Wo+Men’s Leadership Conference 2023: Shaping Success

Dr Jenny Chu is an Associate Professor in Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School. Jenny is a JM Keynes Fellow in Financial Economics and is a fellow of the Cambridge Endowment for Research (CERF).

Jenny worked on corporate finance and M&A transactions for technology companies at Credit Suisse in Silicon Valley and later transitioned into a portfolio management role at the hedge fund division of Blackrock. Her research has been published in academic journals such as Management Science, as well as covered by the popular press such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Her research won best paper awards from the Financial Management Association (2015) and the European Accounting Review (2022). Jenny’s research interests include corporate and sovereign information disclosure, management incentives and compensation, and gender diversity.

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My research interests include institutional change and stasis, a subject on which I have published many papers. I am also interested in strategy in highly turbulent and disruptive competitive environments, positioning in ecosystems, platform-based strategy, business models, economic development and national competitiveness.

I have served as a consultant to several blue-chip organisations as well as to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, among others.

I’m a member of the Strategy and International Business subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, and along with my colleagues I actively contribute to both academic and business communities.

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Rina is Managing Director at her family business, Textyle, which specialises in the production of outerwear for big brand clients in the fashion industry. She is the founder of the ethical and sustainable lifestyle brand CULTHREAD.

Prior to her career at Textyle, she competed on the Women’s Professional Tennis tour before studying Economics at the London School of Economics. Following her undergraduate degree, she completed the JP Morgan Finance Programme in New York, before trading bonds and derivatives at JP Morgan in London.

Rina also holds an MA in Conflict Analysis, an Executive MBA from CJBS and is in her fourth year of a Doctorate in Business Administration, researching the factors that enable women to persevere and progress in the face of constraints within the financial services industry.

Dame Sandra is KPMG Professor Emerita at Cambridge Judge Business School. She was Director of Cambridge Judge Business School from 1995 to 2006, Master of Sidney Sussex College from 1999 to 2009 and one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors of the University from 2008 to 2012. She writes and consults on organisational behaviour, leadership and innovation.

In 2004 Dame Sandra was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire as part of the UK national honours system in recognition of her contribution to higher education and management research and in 2006 she was inducted into the International Women’s Forum’s International Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements in business education and leadership development including being an outstanding role model for women who aspire to lead in the commercial, educational and not-for-profit sectors.

Dame Sandra has wide experience in the commercial, public and charitable sectors, through research, consultancy, executive development and Board membership. Former positions include Chair of Riverside Mental Health NHS Trust and the executive committee of the Social Science Research Council in the USA; Vice Chair of Oxfam, a Non-Executive Director of TSB Bank, Barclays, JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust and the Financial Services Authority, and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology, the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, UK’s Senior Salaries Review Body, and an Advisory Board for the Aga Khan University on building a business School to meet the needs of emerging economies. She currently serves on the Board of the American University of Sharjah, Chairs the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Museum of Zoology and sits on the Advisory Board of Cambridge Judge Business School.

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Barbara has appeared in plays in most of the UK’s great regional theatres and in TV roles from Cold Feet to Coronation Street. She continues to act and create theatre, as well as coaching leaders from every sector.

She brings her background in psychology to support development for individuals and teams. She is proud to be on the team of AGL Communication supporting people to find their authentic voice and is also proud to work with Open Space Learning. She is an associate of the marvellous international story experts Narativ.

She is also lucky enough frequently to work with Actors in Industry who are celebrating their 30th anniversary as one of the very first companies pioneering roleplay coaching in business.

She currently brings devised plays to the stage across Europe with Airpocket Theatre and has been part of the revival of the astonishing gem of theatre heritage, the Shelley Theatre in Bournemouth, a beautifully restored and important regional theatre. Her most recent films were “Swan Song” and “Speakeasy” a two-hander alongside Victoria Emslie.

She has worked in lead roles in Theatre, Television, Radio and Voice-over over many years.
Barbara is an Integral Coach qualified with New Ventures West and Third Space Coaching.

Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre
Tracey is passionate about improving gender diversity, through dialogue and action, and is a founding member of Cambridge Judge Business School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.

Tracey is a member of the senior leadership team, with responsibility for overseeing
externally facing communications and corporate marketing. She is also a member of the European
Foundation for Management Steering Committee and a mentor to students at her alma mater, the University of St. Andrews. Tracey’s background is in outreach, engagement, and PR.

In her early career, she project-managed the creation, operational running and marketing of museums, including the Museum of Rugby and Twickenham Experience Tours at England Rugby, Twickenham. She developed engagement and
partnership programmes as Director of Outreach for the NASA Specialised Center of Research and Training in the Research Triangle, North Carolina and for ScottishTelecom, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tracey holds degrees from the University of St Andrews and the University of Aberdeen, has
completed the Executive Education Cambridge General Management Programme, at Cambridge Judge, and is now embarking on an Executive MBA at the Business School. In her spare time, she runs marathons.

