Angela Owen was commissioned into the British Army in 1976, she served in the UK, Germany and had tours in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’. She competed in the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in the 100m and 200m sprints, setting the Army 200m record in 1982 which she still holds.

Angela has always been passionate about helping women progress and founded Women in Defence UK in 2011, when she realised that despite the thousands of women working at all levels of UK defence, women seemed to be 'thinly spread‘. All too often, Angela was one of two or three women at defence conferences or gatherings. She formed the group to provide a platform for networking, discussion and the exchanging of ideas and experiences for women across the defence enterprise. Over the last few years, the group has interviewed the Chief of the General Staff, the First Sea Lord and the Air Member Personnel about their plans for maximising talent and broadening diversity in the Armed Forces and the Commandant General Royal Marines about women in the Commandoes. Since their inception in 2016, the Women in Defence UK Awards have attracted over 900 nominations from across the Armed Forces, MOD Civil Service, GCHQ, MI5, SIS, defence industry and the defence 3rd sector.

Angela spent 9 years as a defence expert with PA Consulting after leaving the Army and is now a Senior Advisor to PA on women in defence. She is a member of the CMI Women’s Board, a Vice Patron of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets Council, a judge for the CMI Management Book of the Year, has been a judge for the WeAreTheCity Rising Stars Awards and is regularly asked to chair panels with a diversity and inclusion theme and to speak on gender balance. An exceptionally proud mother of a son and daughter who have long since flown the roost, she is now an equally proud grandmother of a glorious grand-daughter!

After studying Political Science & Philosophy at The University of Birmingham and working part time for Richard Burden MP during her studies, Charlotte started her career working in Parliament for Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman QC MP in a number of roles. After five years with Harriet Harman, Charlotte moved to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) as their Parliamentary Advisor. After the NSPCC, Charlotte moved to Australia and worked for a Government Relations & Communications Consultancy and for a children’s charity in Sydney. She then worked in Cambodia on her way back to the UK, teaching English in an orphanage.

Charlotte is an RSA Fellow, Companion at the CMI, a trustee of The English Football League Trust and also a member of the Management Committee of Westminster House Youth Club in her local area. She is a keen golfer and cyclist, cycling from London to Paris for UK Youth in 2011 with the charities President Nigel Mansell CBE.

In 2012 Charlotte received the award of “Rising CEO Star” at The Charity Times Awards and in 2016 Charlotte became the Alumna of the Year for the University of Birmingham.

Jill is a senior executive and strategic engineer specialising in the energy sector. With over 30 years in the energy sector, she is an experienced leader of transformational large-scale engineering projects both in the UK and abroad that have successfully improved commercial outcomes and reduced environmental impact.

Jill is currently Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability across E.ON Renewables globally. The business develops, builds, and operates large offshore and onshore wind farms as well as solar farms and energy-storage systems across 7 countries in Europe & North America. E.ON is an international, privately owned energy supplier based in Essen, Germany, with a clear focus on Energy Networks, Customer Solutions, and Renewables.

Jill is a Chartered Engineer and an active Fellow of the Energy Institute. With a first degree in chemistry and a PhD in Material science, Jill is a strong believer in encouraging more women to progress in engineering and technology.

An energetic and engaging leader, Martin has delivered high growth across a number of consumer businesses in a range of countries and industries. He spent seven years at Procter & Gamble in a series of roles based in the UK, Switzerland and the US, including running the Ariel washing detergent franchise and launching Oral-B toothpaste. In 2008 Martin joined EDF Energy where he sat on the UK’s executive team which oversaw the £3 billion residential business. He established the EDF name in the UK, and led acquisition & retention of customers, product & proposition development, and digital platforms. Martin joined Nutmeg in 2015 and led a successful funding round in 2016 which brought $50m of new investment into the firm. He has overseen a period of transformation and rapid growth for the FinTech start-up.

Martin sits on the Lord Mayor’s Trust Advisory Group, focused on promoting ethical behaviour and building trust in the City. A champion of diversity and equality, Martin established Procter & Gamble’s first LGBT network in Geneva in 2004; he founded the UK’s first gay speed dating service; and he volunteers time to mentor for Diversity Role Models which aims to tackle LGBTQ bullying in schools. Martin was awarded a Fellowship of the Marketing Society in 2013, and won the Marketing Society "Grand Prix" award in 2015 for the turnaround of the EDF Energy business.

Martin grew up in north west London and completed A-Levels in English Literature, History and French at Mill Hill County High School. Following a year teaching English in rural China in 1995 he studied at Girton College, Cambridge, where he was awarded an MA (Cantab) in History. Martin still likes to practise his mandarin around China Town and enjoys the theatre and dining out. He is a city dweller and lives in Borough, but he finds himself happiest when up a mountain.

