PowerWomen Speak

Serpil Timuray is an Independent Non-Executive Director at British American Tobacco Plc.  Most recently, Serpil was the CEO of Vodafone Investments and a member of Vodafone Group’s Executive Committee. Her previous roles at Vodafone Group’s Executive Committee included CEO of Europe Cluster, Group Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, and CEO of AMAP (Africa, Middle East, Asia, Pacific).  Prior to joining Vodafone, Serpil spent 10 years at Danone Plc, latterly as the CEO of Danone Dairy Turkey. Prior to Danone, she held several marketing roles at Procter & Gamble Plc. Serpil also serves on the boards of various non-profit organisations. She is the Founding Chair of ChangeTheFace Alliance, an industry-wide global cooperation to accelerate diversity and inclusion in the tech sector. She was awarded GSMA’s “Diversity in Tech Outstanding Achievement GLOMO Award” in 2022 for this. She is a Board Member of Digital Leaders Europe at WEF, a member of Founders4Schools, and a Board Member of DEIK DTIK (Global Turkish Business Council) and the UK Representative of DTIK. She has also served as a board member of GSMA (Global Mobile Communications Association) and chaired the GSMA Board’s Public Policy Committee. Serpil has been recognised in various international rankings, including HERoes “100 Women Executives Role Model List” six times, ranking 4th in 2024, Financial Times HERoes “Champions of Women in Business” ranking 20th in 2018, Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women International” ranking 27th in 2017 and Newsweek’s “World’s 125 Women of Impact” ranking 79th in 2013. 

Margarida is a founding team member and VP of Operations at poolside. Before joining poolside, Margarida spent two years as a venture capitalist at Beacon Capital, primarily investing in early-stage deep tech companies. Prior to that, she served as COO at Lifebit, an AI genomics platform for developers, where she played a key role in growing the company from Day 0 to their $60M Series B round. Margarida's earlier experience includes working at source{d}, applying AI to code and software. In both source{d} and Lifebit, Margarida joined when the companies were Day 0 and only had its founders, while at Beacon Capital she was critical to raising their first fund. Next to her day jobs, Margarida helped raise over $100M in capital for founders she mentored.

Nneka is a Senior Director at Alvarez & Marsal, where she leads the UK’s Wealth Management Performance Improvement practice. She was previously Chief Operating Officer at a wealth management business and prior to this, Nneka spent almost 10 years in Management Consulting at Deloitte and Accenture. A passionate champion of improving social mobility, Nneka is a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation. She previously mentored with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Amos Bursary, and she is a supporter of Women of Colour Global Network (WOCGN), Women of the Future Future and Inspiring the Future.

Ingvild Næss is the CIO of Schibsted and CEO of E-Tech AB delivering IT services across Schibstead. She is on the Board of Komplett ASA, an electronic consumer goods company, and Neddy AS, an ed-tech startup. Ingvild was named female media leader of the year in Norway 2023. She chairs the board of Feltgis, a startup focused on using data in forestry. Ingvild used to chair the Norwegian Media Businesses Association's data and privacy committee. Furthermore, she was appointed as a member of the Norwegian government's privacy commission. She is also a member of the board on the Polytechnic society. Ingivild is married with two children and loves running.

Sarah Friar, former CEO of Nextdoor, soon to be the CFO of OpenAI, led the company to nearly triple its reach to over 92M Neighbors in 335,000 neighborhoods worldwide. Previously, as CFO at Square, she oversaw its IPO and $30 billion market cap increase. Her prior experience spans Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Salesforce. Currently a Board Member of Walmart and Consensys, she's also known for her Board contributions to Slack Technologies and New Relic. A Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and on the Advisory Boards of Operation HOPE, the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and Co-Chair of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Sarah is committed to mentorship, founding LadiesWhoLaunch.org. Raised in Northern Ireland, she holds degrees from Oxford and Stanford, earning an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for entrepreneurship.

