speakers - sharing university and career success seminar

7/29/2019 Speakers - Sharing University and Career Success Seminar

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SHARING CAREER AND UNIVERSITY SUCCESS SEMINAR20th September 2013, 10am-3pm

SEMINAR FACILITATOR

Geoffrey WilliamsDiversity & Inclusion Specialist - Thomson Reuters

Geoffrey is the Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at

Thomson Reuters. This role is a globally focused with alocal focus on supporting the Thomson Reuters

business with their Diversity and Inclusion agenda.

He was with the IP & Science business of Thomson

Reuters for three and half years, most recently as a

Talent & Development Specialist. Geoffrey is also part

of the Business Consultation Forum, a peer-to-peer

elected volunteer action team responsible for driving charitable and community related

activities into the business. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters Geoffrey worked in the music

industry as an artist/events manager.

TIME SPEAKERS

10:05-10:10

Speaker 0

Ken Olisa OBE

Chair of the Powerlist

Foundation, Chairman of

Restoration Partners and

non-executive director of

Thomson Reuters.

A native of Nottingham, Ken'stechnology career commenced

in the 1970s at IBM having

won a scholarship while an

undergraduate at Cambridge.

At IBM he held various posts before joining Wang

Laboratories in 1981.

Following a period as Marketing Director for Europe, VP of

US Marketing and then of Worldwide Marketing based in

Boston, Ken was appointed Senior VP and General Manager

of Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) located in

Brussels.


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TIME SPEAKERS

He led the team which restored the EAME operation to

profitability, following which he launched an unsuccessful

MBO resulting in his departure in 1992!

Ken then founded Interregnum, the technology merchant

bank leading it through its early growth; its entry into, and

exit from, a joint venture with BDO Stoy Hayward; the AIM

IPO in 2000; and the tricky years that followed the collapse

of the dotcom boom.

At Interregnum, Ken worked at the forefront of the

entrepreneur/technology growth cycle that began in the mid

1990s. As well as serving on the boards of many of

Interregnum's investments and advisory clients, Ken notched

up some interesting firsts, including chairing the UK's firstpublicly listed Internet Service Provider (ISP), Voss Net, on

its admission to AIM and holding a similar position on the

Board of DMATEK, the first Israeli technology company to be

listed on the junior exchange. He was also a principal

advisor to, and Director of, uDate.com which became one of

the UK's few large scale dotcom successes when it was sold

to Barry Diller's USA Interactive in 2003. Ken retired from

Interregnum in 2006 and now runs Restoration Partners an

independent, boutique technology merchant bank.

Ken was the first British-born black man to serve on the

Board of a major UK public company (Reuters) and is

currently a Director of Thomson Reuters (where he is a

member of the Audit Committee). He is also currently Non-

executive Chairman of Outsourcery Plc who successfully

floated on AIM in May 2013. He was also a Director (and

Chair of the Remuneration Committee) of Canada's largest

independent software developer, Open Text Corporation.

More recently, he served as a Non Executive Director of

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) from 2007.

He also serves on the Board of, or is an adviser to, several

privately held and innovative companies including the UK's

leading corporate governance advisor, Independent Audit.

A believer in the Victorian ethos that successful commerce is

the fuel of public service, Ken is a Freeman of the City of

London; Past Master of the Worshipful Company of

Information Technologists; a Director of the Thomson

Reuters Foundation; Chairman of Thames Reach (a charity

working to shelter and resettle the homeless in London);

founding Chairman of the Powerlist Foundation; a VicePresident of the British Computer Society and a past


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TIME SPEAKERS

member of the Government's Women's Enterprise

Taskforce. He was also a Governor of the Peabody Trust for

a decade and a NED of the West Lambeth NHS Trust for

three and a half years. His experience of regulation issubstantial. He has been a regulatee of the FSA since 1993

and a start-up regulator twice; first as an inaugural Postal

Services Commissioner from 2001 to 2004 and more

recently as a Board member of IPSA, the body charged with

managing MPs' expenses, pay and pensions.

Ken's knowledge and experience of businesses from the

largest to the smallest, combined with his passion for, and

knowledge of, technology and his willingness to speak his

mind makes him much in demand as a public speaker and

he has been widely recognised. He is past winner of the

BVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Personality of the Year

Award and of the Sunday Times UK Not for Profit Non

Executive Director of the year. He appears in the UK's top 10

most influential black men in the Powerlist 2012 and was

recently named in Computer Weekly's UK Tech 50 list of

most influential people in UK IT and was the highest placed

financial adviser in the list.

In 2010 he was awarded an OBE for his services to the

homeless of London and he is an honorary Fellow of his oldcollege, Fitzwilliam, Cambridge. On a more personal level,

as a former IBM scholar at Cambridge, and reflecting a

lifelong passion for information technology and education,

Ken, and his wife Julia, donated money to build the new

Library and IT centre at Fitzwilliam College, now named the

Olisa Library.

