The PeopleFirst
Global Summit ’25

Ryan McGrory
MD, Australasia
Inspiring Workplaces

Intro and About IW

Tara Daly
Experiential Marketing Specialist
Tax Traders

Small but Mighty — How a 40‑person team builds an inspiring culture

Thejas Komarla
AU Director
Prezzee

Laine Cassidy
Director – People and Inclusion | Head of Mental Health & Wellbeing
KPMG

Embedding Wellbeing into the DNA of an Organisation’

Meagan Michaels
Head of Employer Brand
Bupa

Brand Meets Culture: How Your Employee Brand Shapes Engagement

Dr Patrick Aouad
CEO
CU Health

Vanessa Riley
Chief People Officer
Richard Crookes Construction

Building Leadership Capability to Unlock Engagement

Break

A talk from Inspiring Workplace Winner…

Albert Villagracia
Vice-President for Human Resources
RELX | Reed Elsevier

Top 3 Essentials for a Future-ready Organization

This talk outlines the key elements for creating a future-ready organization, drawing on RELX | Reed Elsevier’s evolution from a publishing leader to a data and technology powerhouse. The session will share insights on adaptive change, employee engagement, and continuous learning.

A talk from Inspiring Workplace Winner…

Sapna Bambhani
SVP of Operations in India
TaskUs

Anupama Sachdeva Singh
Vice President Human Resources India, SEA & ANZ
Concentrix

Hazel Bañas
Vice President, People Solutions Philippines
Concentrix

What makes Concentrix an Inspiring Workplace across multiple regions

Nadia Ben Bahtane
Chief Brand & Engagement Officer
Intelcia

We Dream. We Care. We Do. — The Human-Centered Culture of Intelcia

At Intelcia, we believe lasting impact begins with a culture where people come first — whether they are our collaborators, our partners, or our clients. Being named an Inspiring Workplace is more than a recognition — it’s a reflection of a daily commitment.

Guided by a clear mindset — We Dream. We Care. We Do. — we create the right conditions for everyone to grow, express themselves, innovate, and contribute to our collective success.
This talk will explore the concrete pillars of our approach: tailored development paths, a culture of dialogue and feedback, caring leadership, and a co-driven innovation culture powered by our people in the field.

Because at Intelcia, inspiration isn’t top-down — it’s built together, every day.

Annepeace Alwala
Vice President for Global Service Delivery
Sama

Unlocking Africa’s Digital Workforce – Challenges, Opportunities, and the Policy Gaps We Must Close

As the demand for AI and digital services surges globally, Africa’s young, dynamic workforce stands ready to meet it. Sama, with operations in Kenya and Uganda, is proving that the continent can deliver world-class AI data solutions while creating sustainable employment for thousands. Yet, scaling Africa’s digital workforce is not without hurdles, from infrastructure limitations and skills gaps to policy frameworks that lag behind technological change. In this talk, Annepeace Alwala, Vice President for Global Service Delivery at Sama, will explore the opportunities driving Africa’s digital rise, the challenges slowing its momentum, and the critical policy interventions needed to fully realise its potential. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to shape an inclusive, future-ready digital economy for Africa.

Husam Haris
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
The Hanging House

From Chaos to Clarity: Building People-First Systems in High-Pressure Industries

Behind every bold creative vision is an engine that keeps people, processes, and performance aligned. In this session, Husam will share how The Hanging House built an internal culture where operational systems empower creativity rather than limit it. Drawing from high-stakes projects such as global launches and mega summits, he will unpack how to balance human well-being with operational excellence, proving that a people-first approach is not a trade-off but the secret to long-term success.