Joanna Jensen is the founder of the UK’s number one baby and child personal care brand, Childs Farm, having created the brand in 2010 as a result of her own daughter's sensitive and eczema prone skin.  In March 2022, Jensen sold Childs Farm for £40m to PZ Cussons Plc Jensen is a keen supporter of other female entrepreneurs.  She is a mentor to a number of British SMEs through Imperial College’s mentoring programme and is a leading advocate of supporting female founded businesses.  She works on the advisory board of Buy Women Built (BWB) driving awareness of female founded brands to UK consumers and investors.   Joanna is also a Sustainability advisor to The British Beauty Council. Childs Farm is the market leader in sustainability, and recently became a certified B Corp.

Today we welcome Ruba Borno VP, Worldwide Channels & Alliances for Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this role, Ruba leads the AWS Partner Organization (APO), a global team responsible for recruiting, enabling, buying and selling with over 100,000 companies in more than 150 countries. Ruba also leads AWS Marketplace where AWS partners can sell their services and solutions to customers. Prior to joining AWS, Ruba held several leadership positions over the course of her six-year tenure with Cisco, a leader in IP-based networking technologies: Vice President, Growth Initiatives and Chief of Staff to the CEO; Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Managed Services (2018-2020); and SVP and General Manager of Cisco’s Global Customer Experience (CX) Centers (2020-2021) Before Cisco, Ruba was a principal with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a leader in BCG’s Technology, Media, & Telecommunications, and People & Organization practices. She is a member of The Forum of Young Global Leaders, an organization that seeks to drive public-private cooperation in the global public interest in alignment with the World Economic Forum. She also previously served on the Board of Directors at Experian. Ruba holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Ann Cairns started her career as a research scientist and was the first woman to work offshore with British Gas. She moved into investment banking in her 30’s and rose up the ranks in Citibank – ExCo Citi Global Transaction Bank, CEO of ABN Amro Transaction Bank, CEO of Lehmann Holdings and was responsible for the restructuring (with Alvarez & Marsel). After 15 years at Citi, she enjoyed a number of senior roles at other financial institutions before finishing her executive career as Executive Vice Chair at Mastercard.  Ann believes that women should rise to the top of the corporate world in equal numbers to men and has chaired both the 30% Club and the Financial Alliance for Women. She was also the Chair ICE Clear Europe prior to her current boards.  Today Ann is Chair of 2 commercial boards - CAB Payments and TMF, and 2 non-profits Moving Ahead (mentorship) and Stock MS, and the board of Lightrock, a PE Impact investor.

Lisa is Co-Head of Global Banking Coverage, alongside Gerry Keefe, responsible for a multi-billion- dollar business delivering tailored financial solutions to Corporate and Institutional clients worldwide through a comprehensive suite of services including liquidity and cash management, trade services, lending and structured finance. In addition, Lisa has global responsibility for the Institutional Client Group (ICG) and regional responsibility for Global Banking Europe. Lisa joined HSBC in June 2021 from Wells Fargo where she served as Executive Vice President and Head of International. Over a 15-year career at Wells, Lisa was also Co-Head of Corporate & Investment Banking, head of both the Financial Institutions and Industrials groups, and the London-based CEO of Wells Fargo Securities International Limited, responsible for leading investment banking and capital markets activities in EMEA. Lisa has over 30 years of institutional sales and marketing experience, and joined Wells Fargo through the predecessor firm, Wachovia, in 2005. Lisa spent eight years with Morgan Stanley Inc., where she was a director in leveraged finance, and was also the high-yield product manager for generalist sales. She also held roles at Toronto Dominion Securities and Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup). Lisa has been recognised as one of Financial News’ Top Twenty Most Influential in Investment Banking. Lisa earned her B.A. in economics and graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and participated in executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

Katherine Ainley is the CEO of Ericsson UK and Ireland, working alongside major mobile network operators and service providers to create world leading mobile networks and game-changing technology for millions of subscribers and enterprise partners. She is also a member of the leadership team for Ericsson Europe and Latin America.  Katherine joined Ericsson in February 2021 from BT where she held a number of senior executive positions for more than 10 years, including the roles of Managing Director of Ventures in Enterprise and CEO of Tikit, a then wholly owned subsidiary of BT. Her career has also included management and consultant roles with Lloyds TSB and Ernst & Young in transformation and customer experience.  Responsible for a team of more than 2,500 employees across the UK and Ireland, Katherine is leading Ericsson’s vision for 5G technology and deployment in the UK, focusing on supporting the business growth of network operators through continuous technology and product performance, enabling digitisation across new industries and delivering world-class connectivity for consumers.  Originally from Wigan in the North West but now living in South East London, Katherine has studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has two young daughters and is a passionate supporter of Diversity and Inclusion programmes at Ericsson. 