A keen skier and a bad golfer, Ken is also the Chairman of

the BBA, a company currently fundraising "to do to British

Basketball what Packer did to cricket"

Ken married Julia in 1976 and they have two adult

daughters; Elinor and Auriol.


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TIME SPEAKERS

10:10-10:40

Speaker 1 followed by Q & A

Courtney MentoreIB Commercial Manager,EMEA, Thomson Reuters

Courtney is the EMEA

Business Manager for the

Banking & Research division

at Thomson Reuters where

he is responsible for

negotiating and structuring

some of the largest and most

complex commercial deals

with global investment banks.

Prior to this Courtney was the Head of the Strategic

Accounts Business Support group, where he managed the

legal and commercial framework across all strategic

customers globally for the Financial & Risk business.

Before joining Thomson Reuters in 2006 he held various

commercial and financial management positions at

multinational companies such as Shell, BP and EMC.

After studying Business & Finance at college he went on to

specialise in Credit and Risk management early in his

career; he then supplemented this with a professional

qualification in credit management. Thereafter he completed

a law degree at University College London and then went

onto law school to complete his legal training, with a

particular focus on mergers & acquisitions and capital

markets.

In 2009 Courtney co-launched the Business in Africa Series

that brought together the financial community, investors and

prominent African entrepreneurs to focus on growth and

investment opportunities in Africa. The series also

addressed misconceptions projected in the mainstreammedia that influenced investment decisions.

In 2012 Courtney joined the fundraising committee for the

Huntley Heritage Archives (a charity that preserves and

showcases black cultural art), which is based at the London

Metropolitan Archives and works in partnership with the

Victoria & Albert museum on joint initiatives and events.

Courtney actively mentors young people from all

backgrounds, helping them to build valuable life skills and

momentum in their chosen career. He is an avid Moto GPand Formula one fan and he is looking forward to his first


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TIME SPEAKERS

sitting as a Magistrate in 2014.

10:45-11:15


Edwin Broni-

Mensah

Edwin is the

founder and The

Water Guy of

GiveMeTap. In

2009, while Edwin

was completing his

PhD in

Mathematics, he experienced the difficulties in accessing

water when away from home and discovered the financial

and environment impacts that drinking plastic bottled watercaused. After investigating further, he was surprised that,

though the UK has the highest quality drinking water, over

13 billion plastic bottles were being consumed (and

discarded) yearly, whereas across the world 1 billion people

globally lacked access to clean drinking water. This

compelled Edwin to envision a better way to help people in

the UK reduce their waste and eliminate the social

awkwardness in asking for tap water, while simultaneously

providing the gift of clean water to those without through the

funding of water projects.

Edwin is passionate about inspiring young people to make a

difference by encouraging them to understand how small

changes have huge societal impacts.

As of November 2011, GiveMeTap has provided over 3,000

people with easier access to drinking water through giving

partners in the UK and Africa. Through GiveMeTap, Edwin is

on a mission to make clean water easily accessible to every

human in the world in the most sustainable way possible.

GiveMeTap is a social enterprise committed to making clean

drinking water easily accessible to every human in the world

by creating a network of cafes and shops where people can

take their GiveMeTap Bottle to get free tap water refills and

simultaneously providing the gift of clean water to those

without through the funding of water projects. We are

passionate about helping organisations and individuals

reduce their waste, save money, while crucially helping to

raise awareness of the terrible water crisis. For every

GiveMeTap bottle sold, GiveMeTap commits 70% of profits

to fund sustainable water, sanitation and irrigation projects in


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TIME SPEAKERS

Africa.

11:20-11:50


Jasmine Ennis,

Volunteer OperationsAdministrator

Powerlist Foundation

Jasmine is a recent 1st

class graduate from

Brunel University with

Business and

management (marketing).

She was part of many

societies, some of whichincluded; entrepreneur, Afro-Caribbean (ACS) and Christian

Society.

She has always been involved in communal projects in and

around her local area. She helps support the elderly in her

local community each month, and volunteers each year at a

summer programme in South London acting as a young

voice to inspire and encourage young people from her

personal experiences.

Her interpersonal skills and academic foundationencouraged her to undertake various roles abroad. She

visited; India, USA and China to take part in insight

programmes and manage a project. The international

experiences gave her insight into the corporate world as well

as prepared her for her final year at university.

Jasmine is preparing for the start of new ventures in her life.

She has much passion for positively impacting the lives of

others and uses her creative mind and leadership skills to

support this.


