframing of expectations and attitudes toward growing older. Discover how 55/Redefined is shaping the future of aging for the modern generation!
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch
13:30 - 14:15
There were Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions ran twice on each day, which gave you the choice of two sessions of the three.
Session 1: Breaking Through the Internal Glass Ceiling with Eunice Aquilina, Impact Coach and Author
Dr. Eunice Aquilina, a certified somatic coach and author, delivered an empowering session designed to help women leaders unlock their potential by embracing their inner wisdom. Drawing from her global experience, Eunice creates spaces for authentic connection, guiding women to transcend their past and discover purpose. Through somatic coaching, women learnt how small shifts in posture and breath can enhance leadership presence and break through internal barriers. This session offers practical tools to align with your authentic self, redefine success, and lead with purpose from within.
Session 2: Navigating and Nurturing a Multigenerational Workforce with The Curve Group
We are living and working in a historic era. For the first time in recent history, five generations are simultaneously active in the workforce. We explored the challenges and opportunities that this presents. How does the way we lead need to change? What are the new expectations on leaders, what are the areas of focus to maximise the potential of everyone. We explored the power of listening to be able to lead with authenticity. What are the stereotyped ideologies, preferences and motivations that exist? Are they fair? Lastly we discussed your employer brand and how to elevate this to both attract and retain a multi-generational workforce and foster a diverse and inclusive environment in which all can thrive.
Session 3: World Class Cultures – How to get them (and how to keep them!) with Wayne Clarke from GGI Group
We looked at...
• A Transformation Framework: A simple and effective approach to transform organisational culture, ensuring measurable outcomes and engagement at all levels.
• Management Insights: Sharing insights from research conducted with managers worldwide to offer a comprehensive view on effective management practices.
• Key Management Areas: Discuss critical areas such as strategy, communication, personal growth, client relations, and leadership, emphasising their impact on creating a positive work culture.
• Engagement and Growth: The importance of employee engagement at every level, understanding financial operations, and strategies for retention.
• Vision and Leadership: The significance of a clear and exciting company vision and our role in this as leader.
14:15 - 14:30
Break & Networking
14:30 - 15:15
We had Breakout Sessions
Session 1: Breaking Through the Internal Glass Ceiling with Eunice Aquilina, Impact Coach and Author
Dr. Eunice Aquilina, a certified somatic coach and author, for an empowering session designed to help women leaders unlock their potential by embracing their inner wisdom. Drawing from her global experience, Eunice creates spaces for authentic connection, guiding women to transcend their past and discover purpose. Through somatic coaching, we learnt how small shifts in posture and breath can enhance leadership presence and break through internal barriers. This session offers practical tools to align with your authentic self, redefine success, and lead with purpose from within.
Session 2: Navigating and Nurturing a Multigenerational Workforce with The Curve Group
We are living and working in a historic era. For the first time in recent history, five generations are simultaneously active in the workforce. We explored the challenges and opportunities that this presents. How does the way we lead need to change? What are the new expectations on leaders, what are the areas of focus to maximise the potential of everyone. We explored the power of listening to be able to lead with authenticity. What are the stereotyped ideologies, preferences and motivations that exist? Are they fair? Lastly we discussed your employer brand and how to elevate this to both attract and retain a multi-generational workforce and foster a diverse and inclusive environment in which all can thrive.
Session 3: World Class Cultures – How to get them (and how to keep them!) with Wayne Clarke from GGI Group
We’ll look at...
• A Transformation Framework: A simple and effective approach to transform organisational culture, ensuring measurable outcomes and engagement at all levels.
• Management Insights: Sharing insights from research conducted with managers worldwide to offer a comprehensive view on effective management practices.
• Key Management Areas: Discuss critical areas such as strategy, communication, personal growth, client relations, and leadership, emphasising their impact on creating a positive work culture.
• Engagement and Growth: The importance of employee engagement at every level, understanding financial operations, and strategies for retention.
• Vision and Leadership: The significance of a clear and exciting company vision and our role in this as leader.
15:15 - 15:45
Break & Networking
15:45 - 16:30
Culture & Different Cultural Dynamics
Verity Cameron, Digital & Technology Regional Director, Diageo
Verity covered all the implications for delivering change into organisations.
The Power of Play
Shaun Jones, LEGO Practitioner
As businesses face increasingly complex challenges, leveraging creativity becomes essential. Integrating play through methods like Lego® Serious Play® can stimulate our brains, create new neural pathways, and foster a culture of creativity and innovation. By reintroducing play into the workplace, businesses can enhance their problem-solving capabilities and navigate complexity with resilience and ingenuity.
16:30 - 17:00
17:00 - 17:30
Reflections, Takeaways & Final close
Sarah Bar-Lev & Lou Robey
17.30 - 19.30
Networking
Day 2: Friday 15th November
08:30 - 09:15
Arrival and Breakfast
09:15 - 09:30
Welcome Speech
From Founder & CEO of Women in Change and our Sponsor, Diageo
09:30 - 10:00
Change your Story - Change your World
Preethi Nair, acclaimed author and leadership consultant.
Women were left inspired by the incredible journey of Preethi Nair as she unveils how your personal narrative has the power to transform your life.