Archanna Ramu is a Director in the EMEA Key Account Management team at Invesco, responsible for advising the C-suite on Invesco’s strategic partnerships with a focus on global banks and asset managers. Prior to this role, Archanna was EMEA Senior Legal Counsel with Invesco supporting strategic priorities in the region, ESG and Digital initiatives and lead lawyer for the EMEA SMA business.

Prior to joining Invesco in 2020, Archanna was Deputy General Counsel at Stepstone advising the global infrastructure business and Vice President within the legal team at BlackRock. Archanna started her career in 2005 in a law firm specialising as Corporate and M&A lawyer.

Archanna has worked internationally in Paris, Piraeus, London and Zurich. As a DEI advocate, Archanna is a regular speaker at legal and industry events focused on women, race and neurodiversity.

With over 18 years of experience in Technology and Financial services, Khayala enjoyed a variety of experiences and leadership roles.

Prior to joining the PwC Insurance practice in 2017 as a senior Sales and BD Lead, Khayala worked at Microsoft Global HQs for nearly 10 years holding various senior roles in Technology. Khayala is Commercial Director, EMEA Value Creation Deals at PwC UK.

Khayala is one of the UN Women UK official delegates to CSW UN since March 2023 and has taken an active role in driving the vision for UN Women.

In 2021 Khayala was selected as one of the Top 50 Trailblazers WeAreTheCity for her contribution for gender equality and she is the Winner of Women in Finance Awards 2020 under ‘Advocate of the Year’
category, also served as a Judge for Women in Finance Awards and was the finalist for Women in Insurance Awards 2020, 2019 under the category ‘Insurance Women of the Year’.

Khayala also won the PwC Empowerment award in 2019 and made the Chairman’s empowerment list in the same year for her leading role in driving Diversity and Inclusion in the industry. She is an active supporter, ambassador and speaker on DEI, Insurance Technology, Leadership and Equality topics.

Khayala holds an Executive MBA degree from Cambridge Judge Business School and MSc degree from BI University Norway.

Toni Thorne is a Women of the Future UK Awardee (nominated by the University of Cambridge) and a former award-winning entrepreneur and Barbados National Youth Awardee, who has been a consultant to both public and private sector entities in Barbados and the Caribbean. She was the first Black or Caribbean person to sit on the Global Youth Leader’s European Summit.

Thorne was JCI International’s “Top Outstanding Young Person of the World” from the Caribbean and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

“The Toni Thorne Show” was her regionally broadcast television show and her weekly “Women’s Wednesdays” radio show focused on gender issues.

Toni has been a former clothing designer (highlighted by I-d Magazine and The London Times), and shoe designer under the label “Sweetheart Sandals”.

Thorne has been the Chairwoman of Oistins Festival and the President of Variety: The Children’s Charity, with responsibility for the overall management of events catering to tens of thousands of people.

Toni created a charity programme for HIV-infected orphans in Jamaica and has been a member of relief activities in Haiti. As a Caribbean LIV-UP Ambassador she worked to fight the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS- starring in a Caribbean soap opera series and hosting the region’s largest testing drive.

She is a former Huffington Post blogger and columnist to two of Barbados’ leading publications.

Thorne was a US State Department Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Professional Fellow. As a Cambridge Trust Scholar and Chevening Scholar, whilst at Cambridge Judge Business School, she was one of two Cambridge MBA students listed on the Poets and Quants “Brightest and Best” list.

After completing the Cambridge MBA with a concentration in Finance, she is now at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and is passionate about encouraging women and girls to pursue careers in entrepreneurship and finance. Toni is currently a Newton Venture Capital Fellow and sits on the Premier League Charitable Fund Board. She is the host of the Caribbean Economic Forum, which is viewed by over three million Caribbean citizens on a quarterly basis.

Sharon is a senior strategist on
the European Portfolio Strategy
team, which is responsible for
STOXX Europe and FTSE 100 forecasts and thematic investment recommendations for the European equity market. She is a member of
the GIR Inclusion and Diversity Council.

Previously, Sharon served as co-head of the EMEA Global Investment Research Women’s Network. She joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in 2002 and was named managing director in 2015.

Prior to joining the firm, Sharon was an equity strategist at HSBC. Sharon earned a BSc in Economics from the University of Bath in 1996. She is a CFA charterholder.

My research interests include interpersonal relationships in organisations, social networks, interpersonal cognition, and teamwork. I’ve taught professionals and executives around the world in topics such as negotiation, and power and politics. I’m the Academic Programme Director for the Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme.

