CMI North East, Yorkshire & Humberside

Nathan Cole CMgr FCMI

Nathan is the Head of Trading and Commodity Risk Management at Drax, a power generation and biomass supply business. In this role, Nathan provides independent risk oversight of Drax’s Commercial division across the UK and North America this covers market, credit, and operational risks. He has completed a Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship and expects to complete his Executive Masters in Business Administration by October 2024.

Originally from Australia, Nathan moved to London 20+ years ago where he worked in the Banking sector at companies such as UBS, Credit Suisse, and Macquarie Bank both in London and Singapore. Nathan transferred his risk skills to the Energy sector in 2017, initially working for Centrica before moving to Yorkshire with his family in 2018 when he joined Drax.

Nathan is dyslexic and is proactive within and outside of Drax to raise more awareness of Neurodiversity more generally. He set up and was co-chair of Drax’s Neurodiversity Colleague Resource Group, has spoken at Energy conferences on both Risk and Neurodiversity in the workplace. As well as this, Nathan is a strong advocate and supporter of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion more broadly.

In his spare time, Nathan is an outdoor enthusiast, whether it is walking in the Dales, surfing in the North Sea or somewhere in between. He is also a keen touch rugby player having played in England’s national competition for Yorkshire

Sarah Maskell CMgr CCMI

HR and leadership professional, specialising in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Built on a solid foundation of nearly 20 years commissioned military service, Sarah’s varied career focuses on people and culture including roles leading on personnel practice, employment policy, international gender perspectives and a number of high profile activities towards proactive inclusion in other militaries. As a HR and latterly EDI Director Sarah moved into a global role in HSBC, then the UK Home Office as a Senior Civil Servant working on EDI Reform through the lens of Windrush and most recently at a large NHS Foundation Trust where she was exposed to the complex issues around health inequalities. Specialist skills have been developed across areas including employee pipeline and proposition including responsible recruitment, workforce planning, learning & development, talent management, corporate sustainability, risk and governance, wellbeing, retention and reward.

Working as a partner and active ally in developing employee networks from a policy perspective Sarah identified there was a gap in the provision to share opportunities, inspiration and experiences and in 2015 established a Women’s Inspirational Network Group to support RAF serving personnel and veterans which operates entirely virtually and currently has an active membership of over 3500 members. Since retiring from the military Sarah has channelled her voice into the veteran space and recently participated in the Military Afterlives project video campaign to create change around the perceptions and societal understanding of veterans. Sarah uses her position and connections to support the better distribution of opportunities and plays an active role in the Northern Power Women movement to support for women from, working in or living in the North; volunteers as a School governor and Trustee, and regularly acts as a judge for cross-sector recognition and award schemes.

Keen to work across a number of organisations to connect, celebrate and positively disrupt towards greater equity and inclusion Sarah founded an independent people consultancy which to date has included the delivery of learning content to a large government department, leading the facilitation of a global leadership evaluation and also contributing to horizon scanning research on ESG issues.  An active CMI Companion and advocate for inclusive management and leadership provision for all, Sarah will be taking on a role as Board Chair, North East, Yorkshire and Humberside Region in Autumn 23.

Leanne Pearce-Soanes MCMI

Leanne studied Zoology and Environmental Management before joining the Environment Agency where she is a operations manager and trained facilitator with a passion for coaching and communications.

As an advocate of lifelong learning and continuing professional development, Leanne has established a range of training days, courses and work packages to support staff from a range of disciplines to develop their technical leadership and transferable skills.  She is dedicated to delivering inclusive, relevant content and events, led by customer needs.

Joselyn Rankin FCMI fCMgr

Joselyn studied Sociology at Newcastle University before making the move towards specialising in marketing and communications. Having worked both agency and in-house, Joselyn helps organisations understand and challenge the status-quo, delivering confident and eloquent messaging in challenging situations.

With over a decade of experience, communications expert Joselyn is an award-winning media professional who combines a creative spirit with practical corporate knowledge.

Ever level-headed, she strives to provide consummate strategic support to brands and companies at times when they are most in need, specialising in corporate communications, crisis management and reputational damage.

Working as Head of Communications for Portakabin, Joselyn is currently studying for her CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership.

Amanda Reast CMgr MCMI MIC

Amanda joined the board in September 2024 and has worked in dentistry for 31 years both in nursing and management, she is a Business Manager for a multi award winning dental practice based in Leeds city Centre, The Dental Architect and has recently been awarded Practice Manager of the Year 2024.

Amanda has a passion for team development and growth and holds additional qualifications in coaching, mentoring and education and training and is a member of SET Society of Education and Training, she spends time outside her day to day role supporting managers in a mentoring capacity working towards Chartered status, as well as supporting peers at The Dental Architect Training Academy.

She is looking forwards to supporting managers in the Yorkshire area with both personal growth and that of there teams and hopes to support any challenges they may be facing.

Outside of work, Amanda is a busy mum of three boys. She likes to read, cook, travel, and spend time with family and friends.
She also loves a spot of retail therapy!

Dr Sarah Salahuddin CMgr FCMI

Sarah is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of experience in delivering technology and business change. She is a Senior Manager at the Financial Conduct Authority. Prior to joining the FCA in June 2023, she was with Lloyds Banking Group for 15 years in various roles.

Sarah is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and has been actively involved in leading D&I initiatives at workplace. She has recently been appointed as a Co-Chair of the gender network at the FCA. She is the Diversity & Inclusion Lead for the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) North East, Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Board where she is keen to raise awareness through working with CMI to help managers and members recognise the benefit that the diverse workforce can bring through not just diverse background but through diversity of thought, experience, and creativity. She is also a Trustee at Women’s Health Matters.

Sarah completed her Executive MBA at the Henley Business School in 2023 and also has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Sheffield. She currently resides in West Yorkshire with her husband and two young girls.