A great rally call from the keynote speaker, Dr Tunde Okewale, at our inaugural conference Inclusive Leadership Now! And throughout the day, we saw over 100 people stand up and say that they are ready to step forward to take up leadership and Board roles.
Our first conference was a huge success because YOU came forward. Buoyed by our fantastic speakers who talked about their successes and challenges as Board members, by inspiring speeches from Deputy mayor, Asher Craig and Mayor Marvin Rees, and exclusive workshops on key topics – networking, Board insights and financial governance – our delegates have given us a clear message: we want to be the next generation of leaders of Bristol. We felt a true shift, a real moment for diversity and inclusion in our city.
In 2018, BeOnBoard set out improve the diversity of UK boards to better reflect the communities they serve, to build an inclusive economy which benefits all, where talented BAME and women senior professionals feel that their skills or experience would be valued in boardrooms. And now, through training and our inaugural conference, we are in a position where we can offer a strong, diverse talent pool to businesses for their board roles.
In the New Year we are taking the lead from you, our future leaders. We’ve listened to your needs and will be offering more training to help show you that Board roles are accessible and not just for ‘other people’, with more opportunities to meet role models and more chances to get connected at our networking events.
Together, we will deliver our vision. Thank you once again for stepping forward.
Kalpna Woolf,
BeOnBoard – CEO
