The Judges

Jo Salter MBE is recognised as one of the most inspiring figures in aviation and leadership, having broken barriers as the UK’s first female fast jet pilot. With decades of experience in leadership and high-performance consulting, Jo focuses on helping organisations and executives excel in fast-paced, transformative environments. She is known for taking action and making an impact.

Jo led PwC's Global Centre for Transformative Leadership, where she advised senior leaders on leadership, culture, innovation and the integration of technology, including AI, to drive organisational success. She also holds several trusteeships, supporting initiatives close to her heart, and is a member of 601 Squadron, RAuxAF.

Awarded an MBE and an honorary doctorate for her services to aviation, Jo is a sought-after keynote speaker who continues to inspire leaders with her insights on leadership, resilience, adaptability, teamwork and the evolving role of AI. Known for her advocacy for equality and inclusion, Jo is committed to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for future generations.

Dr Samir Srivastava Eur.MD, FRCPsyh, LLM, FRSA, is one of the UK’s most prominent and well-respected doctors in the field of forensic psychiatry. He is an NHS Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist working in the Lewisham Forensic Community Mental health service.

As a conscientious doctor, Samir’s endeavours have been exceptional; going ‘above and beyond’ for his patients and their families, advancing policy and practice for mental health, equality and diversity on a regional and national level, contributing to national clinical guidelines, preparing mental health questions for Parliamentary debates, improving mental health understanding for dentists and advancing psychiatry through publications, research and teaching.

As well as being a highly valued medical practitioner, Samir is a multi-award-winning short filmmaker, who has worked tirelessly to raise mental health awareness through a variety of socially conscious themes at film festivals worldwide. His extraordinary efforts have resulted in him winning 55 Best Producer awards for his first film as the producer, Matty Boy, and 617 global awards in 53 countries for three films (Matty Boy, Cinnamon and Take the Chocolate) that cover mental health and promote the prosocial education of children and equality and diversity.

Neville Lewis Beischer, an inspirational headteacher, has been awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours list for 2024 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to education. Neville, who boasts an extensive list of previous accolades, has led a remarkable transformation of Wright Robinson College, a once-struggling inner-city school in Gorton, Manchester—one of the poorest areas in the country.

Under Neville's leadership, Wright Robinson College has evolved into one of the largest and most successful state-funded secondary schools in the UK. His tenure has been marked by significant achievements, including not one, but two outstanding OFSTED ratings in 2016 and 2021. The school is now among the highest-achieving comprehensive secondary schools in England and Wales in terms of value-added metrics, a testament to Neville's commitment to excellence. 

With 33 years of service to the college, both as headteacher and chief executive, Neville has dedicated his career to the institution. He describes his leadership style as hands-on and direct, but emphasises the importance of fostering a teamwork-driven culture where everyone—students, staff, teachers, parents, and carers—feel valued and inspired to do their best.

Yetunde is the Founder and Programme Director of Solaris, a pioneering global executive leadership development academy targeted at the black professional and executive woman in organisations. Its programmes are designed to have her be empowered to advance her career beyond her current status to the c-suite and beyond.

She is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Cranswick Plc a FTSE 250 leading UK food producer where she is the designated Board Director for Workforce Engagement. She is a former Board Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Treatt Plc, a global ingredients manufacturer with operations in the UK, USA, and China. She has contributed to the development of business leaders at the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, is a Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) a TEDx Speaker and a classically trained pianist.

Recognised as HR’s 12th Most Influential Thinker by leading national magazine HR Magazine in 2021 Yetunde has also been named one of the top 100 women to watch in the UK by the Cranfield University Female FTSE 100 Board Report. In 2020, she won the Dress for Success London Award for Women’s Empowerment and in 2021 was made a Chartered Companion of the CIPD in recognition of her contribution to the achievement of the institute’s global ambitions and service to the HR profession.

Yetunde is the Managing Director of Synchrony Development Consulting an international leadership and change advisory practice and The Enjoyable Life Series CIC where their annual storytelling conferences are run to raise money for the currently disadvantaged in community. She has written several articles and blogs all with a theme of Love which she believes is the most critical leadership and organisational capability needed in the world today

Yetunde is the author of Beyond Engagement, The Value of Love-Based Leadership in Organisations, which provides practical insights from over 30 senior business leaders across a variety of industry sectors into how love-based leadership can transform organisations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yetundehofmann/

Paula is a farmer in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has worked in conservation, countryside management and access, and rural skills youth training.

She opens the farm to local and inner-city schools, colleges and Universities for educational visits. Providing the opportunity to learn about a working farm and where food comes from, adapting agricultural practices on the farm to improve soil health and reduce emissions, sharing her own experience and route into farming and how she integrates wildlife and environmental work within the farmed landscape, whilst growing quality British produce.

Paula is passionate about her Belted Galloway cattle and the role they play in safeguarding the biodiversity of local calcareous grasslands. She gradually increased the native breed herd to 160, to facilitate conservation grazing on the chalk downlands, combining traditional farming methods with new technology to provide more sustainable habitat management supporting the species-rich environment.

With her vision to increase biodiversity and wildlife connectivity across the farm and help link more people with food, farming and the environment, Paula established a farm hedgerow initiative which brought community groups and individuals together to plant 27,000 native hedgerow trees. Her enthusiasm and commitment to the environment led to a strong community spirit and sense of pride and wellbeing amongst all those involved in the project; planting 6km of native hedgerows, creating space for nature, providing food and shelter for wildlife and increasing pollinator species and carbon capture.

In the 2023 New Year Honours List, Paula was made an MBE for her services to Sustainable Agriculture.

Mike Thompson, is founder and chairman of the European Business Award-winning Childbase Partnership, a leading provider of childcare and early years education in the South of England rated ‘World Class’ by Best Companies. A leading exponent of employee ownership, sharing the success, Mike began turning his family-owned business over to employees 22 years ago. Today, over 2,000 early years educators and Head Office support staff now enjoy profit sharing, award-winning training and career development programmes, and a role in company decision-making. The fully owned employee status was achieved in 2017. The company has been used as a Best Practice case study in several Government schemes, including the latest Department for Education Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, recognising decades-long, innovative environmental initiatives at Childbase Partnership. Mike was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to child care, and a CBE for his services to education and philanthropy in 2020. Mike’s passion for supporting charities is shared by all colleagues with fund-raising and grant aid resulting in over £3.3 million given to charity and worthy causes. The company also built and funded the Maggies Centre in Oxford in memory of his late mother. That facility carries her name as recognition of the part played. Mike was appointed Chair of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital charity appeal in 2014. The final stages of the work on new drop down patient care, and rehab facilities, a £12m project are now agreed. This will deliver an additional 68 beds at the Hospital, free veterans care going forward and on site rehab assisted living accommodation. Mike, who studied and achieved an NVQ qualification in childcare to better understand his colleagues’ work experience, was rated ‘Best Leader of a Large UK Company’ in 2020 and again in 2021 in the Sunday Times top 100 companies to work for.