ADVISORY PANEL
Bobbi Pickard
CEO, Trans in the City
Bobbi Pickard is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional with senior experience in banking, trading, technology, and energy. She is CEO of Trans in the City, a global collaboration of 350+ major organizations promoting trans awareness. A sought-after speaker, she advocates for LGBTQIA+ inclusion worldwide. Bobbi is a Patron of FFLAG, a Stonewall Housing Champion, an EDI Associate at the Wellcome Trust, and a UN delegate. She has won numerous awards, including Stonewall’s Changemaker of the Year 2022, and has raised over £500K for LGBTIQA charities. She plays guitar, bass, and sings, enjoys
painting, and lives in Wiltshire with her Cavapoo, Poppy.
Claire Harvey MBE
Global Head of Inclusion, Wellbeing and Engagement, TP ICAP
Claire brings years of public sector, regulatory, corporate and third sector leadership experience, and an impressive record of impact and achievement through positive disruption and culture change. Her passion is the future of work: working with schools, universities and corporate workplaces, and ensuring that young people are ready to be great leaders of the future in organisations that have positive cultures. Coupled with a fascinating sporting record as a Paralympian, Claire’s personal and career journey provides a powerful credibility and capability to influence culture in organisations that few others can. Her strong interpersonal skills combine with her style as a proactive and personable leader to empower individuals to take ownership and implement meaningful change for themselves and their organisations.
Craig Darroch
Leadership and Culture Director, Centrica
Craig started his career in the water industry in various operational and engineering roles designing and running water treatment plants. He had more of a passion for helping others learn so moved into learning and development roles initially on the technical side before retraining and focussing on organisational and culture change. Craig then moved into various roles and sectors over the last 25 years and is currently the Leadership and Culture Director at Centrica, where he leads a team focussing on driving change in Leadership, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, and Organisational Effectiveness. Craig lives in Glasgow with his partner Jaimie, and they have been together for 23 years after meeting at a local LGBTQ youth group. Craig enjoys supporting his local rugby team, the Glasgow Warriors, and when not at a game is usually travelling somewhere to
meet friends throughout the UK.
Holly Addison
Co-founder, Balance the Board
Holly is a highly experienced talent advisor with 30 years in executive search and leadership consulting, including senior partner roles at global firms Korn Ferry, Odgers Berndtson and latterly Leathwaite. A passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, she has a strong track record of helping organisations build high-performing boards and senior leadership teams. She is a qualified coach and Co-Founder of Balance the Board, an organisation dedicated to supporting women breaking through to Board and C-Suite level, where she focuses on developing confident, impactful leaders. Holly is a Non-Executive Director of The PM Trust and Chair of the Communications committee for the Disability Confident Business Leaders Group. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Walt Disney organisation in the USA, London and Paris.
Irada Aghamaliyeva
Global Senior Inclusion Technology Business Partner, Amazon
Irada Aghamaliyeva serves as Global Senior Inclusion Technology (IXT) Business Partner at Amazon, where she drives inclusion, diversity, and equity initiatives across 28 countries spanning EMEA, APAC, LATAM, and the US, while leading the DEI agenda for Data Centre Operations across more than 300 data centres globally. Her extensive career includes six years leading DEI at EY MENA, seven years in telecommunications across Eurasia, and key roles in major sporting events including the London Olympics and European Games. Passionate about unveiling the human side of business, she focuses on creating inclusive experiences through advanced technology and AI, while addressing future work implications on workplace equity. Irada holds a BSc in Chemical Technology Engineering from State Oil Academy and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Middlesex University.
James Brandon
Director | UK DEI and Responsible Business, CBRE
James drives DE&I practice across CBRE UK Advisory. James has arrived in the commercial property after a 10-year career in culture, sport and mental health. James has worked closely with different types of communities to platform their voices and mediate the relationships between ‘institutions’ and those marginalised by them. Taking a coaching and mediation approach James has delivered on a range of policy changes based on the listening to what our communities tell us. From enhancements in family friendly working practices, introduction of Carers Leave and guidance resources like ‘Coming Out’ and ‘Work and Cancer’.
Jess Mahon
People Partnering Director, Flutter UK & Ireland
​Jessica Mahon is People Partnering Director at Flutter UK & Ireland, partnering with senior leaders to shape inclusive, high-performing teams and cultures where everyone can thrive.
A passionate advocate for equity and belonging, Jess champion's Free To Be Me - one of Flutter UK & Ireland's core values, ensuring it is brought to life through processes and environments where people feel confident bringing their whole selves to work.