From facing countless obstacles to self-publishing her own book, launching a successful change consultancy, and becoming an accomplished author and speaker, Preethi’s story is a testament to the limitless potential of ambition, risk, and determination.
This was a powerful reminder that no matter the odds, you can achieve anything you set your mind to!
10:00 - 11:00
How can you reduce and manage pressure when change is speeding up?
Sara Milne Rowe, Founder of Coaching Impact, author of The SHED Method and host of the Better Under Pressure podcast.
Sara shared ways to embrace inevitable and unpredictable changes in an increasingly complex and ambiguous business landscape whilst boosting vitality, performance, and positive impact.
With more than two decades of coaching and experimenting with clients, leaders and teams, Sara will describe real examples and practices from personal experience and Coaching Impact client stories.
Her aim was to help you to identify a few, ready -to-use practical ways to lead yourself and enable others to prevail achieve more, learn faster and grow stronger – whatever the pressure.
11:00 - 11:30
Break & Networking
11:30 - 12:30
Keynote Speech
Juile Fullerton, Senior Brand Manager, Diageo
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch
13:30 - 14:15
We had Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions ran twice on each day, giving you the choice of two sessions of the three.
Session 1: “The Sound of Breaking Glass”.
Using the powerful VoicePrint framework, Make Waves introduced you to the 9 critical voice modes that can enhance how you communicate and influence others, even under stress or pressure.
Women had the opportunity to learn how to identify and use the distinct voice modes that make us human, how emotions and stress affect our communication style, key differences between male and female voice preferences, tips on adapting your communication across cultures and contexts.
Session 2: Diversity & Inclusion: How to Make a Difference with Bernie Davies.
We had the opportunity to uncover the main source of unconscious bias, discover your privilege and power, learn allyship actions and be equipped to make a difference with Bernie's inspiring insights
Session 3: Climbing Together: Navigating the Peaks of Change with Alex Lazarus
Women embarked on an extraordinary journey with leadership expert and business psychologist Alex Lazarus as she transports you to the majestic Andes mountains. Drawing from her intense challenge trek with Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, Alex shares parallels of navigating unmarked trails, facing sudden weather shifts, and dealing with the scarcity of oxygen at high altitudes with the intricate process of leading organisational change.
It was an interactive session, Alex used vivid storytelling and striking visuals to draw powerful parallels between the challenges of mountain climbing and the journey of leading through change. She explores how establishing a solid "basecamp"—a foundation of trust and shared vision—is crucial when embarking on transformative endeavours. Participants delved into the experience of navigating uncertainty and overcoming obstacles that can leave teams feeling out of breath. Through engaging activities, women discovered actionable strategies to build resilience, foster teamwork, and effectively bring your people along as you ascend the peaks of change together.
14:15 - 14:30
Break & Networking
14:30 - 15:15
Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions will ran twice on each day, giving you the choice of two sessions of the three.
Session 1: “The Sound of Breaking Glass”.
Using the powerful VoicePrint framework, Make Waves introduced you to the 9 critical voice modes that can enhance how you communicate and influence others, even under stress or pressure.
Women learnt how to identify and use the distinct voice modes that make us human, how emotions and stress affect our communication style, key differences between male and female voice preferences, tips on adapting your communication across cultures and contexts.
Session 2: Diversity & Inclusion: How to Make a Difference with Bernie Davies.
We had the opportunity to uncover the main source of unconscious bias, discover your privilege and power, learn allyship actions and be equipped to make a difference with Bernie's inspiring insights
Session 3: Climbing Together: Navigating the Peaks of Change with Alex Lazarus
Women embarked on an extraordinary journey with leadership expert and business psychologist Alex Lazarus as she transports you to the majestic Andes mountains. Drawing from her intense challenge trek with Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, Alex shares parallels of navigating unmarked trails, facing sudden weather shifts, and dealing with the scarcity of oxygen at high altitudes with the intricate process of leading organisational change.
It was an interactive session, Alex used vivid storytelling and striking visuals to draw powerful parallels between the challenges of mountain climbing and the journey of leading through change. She explores how establishing a solid "basecamp"—a foundation of trust and shared vision—is crucial when embarking on transformative endeavors. Participants will delve into the experience of navigating uncertainty and overcoming obstacles that can leave teams feeling out of breath. Through engaging activities, women discoverd actionable strategies to build resilience, foster teamwork, and effectively bring your people along as you ascend the peaks of change together.
15:15 - 15:45
Break & Networking
15:45 - 16:30
The Future of Change
Featuring four industry experts & Lou Robey, MD of Women in Change.
Lou was joined by panelists Jackie Naghten, Nilema Bhakta-Jones, Dr Ashwin Mehta, & Sophie Di Clemente
We stepped into the future with a thought-provoking panel discussion led by four dynamic industry experts who are shaping the way we approach transformation. From groundbreaking innovations to the challenges of navigating global shifts, this conversation will dive deep into the strategies, trends, and bold ideas driving change across industries. Whether you’re a leader or a change-maker, this is your opportunity to gain cutting-edge insights and discover what’s next in the ever-evolving landscape of change!
16:30 - 17:00
Reflections, Takeaways & Final close.
Sarah Bar-Lev & Lou Robey