Our Speakers & Facilitators

Ian is Chair of our Advisory Board and Founder & CEO of Mattioli woods Plc. Ian brings his vast experiences of leading and growing Mattioli Woods - a business which has grown since founding in in 1996 to an organisation turning over in excess of £100min 2022.

Ian is  proud of his home City 

of Leicester - one of the most multicultural in the UK. This has shaped Ian's approach to business and society. Ian is also a philanthropist - along with his wife Clare they operate the Ian & Clare Mattioli Charitable Trust which focusses on developing opportunities for those in need to fully participate in a caring and compassionate society – they may be in need because of youth, age, infirmity, disability, poverty, or economic circumstance.

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Ian is also dyslexic and takes an interest in ensuring the organisations he works with are not only diverse but also inclusive.

After a diverse career in corporate finance, local government and elite sports, Lee launched Essentialise in 2020 with a desire to bring a focus to inclusive and accessible wellbeing. Essentialise featured on this year's Startups 100 Index for their work and as well as his Directorships Lee also sits on the Advisory Board of CMI Women.  

   

Lee is driven by the experience of his own journey; learning to walk again after illness in 2014, and the mental impact of scaling a videogame company across Europe in his twenties. In 2023, he became the first Black British scientist to receive the Kavli Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences, and was inducted into the Black Cultural Archives for services to Business and Health in 2022.  

   

He has been recognised for his work on allyship and equity by the Rising Stars, Marie Claire and the Northern Power Women Awards, and was featured at the Bloomberg Global Equality Summit. He is the author of the Millennials Guide to Wellness, a trustee for Age Concern, and a global speaker on male allyship and menopause.  

 

Lee who identifies as a black autistic individual with chronic health challenges, brings a unique perspective to the conversation on diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing. He will share his personal experiences and journey as an entrepreneur and wellbeing consultant, providing a first-hand account of the challenges and triumphs faced by those navigating multiple dimensions of diversity. 

 

The keynote will emphasise the importance of allyship in creating inclusive environments, stressing that true diversity is incomplete without genuine inclusion. His insights will shed light on the fact that it's not enough to simply acknowledge and celebrate differences; it's imperative to actively foster an environment where everyone's unique backgrounds, abilities, and identities are valued and integrated. 

 

 

One of the central messages is that intersectionality is not confined to specific domains; rather, it permeates every aspect of our lives. He will illustrate how intersectionality exists beyond the areas where our focus is most apparent, highlighting the interconnectedness of various aspects of identity and how they influence individuals' experiences and perspectives.

 

www.essentialise.co.uk

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Wayne Bennett is the Founder and Director of Made4Tech Global, a technology recruitment consultancy specialising in recruiting professionals within the Technology, Business Change & Transformation markets. Wayne worked in recruitment for nearly 30 years, his experience in the industry encompasses, Marketing, Finance and Technology disciplines.  

  

Recruiting within the Technology space, Wayne has witnessed significant change within the sector, in his role he has become a supportive advocate for female and diverse leadership, and advises businesses on effective inclusion strategies. Wayne has worked with organisations ranging from major corporates to SMEs, and technology-led start-ups, giving him exposure of placing professionals in positions ranging from senior management to “hands on” technical roles.  

  

This has put him front and centre of the ever-evolving requirements of organisations when hiring talent with diverse and often niche skill sets. 

Wayne’s passion for female empowerment and diversity in the workplace stems from his family background. Coming from a large family where he is the oldest of ten children, with two children of his own and six grandchildren, his family constantly reminds him what strong women can achieve and why inclusion is so important. 

  

Amongst his most significant achievements have been being instrumental in building a diverse and inclusive technology recruitment team while working for a global recruitment agency. The team - which started with a team of 5 became a team of 28 at its peak, and was the most successful and profitable team within the organisation in the UK.

Wayne regularly undertakes speaking engagements and was selected to judge the Women in Technology category at the Inspire Women Awards 2019, he has written for Women in Leadership magazine, and his proudest achievement was being asked by the Charities Commission to be Chairman for a short transition period for Moss Side & Hulme Community Development Trust 2022 

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Made4Tech Global