Board

Image of Stephen Miller Stephen is Group Chief Information Officer at Park Group. Before taking on his current role he was Head of Global FX Operations at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with responsibility for technology and operations activity, and previously held the post of Group Head of FI Derivative Operations at Standard Chartered Bank, based in Singapore, and a Senior MD at JP Morgan/Bear Stearns. Stephen studied at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford.

Rachel Gray

Rachel is a former 20-year veteran at Cisco and subsequently the Sales Director, TUPS (Telco, Utilities & Public Sector) at Experian. She has recently joined Adobe as the Sales Director in EMEA for the Education Sector.

She is known for challenging herself, her team and her peers to think differently about how we engage to better understand customers’ business priorities to drive innovative business solutions and competitive advantage. Rachel studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University where she achieved a BA Honours degree and a MA. Rachel lives in Godalming, Surrey with her husband and three children. In her spare time (of which she has little), Rachel sings with a local choir, and is actively involved with running a local youth football club

Jon Millidge

Jon is currently an independent consultant but is also an accredited professional pension trustee with Capital Cranfield. Jon has spent most of his career in HR but was appointed Company Secretary to Royal Mail Group in 2010 to see it through its privatisation process and remained on the Executive Board until 2019. He was also appointed as Group HR Director in 2014 and then Chief Risk and Governance Officer in 2018.

Jon was also chairman of National Design Consultancy for 14 years and has been on the Board of Business Disability Forum since 2014.

Hari Sundaresan

Business Disability Forum Board Member Hari Sundaresan was appointed BT Chief Procurement Officer in September 2010. Starting out at BT as a graduate research scientist in lasers, Hari then moved into IT Programme Management. Subsequent moves took Hari into Business and Contract Management and he became Chief Operations Officer for BT Global Services in the UK, before moving into Procurement.

Hari holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

Hari has been appointed as the BT-wide sponsor for disability. He is passionate about volunteering and volunteers as a judge in the Debating Matters. Hari was appointed as Non-Executive, NHS London Procurement Partnership in 2013.

Paulette Cohen

Paulette is Barclays Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, joining the team as a D&I director in April 2016. She leads the D&I strategy and campaigns across the business with a focus on supporting a diverse talent pipeline and building a culture of inclusion. She led the global roll-out of This is Me, Barclays campaign on disability, mental health and wellbeing, now adopted by over 200 companies. She engages with external partners and clients on a broad range of D&I initiatives including the power of diversity allies, and impact of dynamic working.

Previously, Paulette was Barclays’ Director of Global Programmes, responsible for the flagship community investment partnerships with INGO’s across 13 markets, focusing on financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment and youth employability.

She joined Barclays in 2010, following 6 years as Deputy CEO of Windsor Leadership running leadership development programmes for senior leaders across society. Previously, she was Head of Communications at Save the Children, VSO, and, at the start of her career, The Conservation Volunteers where she became a board member for 7 years. She currently sits on the UK Government’s Disability Confident Business Leaders Group and the boards of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, Business Disability Forum and International Broadcasting Trust.

Janet Hill

Janet is a career Civil Servant who spent her first ten years in operations before moving onto a series of corporate and strategy roles. Janet has managed a variety of front-line teams including employment support for lone parents and the long-term unemployed. Her last operational post was leading a Private Office Team, supporting the Agency CEO.

Her most recent appointments include leading a programme of pan-Whitehall Social Justice Policy to improve recovery from addiction, reduce re-offending and prevent homelessness through tailored employment pathways. In this role Janet was a member of the London Mayor’s Delivery Board for the Prevention of Homelessness.

Janet’s role working on Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) strategy has involved overseeing the development of cross-Government initiatives such as piloting a new Corporate Workplace Adjustment Service, expanding the corporate D & I learning portfolio and developing a new Positive Action Talent & Inclusion Pathway – ‘Levelling the Playing Field’. She now supports Sir Philip Rutnam, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office and Civil Service Disability Champion, in the delivery of an ambitious vision of creating an organisational culture for the Civil Service that is disability confident and fully inclusive.

Janet is currently a:

Leadership Fellow, St George’s College, Windsor Castle;
Trustee of Business Disability Forum;
Ex-Trustee of enei x three years;
Non-Executive Adviser to Radius;
Non-Executive Director & founding member of the Executive Board of RiDi;
Non-Executive on the Metropolitan Police Service D&I STR.IDE Board;
Non- Executive Adviser, Board of Vercida.com;

Iain Wilkie

Iain is an executive coach with a focus on Quiet Leadership. He is the founder of PathMaker Consulting and a member of Sherwood psf Consulting.

He spent 21 years as a partner in EY, including as a member of the UK & Ireland Leadership Team and the Senior Sponsor for the firm’s Ability EY Network for disability and health.

Iain founded 50 Million Voices, with leaders from 15 countries and 5 Continents collaborating to transform the workplace for the 50 Million people globally of employable age who stutter. In 2014, Business Disability Forum awarded Iain their first Executive Champion award for his pioneering work with stuttering in the workplace.

More broadly, Iain is a leader of cultural change for disability and health in the workplace, including as a member of the UK Government Work & Health Engagement Forum

Victoria Cleland

Victoria Cleland is the Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Innovation at the Bank of England. She leads the teams responsible for the operation and strategic development of the Bank’s payment system services, including the UK’s real‐time gross settlement infrastructure as well as the Bank’s wholesale and retail banking operations, including the provision of emergency liquidity assistance

Throughout her career at the Bank Victoria has held several senior positions in a range of areas. Mostly recently, as Chief Cashier she was responsible for banknotes (including the introduction polymer notes with tactile feature) and led the Bank’s work on digital currencies.