With over 15 years’ experience in HR and organisational development, Jess is delighted to serve as a judge for the British Diversity Awards, celebrating those driving genuine, lasting impact in diversity and inclusion.
Krishna Omkar
Head of Delivery, Digital Markets Infrastructure, LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)
Krishna leads product delivery and operations for LSEG Digital Markets Infrastructure. A former Corporate/M&A lawyer at Magic Circle/White Shoe firms, he advised on $200 billion in transactions across 60+ jurisdictions, counseling boards, companies, and sovereign states on high-stakes matters. In 2023-24, he played a key role in the UK’s most significant capital markets reforms in 40 years. Named a Rising Star of European Finance (Financial News, 2024) and an ATTITUDE 101 Trailblazer, he has also appeared on The Guardian’s Pride Power List since 2021. A St George’s House Leadership Fellow, he won a 2019 Asian Achievers Award and was Stonewall’s 2018 Role Model of the Year. He has led inclusion discussions at Davos and contributed to India’s 2018 LGBTQ+ decriminalization appeal. Krishna studied at St Stephen’s College Delhi, Merton College Oxford, and Sciences Po Paris.
Martyn Worsley
Chief People Officer, Lockton
Martyn joined Lockton in November 2020 because of the inspiring global growth journey that the firm is on, its keen focus on delivering great client service alongside the understanding that its people are its most important asset. Martyn is responsible for all aspects of the People & Culture Function globally with the macro aims of enabling Lockton to scale for ongoing growth, making it the most sought-after Insurance Broker to work for and protecting its very special culture for the long term. Martyn is happily married with two young children. Over the past 12 years, he has also held a number of Non-Executive Director roles within sporting organisations such as the Rugby Football Union and the London Youth Games.
Matt Eagles
Head of Patient Voice, Havas Lynx Group
Matt is an award-winning patient champion and motivator. He has spoken at congresses and health tech events all over the world, including Wired Health, Financial Times Health Tech Europe, Cog X, Webit, Giant Health and Founders Forum. He hosts a monthly podcast, Birds of a Feather, for Havas Voice based in New York, where he uncovers what it’s like living with chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s, Haemophilia, Psoriasis and HIV. He has also chaired Focus Groups for Patients and Carers on topics such as SwitchedONcology and the Importance of Happiness at Work. An experienced awards judge, Matt includes the Burberry British Diversity Awards, PM Society Communique Awards and the Social Health Awards (Health Union) amongst his portfolios. In his spare time Matt is a Rotarian lover of all sports and an adrenaline junkie, having wing-walked, skydived, abseiled and ziplined for Parkinson’s charities.
Sally Mundy
CEO, UK Sport
Sally joined UK Sport as CEO in 2019 and has guided Olympic and Paralympic sport through a remarkable period that included the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games and securing increased financial support from Government for the Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic cycles. Under Sally’s leadership, UK Sport created and launched a ten-year strategic plan to further harness the power and platform of high-performance sport; creating inspiring sporting moments on the biggest sporting stages, whilst continuing to keep winning and winning well, create a thriving sporting system domestically and internationally and connecting with communities on the issues where sport can credibly affect and inspire positive change.
Tab Ahmad OBE
Founder & CEO, EmployAbility
Tab Ahmad, OBE, is the Founder and CEO of EmployAbility. Having spent the last 20+ years of her career specialising in disability and employment, Tab is an unapologetic and passionate advocate of disability, equity and inclusion. In 2024 Tab was awarded an OBE in recognition of her work. She has won the prestigious Asian Women of Achievement Award, and in 2020, the Genius of the Year Award for her innovation in supporting neurodiverse students. EmployAbility was the 2019 People’s Choice Disability Smart Award winner. Tab was on the DWP’s sounding board for the government’s Disability Confident campaign, and has featured multiple times on BBC news channel, BBC2’s Daily Politics, Working Lunch, BBC radio, and on BBC2’s Employable Me Series.
Dr. Zaheer Ahmad MBE
Head of Unifying Culture, BDO
Zaheer is a prominent voice on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As the Head of Unifying Culture, he leads firmwide strategies on ED&I, Wellbeing, Citizenship, and Social Mobility. He has held senior DEI roles at GSK, Haleon, and Ernst and Young. Zaheer holds several advisory and non-executive positions with leading organisations, including Toyota Motors Europe, the National Health Service, and Megaport. He is an Independent Panel Member with the Premier League Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Standards, which supports all 20 Premier League clubs and multiple English Football Leagues to embed EDI across their organisations. Recognised as a global subject matter expert Zaheer has received over 30 prestigious awards and honours.