Alison Hutchinson CBE is the CEO of Pennies, an award-winning fintech charity making digital giving affordable, sustainable, and feel-good. She is also a Senior Independent Director at DFS plc, Yorkshire Building Society and Foresight Group Holdings Ltd. Alison was previously a Trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation, Non-Executive Director of Aviva Life Holdings UK and AIL (General & Health Insurance), subsidiary boards of Aviva Group plc, LV=, and of LMAX Exchange. In 2016, she was awarded a CBE for services to the economy and charities.   Prior to creating Pennies, Alison was CEO of Kensington Group plc, a role she took over as CEO of the specialist lender in March 2007. Alison led the turnaround of Kensington as the “credit crunch” took its grip globally leaving the financial markets with the worst liquidity crisis ever experienced. Key experiences include: the sale and delisting of Kensington Group to Investec plc, diversification of the funding model and a complete integration programme with Investec plc including a significant downsizing of the business. She joined Kensington in October 2004 as Managing Director to diversify the business into broader product segments and channels. Kensington moved into the FTSE250 after only 5 years of being in the market and was the first lender to win the Queens Award for innovation in recognition of the sustained growth and value they contributed to the specialist lending market.   Previously she was at Barclays, where she was Marketing & Communications Director for Barclaycard.  Other roles have included Chief Executive Officer of Barclays B2B, the Business Services subsidiary of Barclays Corporate Banking, as well as various global senior executive roles at IBM Corporation where she worked for 14 years working across the globe, running a European consortium of banks, and latterly leading the global business for ecommerce solutions for the financial services sector. She passionately believes in customer service and ensuring executives spend time in the business and at the coalface where the business really delivers.   Alison was educated at Strathclyde University where she graduated at 19 with a BSc in Technology and Business Studies.  She is married with three children and loves fresh air, exercise, and quality time with her family.

Today we welcome Tracy Watkinson who is a Chief Operating Officer and Transformation specialist who worked in the world's largest investment banks for over 20 years, alongside a Non Executive Director career. She is currently the COO of the Finance Function at NatWest Group, and Board member of NatWest Trustee & Depositary Services company.  Tracy was awarded for her thought leadership in gender diversity receiving the Champion for Women Award at the Women in Banking & Finance Awards in 2018.  And more recently she was a finalist in the WeQual EMEA Awards, recognising CEO-2 level women ready for the next level in FTSE100 companies.  

I am delighted to be speaking today with Mary O’Connor, CEO of Howden CAP part of Howden, the global insurance group. She was most recently the acting CEO for KPMG in the UK. Mary has 30 years of experience in leading & advising financial services companies. She has held senior roles in law, government, public corporations and a Big 4 accounting firm.   Prior to KPMG, Mary held a number of executive and Board roles at Willis Towers Watson (now, WTW), where she was widely recognised as one of the most influential leaders in the industry.  In the United States, Mary served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, DC, where she tried more than 100 criminal cases. She is a former co-Chair of Women Corporate Directors, a member of the C200 and a former Director of the Charity Bank.

I am delighted to be speaking today with Céline Assimon, CEO of De Beers Jewellers and De Beers Forevermark.  Celine has more than 20 years of experience in the luxury industry, specialising in watches and fine jewellery. She started her career at Richemont in 2001, when she joined Piaget North America’s Marketing team. More recently, Céline worked at Louis Vuitton in New York and led the commercial development of the brand’s global High Jewellery and High Watchmaking in Paris. In 2018 she was appointed the CEO of Geneva-based jeweller Grisogono, where she was instrumental in transforming the Maison into a modern brand.  In her time at De Beers thus far, Celine has focused on infusing creativity and innovation into the brand’s legacy of unrivalled diamond expertise. She brings both strategic and operational experience and is enabling DeBeers' next phase of growth. Céline holds a Masters in Management from the Audencia Nantes, is a GIA graduate and speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish. She is a single mum with a 12 year old – and lives in London.

