Guest speakers

Tanya has been working in the charity and non-profit sector for the past 6 years, within various youth and social justice charities, supporting youth on the ground with dedicated mentoring, programme delivery and holistic support. Throughout Tanya’s time working in the sector, she has used her platform to speak on her experiences as a youth worker, sharing the programmes she delivers whilst equally sharing the journey she’s personally gone on to explore her identity.

In 2019 Tanya begun running workshops and events dedicated to Black LGBTQ+ youth, starting with Mentor Match Up’s, to Queer Black Christmas, which is now Exist Loudly’s flagship yearly event, which provides a safe space to celebrate Christmas for Black LGBTQ+ youth who are estranged from family and/or living in temporary accommodation.

During the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and the uprisings of BLM, Tanya launched the ‘Exist Loudly Fund’ so that she would be able to independently run her work workshops/events for Black LGBTQ+ youth, without having to seek financial support from brands or companies. With an aim of £10,000, the fundraiser reached a whopping £50,000 within 24 hours and over the month of June, ended on over £110,000. Tanya used £52,000 to go towards starting her own CIC, Exist Loudly, and shared the £58,000 between 5 other LGBTQ+ orgs who are Black led and/or trans led with a history of supporting Black LGBTQ+ youth.

Exist Loudly is in it’s first year of running and has already been able to secure further long term funding for programming, thanks to their innovative and creative way of engaging, supporting and amplifying the experiences of Black LGBTQ+ youth. Currently Exist Loudly are working towards getting their own youth club so they are able to safely support young people in a space that centres the safety and care of Black LGBTQ+ youth.

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As Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group Kirstie is accountable for the external influencing of the broader skills agenda across Government and Ministers, and other key stakeholders. She also leads the strategic business interface on large complex integrated business relationships and opportunities. 

Throughout her career Kirstie has spearheaded the development of award winning products and services across the skills landscape both in the UK and internationally and is a passionate advocate of the role of digital and social media in transforming how people live, learn and work.  

Since September 2019 Kirstie has been a Trustee at the Prince’s Trust and since November 2020 she has been the joint Chair of the Federation of Awarding Bodies. Kirstie is also a member of the BITC Employment and Skills Leadership Team. 

In the past Kirstie has been a Commissioner on the Labour party’s lifelong learning committee, Apprenticeship Commissioner for the cross party Commission and was one of the original committee members of the David Blunkett’s – Learning Age – Green paper back in 1998.    

Kirstie’s commitment to e-learning in the FE/Adult sector was recognised when she was awarded an MBE in the Queens Honours in 2011. 

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Ann began her career as a College Principal in Milton Keynes and Cambridge. From 2000-2005, she was Chief Executive of the University for Industry, before moving to the private sector as Senior Vice President with management consultancy Citizen Service Transformation. From 2005-2010 Ann also acted as a government adviser in the UK and overseas and was also involved with the Department for Education and the Department for Business Innovation & Skills in the setting up the education service unionlearn.

Ann holds a number of public and private sector non-executive directorships and is Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. She is Chair of the Helena Kennedy Foundation – the charity she founded in 1998 to promote social mobility in further and higher education by awarding bursaries to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

From 2010-2015, she was Chair of E-ACT, a multi academy trust whose core mission is to break the link between poverty and underachievement. In September 2015, Ann was the first woman to take up the post of Chair of The Scout Association – the UK’s largest youth volunteering charity.

Ann was made a Fellow of City & Guilds in 2002 and was appointed an OBE in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her public service and services to education. In the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list she was appointed a CBE for public and political service.

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As an out queer (non-binary, gay) person with years of leadership in LGBTQ+ inclusion, they have been recognised as an Involve Top 50 OUTstanding LGBT+ Role Model. They are a Co-Founder and current Co-Chair of the Proud Science Alliance, a collective of healthcare and life sciences sector LGBTQ+ networks and partners who work together to raise the bar on LGBTQ+ inclusion within their organisations and the sector as a whole.

They hold a BBA in Marketing from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, an MSc in Exercise Physiology from Springfield College and an MSc in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. Jason is from the United States and emigrated to the UK in 2005 to be with their now husband, Greg, who is British. They love exercise, reading, spending time with friends, making things with their hands and art.

What does diversity and inclusion mean to me?

“Diversity is being asked the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” – Vernã Myers

To be our best selves, our best teams and our best organisations, we must recognise and honour the value we and others bring. This means not simply getting the numbers equal, putting up quotes on websites or simply complying with laws. We must invite everyone to participate, to contribute and to co-create in order to realise our ambition to be creative, innovate and perform at the highest level—to be our best we all must show up completely, open hearted, and we have to invite others to do the same.

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