TOP 10 - CHAMPIONS (ALLIES)
Emma Howard
In addition to her role as an operations manager, she is am one of the events leads on the Race and Ethnicity Steering Group. In that role he has:
Delivered a series of eight events for Ramadan across Tesco, including a virtual Iftar and Eid lunch, reaching more than 1,000 colleagues.
Celebrated Eid with local communities in Birmingham, raised £5,000 for the British Heart Foundation and £3,000 for Birmingham Childrens Hospital
Led the delivery of an in-person Diwali celebration attended by the CEO of Tesco, educating 300+ colleagues on the importance of Diwali, culture and allyship.
Organised a community tour across Leicester, collecting donations and visiting temples and a local charity, raising more than £8,000 for Loros Hospice and Langar Seva.
Jayne Opperman
Jayne re-joined Lloyds Banking Group in December 2022 as CEO, Consumer Relationships, the centre of the Group’s growth strategy to deepen our consumer relationships through personalised experience and outstanding customer service. These relationships are delivered through our channels, including around c1,200 branches and our customer-facing teams, the UK’s biggest Digital Bank and our telephony and operations teams.
Jayne has over 25 years of experience in the financial sector, leading diverse teams focused on transforming businesses, most recently specialising in customer channels, operations and technology and using data as a tool to support colleagues and drive personalisation for customers. Prior to re-joining the group, Jayne held roles at several well-known financial institutions both here and in Australia and Asia, including Citi, Westpac, ANZ and most recently Barclays.
Karen Taylor
Karen is an HR director leading Amazon’s Global Welcome Door Program. Originally established to provide support to refugees, the team now help improve the employment experience of under-represented and under-served communities. Prior to this, Karen established Amazon’s European Community Operations team. In this role, she supported their operational response to the invasion of Ukraine, transporting more than two million essential items to key charity partners. For the last three years, Karen has also acted as Executive Sponsor to Amazon’s Black Employee Network (BEN) in UK Ops. In these roles, Karen has been a passionate advocate for refugees and ethnic minority people.
Lisa Hulbert
Lisa is an invaluable asset to the Embrace community at Cadent, serving as its faith lead with exceptional dedication. She organises cultural calendar events, ensuring equitable celebration of all faiths and cultures. Her contributions earned her the Cadent ED&I Community Member Contribution of the Year Award, underscoring her impactful leadership and collaborative spirit. Lisa’s unwavering commitment to promoting inclusion is evident in her through multiple cultural and faith events. She embodies Cadent’s inclusive ethos, always volunteering with a “can-do” attitude. Lisa’s passion and dedication are crucial to the inclusive culture being striven for at Cadent.
Mark Chapman
Mark is the General Counsel at Nationwide and, since 2019, has been the executive sponsor of the Race Together network. The purpose of Race Together is to accelerate change, amplify diverse voices and champion multiculturalism and Mark provides tireless leadership in pursuit of that purpose as a vocal activist on Nationwide’s Executive Committee.
Mark’s passion in this field also led him to spend a year teaching in a school in a township in South Africa in 2017 before joining Nationwide and he remains a trustee of that school, sharing a well–known belief that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Mat Moakes
Mat joined the leadership team at OVO as Chief Commercial Officer in 2023 with key responsibilities for driving forward energy efficiency and carbon reduction in the home through technology such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar. He very quickly decided to get involved in OVO Belonging and took on the role of Sponsor of OVO Embrace, a network focused on accelerating race and ethnicity inclusion, and making OVO a truly anti-racist organisation. He actively holds his leadership team and OVO overall accountable for doing what’s right and making OVO a brand of choice for ethnic minority communities, both as customers and talent.
Matthew Hamilton-James
Matthew has been an ally to Motability Operations‘ Reach network since 2020. He was leading the company at the time of George Floyd’s murder and spent time listening to and understanding the experience of the impact this had on colleagues and communities, turning those voices he heard into action by committing to change. Since then he has continued to positively use his voice and position of influence for others within the Reach network, being supportive and highly visible. He is committed to driving DE&I within Motability, sponsoring listening circles to better understand ethnic colleagues’ experiences, leading a targeted development programme and forging external partnerships accelerating learning and action.
Nick Howe
Nick has had the privilege to lead a number of partnerships for NatWest with under–represented communities and always found that shutting up and listening is the best way to start. By understanding their barriers, dreams and needs, which vary from group to group, a successful partnership can be built. Grant distribution and business support, via the partnership with Hatch Enterprise, conference hosting, delivery of education, networking and inspiration with the UK Black Business Entrepreneurs Conference or constant mentoring of individual founders via Digital Boost are just a few examples where Nick has delivered tangible support for communities while learning so much along the way
Zealah Brindley
Zealah, a director at KPMG UK, is a dynamic force in business consulting and diversity advocacy. Her expertise helps UK and global companies navigate complex digital challenges, while her commitment to inclusion has been pivotal in implementing KPMG’s DE&I action plan. Her words and actions embody true allyship, mentoring extensively within and beyond KPMG, dedicating more than 100 hours annually and championing initiatives like the Black Entrepreneur Awards. She multiplies her impact by recruiting privileged individuals to participate in programmes, inspiring others through intentional, positive everyday actions. Zealah lives in Liverpool with her young family and enjoys playing and coaching netball.