Heather Melville was appointed as the Director for Strategic Partnerships and Head of Business Inclusion Initiatives at RBS in January 2016, following a successful career in International sales, a role which leverages vast global client relationships together with her sector specialism especially within the Retail and Textile industry.

A graduate of the IBM business school, together with a wealth of international experience secured over a 30 plus year career in the world of finance, with the last 9 years primarily focused on the SME client base positioned her in a strong place to meet the evolving global challenges of her clients.

For a number of years, she has sat on the judging panel for the prestigious “UK Fashion & Textile Awards”, “The National Diversity Awards”, “We Are The City Rising Stars” as well as the “Brummel’s Top 30”. Through her partnership with the Latvian Chamber of Commerce in 2015, she is now a Patron and has been invited as a guest judge for this year’s International competition for young fashion designers within Europe.

The Founder and Global Chair of the RBS Focused Women’s Network, which is managed by volunteers, to date have Circ. 12,000 members in 33 countries. Not only does she sit on a number of internal and external diversity boards, in 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Women in Banking & Finance Award for Achievement under the category of Champion for Women, and in 2012 was also awarded the World of Difference 100 Award (TIAW) recognising her as one of the top 100 women worldwide who have made a difference to the economic empowerment of women.

Outside of the financial industry, having completed an executive coaching programme, Heather is a Career Coach and Mentor advising young people who are striving to be tomorrows Entrepreneurs. She represents RBS as a Non-Executive Director for Enterprise Enfield a business consultancy funded by the Government to help small businesses. As an established speaker Heather is regularly invited to speak at a number of global business forums, and is a Justice of the Peace.

I am a leading UK expert on the Gender and Equality and how to support women to progress in the workplace. I provide strategic advice to organisations and senior leaders on how to address the barriers for progression including the development of effective communication strategies.

I help employers enable more women to remain and progress in their workplace and close their gender pay gap and also design and implement diversity and Inclusion Strategies.

As the former head of policy at the Government Equalities Office I worked closely with Cabinet ministers and No10 . I have worked in several Government Departments and been responsible for a number of high profile, successful programmes, legislation and campaigns. These range from same sex marriage, violence against women and girls campaigns, maternity rights and action to increase the numbers of women and greater diversity in senior positions in business as well as in public and political life.

In the international arena I have represented the UK on gender and equality commitments, including negotiations for the UK and speaking at the United Nations, across the EU and at numerous international forums.

I have extensive practical experience of working with employers to deliver successful policies supporting women. I have overseen a wide range of business-facing initiatives which have helped women succeed in the workplace. I have been an advisor to major reviews such as Lord Davies' inquiry into increasing the numbers of women on top UK boards and more recently the Hampton Alexander Senior Women Leaders review. I established and has provided ongoing support to the Women’s Business Council, a government-backed, business-led initiative to help maximise women’s contribution to businesses and the UK economy.

I work extensively in the voluntary sector. I am the Chair of a Governing Body at a London school. I was awarded the OBE in 2008 for my work in the public and voluntary sector.

Jo is a chartered civil engineer and Practice Director at Atkins, member of the SNC-Lavalin Group. She is currently a senior leader in Atkins’ Transportation Engineering practice as Market Partner for Strategic Rail.

Jo has wide-ranging consultancy experience in both the Transportation and Energy sectors. She has worked for Atkins for 22 years, having joined as a graduate engineer after completing a Masters degree in Engineering from Cambridge University. With a technical background in bridge engineering, she has subsequently taken project management responsibility on several high profile multi-disciplinary projects. More recently, she has held senior roles in business operations, client key account management, business change and strategic capability development within the global Oil & Gas business. She has recently moved back into the Transportation sector, with a focus on the strategic rail market in the UK.

Jo is recognised in industry as a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and is a Companion of the CMI. She is a qualified executive coach and experienced mentor, and is passionate about improving Diversity & Inclusion in business. She has worked part-time for 16 years, and was listed in the Timewise 2014 Power Part Time Awards. Jo lives in West London, enjoys trying to keep up with her two teenage children and has recently taken up rowing.

A marketing professional with over 15 years’ experience in the technology sector specialising in services value proposition development. Highly motivated and driven to deliver strategic projects using effective stakeholder management, cross functional collaboration, analysis, and a creative problem-solving approach.

Multilingual and versatile leader with a broad range of expertise in service offering lifecycle management (from development, to launch to end of life), service revenue and cost management, strategy and operations, customer relationship management.

Very passionate about supporting women in their career progression. Volunteer board member of the Xerox Women’s Alliance (TWA). Also, regional board member of the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI) and champion of the CMI Women’s Advisory Board.