Karin Volo
CEO
Evoloshen

Olga Chumakova
Global Employer Branding & Communications Manager
Intellias

Make it, don’t fake it: how real culture gets built at Intellias

At Intellias, our culture is all about people and purpose. We value honesty, curiosity, and teamwork. Every voice matters, and every idea counts. In this conversation, we’ll share how we create a space where honesty, curiosity, and teamwork thrive. We’ll talk about the choices, practices, and mindset that make our people feel valued and empowered. Real people, real purpose and a culture we grow every day.

tbc…

Emma Bridger
Co-Founder
The EX Space

The People First Revolution: AI, Human-Centred Design and the Future of Work

The people profession is at a once-in-a-generation turning point. AI isn’t just changing how we work, it’s rewriting the rules of work itself. The old ways of working –  transactional, reactive, policy-driven – are over. What comes next will be bigger, bolder, and more human than ever before.

This session is your wake-up call. Emma Bridger will challenge you to stop thinking of AI as a threat and start seeing it as the ultimate productivity partner, freeing you from repetitive admin and shallow engagement surveys so you can focus on what really matters: designing meaningful, human-centred experiences.

You’ll walk away knowing:

• The five human skills that will define the next decade of work
• How to move from firefighting to future-shaping as an EX Designer
• Why the future belongs to people-first leaders, and how you can become one

This isn’t theory. It’s a rallying cry. The revolution has already begun. The question is will you lead it, or get left behind?

And as part of this talk, Emma will also share a sneak peek of her brand-new book People First Internal Communication (IC), which launches December 3rd, and will be your essential guide to thriving IC  in the AI age.

This isn’t just about keeping up. It’s about leading a once-in-a-generation shift toward workplaces where humans can truly thrive.

Kay Vessey
Head of Learning and Lead PRINT® Coach
H&H

Empathy, connection, and understanding motivation: the superpowers of tomorrow’s leaders

In a world of constant change, the leaders who will stand out tomorrow aren’t defined by technical expertise alone, but by their ability to connect at a human level. This session explores how empathy and authentic connection create the foundations for trust, resilience, and collaboration in modern workplaces. The most impactful leaders of the future will be those who can truly understand what motivates their people, aligning individual purpose with collective goals. By combining empathy, connection, and an appreciation of human motivation, leaders will unlock not just performance, but meaning, belonging, and long-term success.

Corinne Mills
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Alzheimer’s Society

The Culture Shift: How values and mission lead the way

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer and most significant health and social care challenge of our time. This culture change within organisations committed to ending dementia must be more than structural, it must be deeply human. This session explores how anchoring transformation in organisational values creates the foundation for a meaningful and sustainable culture shift.

Drawing on real-world experience from two-time Sunday Times Best Places to Work winner Alzheimer’s Society, we’ll examine how setting and living core values – such as Determined to make a difference, Trusted Expert, Better Together and being Compassionate – can galvanise teams, align behaviours, and foster a shared sense of purpose. We’ll look at how values-led change helps bridge the gap between strategy and lived experience, especially in emotionally demanding environments like dementia care and advocacy.

Dan Archer
UK CEO
Visiting Angels

Carer-Centric Leadership: Redefining What It Means to Be an Employer of Choice

Dan Archer, Founder and UK CEO of Visiting Angels, shares his journey of transforming the care industry by putting carers at the heart of the business. Since launching Visiting Angels from his dining room table in 2017, Dan has pioneered the term carer-centric; a philosophy that recognises carers as the backbone of society and ensures they are valued, respected and rewarded for the life-changing work they do.

In this speech, Dan will outline:

• The Challenge: For too long, carers have been underpaid, undervalued, and wrongly labelled as “unskilled.” With turnover rates in some care services reaching 77%, the sector faces a crisis of retention and morale.
• The Vision: To become the UK care sector’s Employer of Choice by 2030 by building a culture where carers are as valued as clients.
• The Approach: Offering pay above sector averages, career progression, training, mental health support, and a people-first culture driven by the simple test: “Does this improve the life of a caregiver?”
• The Results: Growing from zero to £30m turnover and 1,500+ staff across 70+ UK offices, while maintaining some of the highest satisfaction ratings in the industry (4.7/5 on Glassdoor)
• The Impact: Proving that when carers are supported and respected, client outcomes improve, retention increases, and the perception of the profession shifts.

