From Here to Diversity 2024 - Speakers

Ella has have a proven track record in re-energising Human Resources within both large and small companies, the NHS and most recently the charity sector.

Her expertise extends to talent aquisition, employee relations and performance management, where she has consistently implemented people strategies that align with organisational goals.

Her passion is in fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace, which has resulted in more inclusive and cohesive teams and her organisations being a great place to work. Most recently she led Home - Start UK to the final of the 2023 Investor In People awards for work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Ella remains at the forefront of HR trends and best practices, to enable her strategies and team to be effective and forward-thinking. With a results-driven mindset, she has implemented successful employee development programs and streamlined HR processes, resulting in tangible positive change.

Ella is based in Leicester, living with her husband and two children, and their cat and dog. In her spare time she volunteers as a trustee for a local youth charity and she is a committee member for an infant sleep charity. She likes to spend time outdoors and keeping active.

Srabani is a speaker, qualified coach and consultant who works with CEOs and C-Suite teams to help them get the best from those they lead and from themselves.

With first-hand experience of the complexities of leadership, including 30 years’ Board service, four Chair roles and three CEO roles, Srabani helps leaders develop practical approaches to change, with inclusion at their heart, with companies as diverse as The Crown Estate, London Transport Museum and the RSPB.

She has a depth of expertise in leadership, culture change, governance, equity, diversity and inclusion, crisis management and creating high performing teams. Srabani built her leadership career as a woman of colour at a time when there were virtually no role models.

Srabani is an EDI columnist for Charity Times magazine. She was awarded an OBE for her work with children and families in the UK. Srabani has a parallel career as a theatre actress and playwright.

Shak is an award-winning communications and engagement professional with over 16 years’ experience within the NHS covering all elements of communications and engagement including media relations, online and social media, marketing campaigns, advertising, internal communications and patient and public engagement.

An advocate for inclusion for all, who has written thought pieces on how inclusive ways of working can bring benefits for communities and the wider workforce. With experience of working at regional and national level, he has contributed to change programmes that impact on a wider scale.

Prior to joining the NHS, he worked in the higher education and voluntary and community sector as well as in corporate account management at O2.

Mo Kanjilal is Co-Creator at Watch This Sp_ce, a multi-award-winning diversity and inclusion company.

After a career in international technology corporations leading global teams, and working on diversity and inclusion initiatives, she co-created Watch This Sp_ce during the pandemic.

The company works with organisations across sectors to help them understand why inclusive teams matter, how to create the roadmap for change and engage people along the way.

Mo is a TedX Speaker, Charity board Trustee, a Non-Exec Director, and Author. Watch This Sp_ce’s first book ‘The Inclusion Journey’ is available to order now.

Janine Booth trains organisations about neurodiversity, equipping them to embrace the variation in human brains, remove barriers and challenge discrimination. As well as founding Red in the Spectrum, Janine is a writer and activist.

Paul Brollo is a Trainer, Facilitator and Coach who delivers Writing and Editing for Impact at DSC. He shares his personal experience of producing no-to-low-budget marketing based on the natural power of language to focus people’s attention.

Paul believes that the true differences between us are in the ways our minds function. What makes us different is our personalities and what makes us similar is our humanity. If we separate human similarities from individual differences, we might discover how to co-operate and co-exist.

Paul believes that everyone deserves an accurate and affordable Indication of their personality type according to Carl Jung’s type-theory of personality. He has produced The Personality Mandala Type Indicator, a new, more holistic interpretation of Carl’s theory, which integrates the functioning of the mind into a recognisable pattern of individual behaviour.

Eileen joined DSC in January 2018, and having worked within the commercial teams in charities and social enterprises brings a wealth of experience of working in the 3rd sector. Eileen enjoys being part of a team that is genuine, professional and totally committed to building sustainable charities with well trained, confident trustees, employees and volunteers.

Kalli joined DSC in 2023 and is part of the research team.

She studied Languages and Politics at the University of Nottingham, before doing a Masters in Gender and International Development at the University of Warwick.

Outside of DSC, she gets involved with Women Beyond Walls, a platform that aims to influence policymaking and discourse surrounding the incarceration of women and girls.

Her favourite part about being a member of the DSC team is engaging with charities' important work and helping support their independence.

Frances is an experienced governance, strategy and EDI practitioner, specialising in race equity, with a strong track record working with Chief Executives, Chairs, and Trustees in the charity and local government sectors.

Frances is creative, insightful, and pragmatic. A strategic thinker with a proven track record of delivering improvements to organisation effectiveness, equality, diversity and inclusion, and accountability. Frances leadership style is based on inclusive leadership, empowerment, collaboration, nurturing talent, and harnessing the power of lived experience.

Amelia is a Trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET). She first became involved in the organisation during Sixth Form when completing their Lessons from Auschwitz Project.

Amelia is currently the Young Trustees Movement Ambassador in the West Midlands.

Amy (she/her) is the EDI programme lead for the MS Society. She supports the delivery of their EDI strategy, which sits across all their work.

Prior to this role Amy worked in higher education as a lab based Parkinson’s researcher and co-director for EDI within the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University.

She is passionate about normalising disability and elevating voices from marginalised communities through complex organisations.

She is a mum to a 7 year old, a daughter to a father living with a long term condition and his full time carer, an elder emo and birthday cake baker!

Raj has worked in the charity sector for over 15 years, with experience spanning fundraising research, policy development, technology project management and HR programmes.
Currently HR Change Manager at Cancer Research UK, she leads on operational planning, projects and transformational change initiatives.

Passionate about EDI, she is Co-Chair of the Race Equality & Equity Network, CRUK’s longest running staff network, supporting ethnic minority staff and allies to drive towards better inclusion and belonging in the workplace.

Stephenie has many years’ experiences as a trainer for the Directory of Social Change and has been a facilitator, consultant, and trainer for the voluntary and community sector for 22 years. Stephenie has worked for national and local charities, local authorities, and housing associations, and has 30 years front line experience as a volunteer, manager, and Chief Officer for community organisations.

Stephenie is the main author and senior reviewer and assessor of PreVISIBLE, an accredited quality standard development tool that tests the management systems, policies, and procedures which community, voluntary and charitable organisations have in place, against legal requirements and best practice. The tool is the adopted standard for many local authorities regarding community asset transfer.

Mita has over 10 years’ experience in the Youth Sector and youth voice advocacy. She has worked for a variety of organisations including Envision, The University of Birmingham, The Challenge Network and Fearless Futures. She also holds a BA in Social Policy, has served as Chair of the British Youth Council, sat on the Advisory Board for Step Up To Serve and has mentored youth debating teams.