I’m part of the Organisational Behaviour subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which aspires to promote our understanding of behaviour within organisations and translate our scientific research into practical applications.

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As Chief Strategy Officer, Anne is responsible for accelerating Kinaxis strategy development to add further value to customers.

She and her team collaborate closely with customers, external stakeholders and the rest of the senior executive team to drive the strategic roadmap, thought leadership and identify emerging technologies and new industry opportunities. A proven leader in analytics and digital transformation, with expertise in operations, supply chain and strategy, Anne has extensive experience in managing supply chains for complex, global organizations. As Executive Director, Global Supply Chain Strategy, Analytics and Systems at Verizon, Anne was responsible for the strategic vision of the company’s global end-to-end supply chain, driving excellence through world-class data-analytics, process innovation and employee empowerment. Before Verizon, Anne spent several years at Cisco where she was responsible for managing advanced analytics, business intelligence and performance management teams.

Anne is a past president of INFORMS (the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences), a seasoned industry speaker and has served on several advisory boards. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Anne has a BScH from Acadia University, MASc from the University of Waterloo and an MSc and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

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My research interests include strategic interactions between stakeholders in supply chains and socially responsible operations. I’m a strong proponent of practice-based research and through collaborations with Intel Corporation, Stanford University Medical Center and others, I’ve combined my academic interests with firms’ needs to deliver insights for both communities.

I’m a member of the Operations and Technology Management subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which focuses on practice-based research through partner organisations to address a wide spectrum of management challenges.

View Feryal’s profile

Marie Von Bethmaan is currently Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company with a focus on decarbonisation of heavy industries. Marie professionally grew up in the corporate environment of Deutsche Telekom AG and to this day passionate to trigger long lasting transformations in larger organisations/corporations. Marie has an academic background business informatics and a Cambridge MBA. Marie is expecting her first born early next year and excited to start the new chapter of life where motherhood and professional life will eventually go hand in hand.

Djalma has over 10 years of experience in private and public equities investing. He is currently a Vice President in the emerging markets team at T. Rowe Price, a global asset management firm with over $1 trillion in assets under management.

Djalma began his career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan in São Paulo and New York. He then transitioned to private equity at Kinea, a Brazilian investment firm, and later H.I.G. Capital. In the private markets, Djalma worked on and led investments from growth equity to leveraged buyouts across different industries in Latin America. He also had the opportunity to do a stint as interim CEO of a portfolio company.

Djalma holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of São Paulo and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He is happily married and father to twin 3-year-olds Julia and Arthur. Djalma was born and raised in the countryside of Brazil, is passionate about music, and (when the twins let him) enjoys long-distance running.

Leah is currently serving as Chief Portfolio Talent Officer at Balderton Capital. She is responsible for supporting their portfolio on strategic people and talent challenges from recruitment and culture to organisational strategy.

Prior to joining Balderton, Leah spent over seven years leading global human resources at Elastic (ESTC), where she led them through 10x people growth, including an IPO and six acquisitions. She has a passion for helping founders think about hiring and developing their leadership teams and scaling their organisations. She also led HR at Plum Organics, a high-growth food start-up, through an acquisition by Campbell Soup Company; held various roles at Bloom Energy (BE), including leading HR for India and Asia Pacific; and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa. Leah holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Dorothy Gregson brings experience of the civil service, policing and public health.

During Covid she was first Eastern Regions’ Deputy and then Acting Regional Director of Public Health. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s Office of Police and Crime Commissioner and also had a stint as chair of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s Public Service Board.

Dorothy is no stranger to the NHS in Cambridgeshire having completed her medical training at Addenbrookes and been first Cambridge City, then covering South Cambridgeshire’s Primary Care Trust’s Director of Public Health roles.

Dorothy is a Non-Executive Member and Chair of the Quality, Performance and Finance Committee.

Maxine Nwaneri overcame significant odds to become a Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Executive Coach, and Leadership Adviser in her business The Future is Greater.

She therefore delights in helping her clients transform their darkest times into some of life’s brightest experiences. She is especially passionate about helping female leaders confidently create true career success by overcoming their challenges, and going from surviving, to thriving, in both their professional and personal lives.

Her near-death experience giving birth to her second child was the catalyst for her upcoming book ‘The Future is Greater: A working Mother’s Guide to Finding Balance’ which is due for publication by HarperCollins on 29th February 2024.

Prior to starting her business, Maxine obtained her MBA from Cambridge Judge Business School, and acquired over 15 years’ experience in the Consulting, Technology, and Financial Services industries internationally. She now lives in London with her husband and two children.