Judging Panel

General Manager, Watson IoT, Customer Engagement and Education

Harriet is an active IBM executive leader, mentor and sponsor of several women diversity groups. She has spoken at and hosted a variety of women in business events, internally and externally, discussing women’s leadership and how to drive transformation. She also regularly blogs internally on diversity and leadership communities, reaching 300,000+ IBMers. Harriet regularly speaks with women’s groups, university programmes and individuals worldwide to coach, mentor, and share her leadership views. She is a proud supporter and advocate of championing women through the Peaceworks Foundation, to help foster understanding, tolerance and co-existence in regions of conflict. In May, she was named one of the most Creative People in Business for 2017 by Fast Company and last year won the Women in Technology Institute award and was inducted into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame for her contributions to technology in business and her commitment to support and mentor women and girls worldwide. Harriet was recognized as the UK Business leader of the Year and Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year for 2014 and ranked 23rd in the Fortune Top Global Businesspeople list.

President

Mellody Hobson is president of Ariel Investments. Headquartered in Chicago, the firm offers six no-load mutual funds for individual investors and defined contribution plans as well as separately managed accounts for institutions and high net worth individuals. As president, Mellody is responsible for firm-wide management and strategic planning, overseeing all operations outside of research and portfolio management. Additionally, she serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Ariel Investment Trust. Beyond her work at Ariel, Mellody has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular contributor and analyst on finance, the markets and economic trends for CBS News. She also contributes weekly money tips on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and pens a regular column for Black Enterprise magazine. As a passionate advocate for investor education, she is a spokesperson for the Ariel/Hewitt Study: 401(k) Plans in Living Color and the Ariel Black Investor Survey, both of which examine investing patterns among minorities. Mellody is a director of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation. Her community outreach includes serving as chairman of After School Matters, a non-profit that provides Chicago teens with high-quality, out-of-school time programs. She is a board member of The Chicago Public Education Fund, George Lucas Education Foundation, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, and Sundance Institute, where she has been appointed emeritus trustee. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the executive committee of the Investment Company Institute’s board of governors. In 2015, Mellody was named to Time Magazine’s annual list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. Mellody earned her AB from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy. She has also received honorary doctorate degrees from Howard University, St. Mary’s College and the University of Southern California.  

Vice Chair

Melanie is KPMG’s senior sponsor for inclusion and diversity, and lead of KPMG’s Senior Business Women Network. Under Melanie’s direction, KPMG took the ‘industry first’ step of publishing a detailed diversity profile of KPMG’s workforce, looking at all under-represented groups. Her ambition of holding her own organisation publically to account sent a strong signal both inside the firm and outside in the market as to how important this issue is. Melanie has been instrumental in establishing KPMG’s Inclusive Leadership Board and invited three leading diversity experts, Tanni Grey-Thompson, John Amaechi and Nicolas Miller, to join. She has championed KPMG’s ‘Return to Work’ programme, designed for women who have taken a career break of 18 months or more, and sponsors ‘GROW’ – KPMG’s 360-degree leadership development programme, designed to advance minority groups, including women, to senior positions in the organisation. She has personally supported, mentored and coached countless women at all organisational levels, both within and outside the firm. Melanie is one of the founding members of the 30% Club Steering Committee, and has facilitated a variety of research projects into women in the workplace. Melanie is joint Vice-Chair of The Eve Appeal and a member of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board.

Vice Chairman

Gigi Chao is the executive vice-chairman of Cheuk Nang (Holdings) [HKSE 0131].  She is also an avid aviator, a passionate member of the community, and a voice for the LGBTQ community in Hong Kong. Gigi graduated from the University of Manchester in Architecture with Honours. Besides a background in architecture and construction, her multi-faceted experience in management and service was acquired from over a decade in marketing and retail services in Hong Kong and China, during which she handled key accounts such as Rolex, Audemars Piquet, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mont Blanc, L'Oreal, and Ball Watch. In 2008, she founded Faith in Love Foundation with a vision for service in humility and yearning for simple giving and currently acts as the first female President of Hong Kong Aviation Club. As a writer, Gigi has published two books and contributed to many others.  She was previously a regular op ed columnist for Sing Tao Daily and Apple Daily, and now her columns can be found in Ming’s in Ming Pao.