Before that she was Deputy Head of the Special Resolution Unit, and previously Private Secretary to the Deputy Governor. Her previous roles also included overseeing payment and settlement systems, policy analysis on financing small businesses and graduate recruitment.

Victoria is the Executive Sponsor of the Bank’s staff disAbility Network and Bicycle Users Group.

Victoria has a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from Oxford University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Imperial College London.

Rebecca Hitchings

Rebecca is a highly accomplished senior leader with 8 years of extensive experience operating at board level in a variety of roles within a highly complex, values led, FTSE 100 business. A seasoned executive with P&L responsibility and a proven track record of success in leading transformational change that has delivered outstanding business performance. A critical thinker who demonstrates commercial acumen, tenacity, and drive; Rebecca is recognised for her straightforward leadership style that has allowed her to inspire her team to deliver excellent results whilst maintaining a culture based on honesty, trust and professional integrity.

In her career, Rebecca has gained experience across of formats of retailing, from High Street to pure online players. Having joined Sainsbury’s 8 years ago, she has held several roles, the most current being Trading Director for Tu and Habitat. Responsible for £2.5bn turnover, trading across Sainsburys

Dr Shaun Davis One of a relatively small number of Chartered Directors and a Fellow of The Institute of Directors Shaun has a wide portfolio of responsibilities across the Royal Mail Group; his responsibilities include safety, health, wellbeing and sustainability. He is also a Chartered Fellow of The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, a Chartered Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a Fellow of The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management and a Fellow of The International Compliance Association.

Joining Royal Mail Group in September 2012 Shaun has led many improvement programmes across a range of areas – contributing to improvements in accident prevention and a reduction in road traffic collisions. Shaun has led an organisation wide attendance improvement programme as part of a broader wellbeing and health promotion agenda, with particular attention being paid to mental health, musculoskeletal issues and issues affecting an ageing workforce.

Prior to joining Royal Mail Group, Shaun worked in the construction, refurbishment, infrastructure and waste management sectors and led organisations to achieve significant improvements in performance – most notably achieving ISO:9001, ISO:14001, OHSAS:18001 and ISO:45001 alongside British Safety Council ‘Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit’ across two FTSE listed organisations. Shaun has also led culture change programmes and achieved a variety of awards and accolades for the organisations he has worked in.

Shaun holds six Masters Degrees; a Master of Arts (MA) in Leadership & Culture Change, a Master of Business Administration (MBA), an MA in Marketing & Innovation, a Master of Science (MSc) in Workplace Health & Wellbeing, an MA in Strategic Human Resource Management and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Commercial Law. He also holds a Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring his research having explored the relationship between coaching, well-being and organisational culture.

Shaun is a trained and experienced Board member, Chair, Trustee, and school governor. He is currently a Trustee of three charities; The Men’s Health Forum, The Rowland Hill Fund (Deputy Chair) and The Society of Occupational Medicine. He is also a member of the Business in the Community (BITC) Workwell Leadership Team and a Member of the National Forum on Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace. Shaun also acts as Vice Chair and Director of Strategy for the pan-European mental health campaign ‘Target Depression in the Workplace’ . Shaun was appointed as Honorary Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, School of Medicine in February 2018.

Voted as one of the 15 most influential in health and safety and a winner of The Institute of Directors ‘Director of the Year – 2018‘ award Shaun regularly contributes to contemporary debates, thought leadership and campaigns.

In 2019 Shaun was awarded The REBA (Reward & Employee Benefits Association) Vanguard Award for outstanding contribution to health and wellbeing.

A published author in many respected journals and practitioner publications Shaun also co-authored two books “Positive Male Mind” and “Positive Mental Health” in 2018 and 2019 that explore mental health management strategies.

Ian Callaghan is currently the Finance Director for Group Corporate Treasury (GCT) at Lloyds Banking Group.

Ian’s team is responsible for co-ordinating and consolidating GCTs monthly reporting of balance sheets, P&L and regulatory reporting. The team is also responsible for planning and forecasting and contributing to group-wide stress testing exercises, and supporting the business with financial analysis for strategic business activities.

Ian trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and has worked across Investment and Commercial Banking for 20+ years in a number of Senior Finance roles. Ian is an active Trustee of Mind in Mid Herts.

Jackie Beer - Diversity & Inclusion Director, BT Jackie joined BT in 2019 as Global Diversity and Inclusion Director, bringing her extensive experience and breadth of knowledge to the role.

Through her leadership, Jackie has galvanised the collective efforts of leaders, specialists and inclusion experts across BT to deliver on the bold and ambitious Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, reaching over 100,000 colleagues working across more than 50 countries.

Prior to joining BT, Jackie held roles in a range of sectors including leading Diversity & Inclusion at London Underground, Ernst & Young and the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Jackie researched gender inequality at Cambridge University and has a Masters in Human Rights from the University of London.

Outside of BT, Jackie’s shares her D&I experience and wider business insights as Strategic Advisor to the Global Disability Innovation Hub, as a trustee of a large Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Academy in North London and as a Board member of a disability charity.

Angela Whitty - Managing Director, Partner Sales UK & I, Cisco Angela is the Managing Director responsible for Cisco’s UKI Partner Organisation. A long-term employee, she has been at Cisco for 28 years during which time she has held many leadership positions.

Angela is known for her decisiveness, clear-minded customer focus and proven track record as a leader with the ability to build and run diverse teams.

In recent years she has indulged her passion for talent development spending time coaching and mentoring future industry leaders both internally and across the wider business.

A mother of two boys, she balances her career with a fulfilling family life as well as a desire to improve her golf skills! She describes herself as an enthusiastic golf novice, never missing the opportunity to be out on the course!

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