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TIME SPEAKERS

13:10-13:40


Sandie OkoroGeneral Counsel - Baring AssetManagement Limited

Sandie is General Counsel atBaring Asset ManagementLimited a global assetmanagement company which ispart of the MassMutual FinancialGroup. She manages a team oflawyers that are based in London,Boston and Hong Kong, and sheis responsible for themanagement of Barings legal risk

across the globe. Prior to joining Barings in May 2007,

Sandie was Head of Legal for Corporate Services atSchroders and managed the Schroders Legal Panel. In herspare time, Sandie is Chair of the CLO (Chief Legal Officers)Programme, a Director of International Lawyers for Africaand a trustee of LawWorks. For four years up until 2006,Sandie was a non-executive director of Family Mosaic, aLondon based housing association and for 5 years she wasa Foundation Governor at La Retraite Girls School. Shewas one ofThe Lawyermagazines Hot 100 lawyers in 2005.In 2009 she was a shortlisted nominee for In-house Lawyerof the Year at The LawyerAwards and 2010 she was forshortlisted nominee for Lawyer of the Year at the Legal

BusinessAwards. Sandie mentors young aspiring lawyersby providing bespoke one-off one-to-one mentoring. She isan Ambassador for the Law Societys Diversity AccessScheme. Sandie is a Trustee of the Powerlist Foundationand was listed in the Powerlist Magazine as one of Britainsmost influential black people. Sandie was recentlynominated for the Law Society Gazette's Legal Personality ofthe Year Award 2013.

13:45-14:15


Selvin Brown MBE

Deputy Director Communications at Department for

Work and Pensions

Selvin Brown joined the Civil Service in 1990. He has held a

number posts in his 12 years at the Cabinet office and 10

years at Department for Communities and Local

Government: Private Secretary to David Willetts (in the last

Conservative Government); Parliamentary Clerk Cabinet

Office/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Secretary of the

Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR); Head of Social

Housing (England and Wales); Head of UK Race Strategy;

and Head of Delivery Assurance and Risk, DCLG. Selvinwas appointed to the newly created post of Director,


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TIME SPEAKERS

Disability, Social Justice and Overarching Stakeholder

Engagement at the Department for Work and Pensions in

June 2012. He is currently on short-term loan to the Cabinet

Office where he is leading the programme to create the newGovernment Communication Service.

He was named Civil Servant of the Year 2009, and made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire (for public and

voluntary service) in the Queen's Birthday honours 2009. He

holds Hons degrees in Applied Social Policy, and

Government and Politics; and a Master Research Degree in

Public Policy. He is a member of the Chartered Institute for

Public Relations and a member of the Chartered of

Marketing.

14:20-14:50


Vernon FranoisImage Consultant - HairStylist Designer

***HOT OFF THE PRESS****

Vernon's headband invention

recently qualified him to be

officially registered as an

inventor with the Patent Office.

Vernon is one of the most

sought-after hair stylists and

image consultants in the UK, and has been namedamong

the Top 20 Influentual Black People Under 40 of 2013. His

hair styling work can be seen on high-profile clients such

as Emeli Sand, Eve, Jessie J, VV Brown, Estelle, Victoria

Silvestedt,Keyshia Cole, Jamelia, Matthew

Horne and James Corden,Dame Kelly Holmes, Beverly

Knight, Miquita Oliver, Javine, Mr H. (of Mr Hudson and the

Library), Jaye Jacobs, Jade Ewen,Melanie Fiona, Gabriella

Cilmi, Escala, Nisha Nayar, Speech Debelle, Naomie

Harris and Ruth Wilson.

Vernon won his first award Black Beauty Newcomer of the

Year aged 17 years, followed by two more by the age of 19.

He has worked as a freelance hairdresser in Paris, New

York, LA, Oslo, Amsterdam and Prague, and was theassistant to world renowned, award-winning
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TIME SPEAKERS

hairdresser Desmond Murray for 3 years. Vernon now has

over 12 years of Salon experience.

Vernon also works as an Image Consultant and a Hair Stylist

on TV shows like Britain's Next Top Model (Sky

Living), National Television Awards 2012 (ITV), Steps

Reunion (Living TV) and shows on BBC3. Vernon was a

judge for the L'Oreal Colour Trophy 2012, and has

undertaken a variety of stage work, from education shows to

fashion shows. Vernon's Media involvement also expands to

being a long-standing committee member for a media

members group.

In spite of being in demand, Vernon still has a loyal group of

private clients whose hair he tends to in a prestigious salon

in Mayfair, and his work can be seen in Vogue, Marie

Claire, GQ, Glamour,Cosmopolitan, So'Chic!, iD, InStyle,

and ES magazine.

With his great success, Vernon has been able to branch out

into more wide ranging projects, particularly in the art and

media industries. He is also looking at some projects in the

world of design, where he will take his radical and innovative

approach and sense of style to an exciting new business

idea.

SOURCE:http://www.vernonfrancois.com/biography.php
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