Head of Personal Investing

Helena is one of the best known women in the City. She is Chair of the Investment Association, whose members manage more than £5 trillion. She also chairs The Diversity Project, a cross-business initiative aimed at improving diversity across all dimensions within the investment and savings profession. Helena was CEO of Newton Investment Management for fifteen years before stepping down last August. She will be joining Legal and General IM in May. In her new role she will be focusing on personal investors, aiming to make investing more engaging and accessible. In the meantime she is writing a book, ‘A Good Time to be a Girl’.  In 2010, Helena founded the 30% Club, a business-led campaign to improve gender balance in the boardroom. The proportion of female directors on UK listed company boards has more than doubled and there are now ten 30% Clubs throughout the world. Helena also chairs Business in the Community’s Gender Equality campaign. Helena is a Fellow of London Business School and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Cambridge University in 2016. She was awarded the CBE in the 2012 New Year’s Honours list for her contribution to the role of women in business and has been named one of Fortune magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.  Helena is a Philosophy graduate. She is married to a Buddhist priest and they have nine children.

Chairwoman & CEO

Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC

Since her appointment as Chairwoman and CEO of EY ShinNihon in 2019, Masami has accelerated her efforts in developing and appointing female talent and fostering a more flexible working environment to further improve gender representation of the firm. One of her key focuses is a hybrid working style, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at not only promoting work-life balance but also improving productivity and a level of collaboration with firm’s clients. According to a recent EY people survey, the female engagement index was up 16 percentage points from pre-COVID-19 levels in 2019. Masami also demonstrated the power of diversity through leadership. She serves as a member of EY Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness Steering Committee, leveraging the group as a means to advance DE&I efforts worldwide. Externally, Masami focuses on developing female talent and future generations through lectures and mentoring programs for various forums, organizations, and universities.

Founder & CEO

In 2013, Suki founded OUTstanding, a membership organisation for LBGT+ executives and allies. OUTstanding supports the diversification of the boardroom and aims to highlight more visible senior LGBT+ role models to inspire the next generation of leaders.  In partnership with The Financial Times, OUTstanding now produces the acclaimed LGBT+ Executive Top100 list, Ally Top30 list and Future Leaders Top30 list each year. In 2017, Suki launched EMpower – or Ethnic Minority power. EMpower is a membership organisation with ten founding members across a range of sectors, from financial services to tech and FMCG. EMpower exists to celebrate BAME role models, and empower corporate firms with the leadership skills and knowledge to maintain and develop their BAME talent pipeline. Each year, in partnership with the Financial Times, EMpower publishes role model lists celebrating the top BAME Executives and Future Leaders, globally.

Chair and Chief Executive Officer

State Street Corporation

Under Ronald's leadership, State Street has continually focused on increasing female leadership in the companies in which it invests, including by launching the Fearless Girl initiative, which helped spur female corporate board member appointments. Ron also introduced STT company-wide diversity goals that are tied to executive compensation, diverse talent slates for all open positions, and introduced State Street’s “10 Actions Against Racism and Inequality,” the firm’s commitment to taking strategic action in the IDE space. In 2021, Ron added two women to State Street’s Management Committee, bringing female representation to 28%, with 36% of promotions at Managing Director level and above being women. State Street has been featured on Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies and Best Companies for Dads, and the Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index. For seven consecutive years the firm has earned a 100% on the HRC Equality Index.

Managing Director

YouTube UK & Ireland

Alison started her career in the public sector working for government departments including M15 and Foreign Office, before moving to the advertising industry. Over the last 11 years at Google, she has led numerous commercial and creative teams and is now Managing Director of YouTube UK & Ireland. Inside and outside of Google, she is a diversity champion, a member of WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications, Leadership), Director of Trans in the City and a Trustee of Berkhamsted Raiders Football Club, England’s largest girls youth football club.