Tina Fordham is a geopolitical strategist and advisor working at the intersection of geopolitics, financial markets and the drivers of social change. The first Chief Global Political Analyst on Wall Street and previously, head of global political risk at Eurasia Group, Tina has over 20 years’ experience advising senior leaders—from prime ministers and 3- star generals to the C-suite, institutional investors and the United Nations—about the implications of global political, security and socio-economic developments. In 2022 Tina founded Fordham Global Foresight, an independent consultancy. Her holistic, data-driven approach focuses on breaking down the complexity of geopolitics and providing actionable, forward-looking guidance. Current themes include populism, the return of geopolitical risk— including Russia-Ukraine and China-US/EU relations, the future of globalisation, and the “S” in ESG. Tina is a member of the international advisory boards of the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in New York City, her alma mater, and the Cambridge University Centre for Geopolitics. She advises the U.K. Ministry of Defence, and is a member of the advisory committees on Diversity & Inclusion and Economic and Commercial Diplomacy with the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange. She is a member of the board of Roots for Peace, a California charity dedicated to removing land mines from conflict zones and planting grapevines in their place.

We are delighted to welcome Maureen Wheeler, who with her husband Tony, founded the universally popular Lonely Planet guidebooks. Lonely Planet has printed more than 100 million copies of it’s 600 guides in 17 languages. Maureen is the driving force behind Lonely Planet’s philanthropy programs and created the Planet Wheeler Foundation. She recently received the UN World Tourism Organisation lifetime achievement award, and was awarded an Order of Australia in 2014. She has a Fellowship from London Business School and an Honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster and La Trobe University in Melbourne. Maureen was born in Belfast, lives in Australia with her family and is a passionate opera fan, loves to read and enjoys long walks and of course, travelling.

Today we speak with Mandy Hickson, who has over 30 years experience within aviation. She joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 and flew the Tornado GR4 on the front line, where she operated in hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq. Since leaving the RAF she retrained as a facilitator and coach in human performance factors. Drawing on her experience of calculated risk-taking, decision-making under pressure and the critical role of the human in the system, she transfers vivid lessons from the cockpit to other management and leadership contexts. Mandy is currently serving as an Aviation Ambassador for the Department for Transport. Mandy is now a highly demanded keynote speaker across a range of business sectors, where she talks with humour and great passion to inspire those around her. She has been invited to share her insights with some of the most successful organisations across the world where she describes the strategies & behaviours that can be adopted when the stakes are at their highest. She has recently launched her bestselling book, ‘An Officer, not a gentleman’, her inspirational journey to become a pioneering female fighter pilot.

Today we welcome Kumsal Bayazit, Chief Executive Officer, Elsevier. As Chief Executive Officer, Kumsal Bayazit is a strong advocate of research and innovation and leads Elsevier’s 8,600 people in their mission to help researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. A lifelong champion of diversity & equality in science, Kumsal co-chairs Elsevier’s Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board and serves on the Elsevier Foundation Board. Kumsal joined Elsevier as CEO in February 2019 from Elsevier’s parent company, RELX. Since 2004, Kumsal has held multiple management positions, in Exhibitions, Legal and Risk divisions, including as Chief Strategy Officer of RELX. Prior to joining RELX, she spent several years at Bain & Company. Kumsal earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Economics with honors.

Today we welcome Julia Streets, founder & CEO of Streets Consulting, a business development, marketing & communications consultancy advising a wide range of domestic & international fintech clients.   Formerly global head of communications at Atos Euronext Market Solutions (serving on the ExCo) and head of marketing and sales development at Instinet Europe. Julia is the host of ‘DiverCity Podcast’ ranked one of the world’s top D&I podcasts - widely recognised for her work in this field. Julia is also a sell-out stand up comedian and a trustee of the charity Street Child.

Today we are joined by Carrie Coombs. Carrie has become really well known in the UK and abroad for her ability to help executive, senior and high potential clients, teams and boards increase their leadership confidence and resilience in the context of personal, organisational and market transition. Carrie brings to her coaching and board assessment work experience from a career that has has spanned banking, investment banking, bank stock research and management consulting, including at Praesta Partners, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Gemini Consulting and Lloyds Bank.