Dan will also share insights on the leadership challenges of scaling a values-driven business, from recruiting the right managers through values-based selection to influencing government and industry through lobbying, media and thought leadership.

Dan’s story is not just a business story; it is a mission to redefine care work in the UK, inspiring the sector and policymakers to give carers the recognition they deserve and to secure the future of care for generations to come.

Katy Morrison
Head of Culture & Performance, Connect Three
President, Scottish Women in Business

Culture at Scale: Turning Growth into a Cultural Advantage

As organisations grow, culture often gets left behind. What once felt natural and connected can become fragmented, inconsistent, or diluted. At Connect Three, we believe culture shouldn’t be the casualty of growth, it should be the driver of it.

In this session, we will share how we have intentionally embedded culture into our ambitious growth plans and explore how culture, strategy, and performance can align to become a competitive advantage.

I will reveal practical approaches to creating intentional norms that stop culture from becoming accidental, including onboarding rituals, feedback mechanisms, and team practices that keep values alive as headcount expands. She’ll share how Connect Three has moved away from centralised control and instead empowered teams to live and shape the culture, using shared narratives and to create ownership and energy across the business. The session will also highlight how leadership plays a critical role in scaling culture, and we’ll show how culture can be measured and linked directly to performance, retention, and growth.

If your organisation is scaling, or aspires to, this talk will give insights and inspiration on how to make culture your strongest accelerator.

Break

April Homer
Partner & Chief People Officer
Cooper Parry

Gina Battye
CEO
Psychological Safety Institute

Psychological Safety Isnt What You Think

Esther Bennett 
Global People Leader | Chartered Member, Institute of Internal Communications
Ideagen

Culture in Action: The Ideagen Way to Inspire, Include, and Innovate

Culture isn’t what you say—it’s what you do. At Ideagen, we believe that when you put culture into action through inspiration, inclusion and innovation, extraordinary things happen.

This session takes you inside our “culture in action” playbook: how we inspire through authentic leadership that gets personal (our CEO’s global Grand Tour), include through co-created values and employee-led change (140 colleagues in ERGs influencing board decisions), and innovate through employee passion projects that create real-world impact (apprentices building life-saving apps that will educate 18,000 young people).

We’ll share our approach that has evolved a fragmented acquisition-grown company into a unified global family of 1,840 colleagues, a culture that has ambition, adventure and community at its heart.

Caroline Jankowska
Head of HR
Elexon

Building a Performance Culture: Turning Strategy into Measurable Impact

Great cultures don’t happen by accident – they are built through intentional choices, courageous conversations, and clear measurement. At Elexon, the strategic goal to create a performance culture led to the adoption of the Support-Challenge Framework, a practical tool that helped define, measure, and strengthen the way our people work together. By applying this framework, our leaders were able to balance encouragement with accountability, making cultural progress visible and actionable. In this session we’ll share our approach and show how culture can be shaped in a clear and practical way. It will highlight lessons learned that are relevant to HR professionals and leaders who want to understand how frameworks can help people work more effectively together and how cultural change can be tracked over time.

Briony Grogan
Director of People & Culture
Pan Macmillan

Gustavo Tavares
LATAM Ambassador & Judge
Inspiring Workplaces

William Schirmer
Chief Human Resource Officer
United Federal Credit Union

The Importance of Servant Leadership to Healthy, Productive Working Cultures

Servant Leadership, effectively applied, can help support both organizational results and a fulfilling work environment for team members.  Our discussion will focus on what Servant Leadership is – and is not – including identifying common Servant Leadership characteristics and best practices.

A talk from Inspiring Workplace Winner…
Tricon Residential

Enza Falzone
Director of Human Resources
Vestacon Limited

Julie Zabizewski
Vice President of Strategy
Vestacon Limited

Culture as a Competitive Advantage: HR Lessons from the Hard Hat World

In an industry defined by tight timelines, complex logistics, and constant pressure to deliver, how do you prioritize people? This session explores how a mid-sized construction management firm redefined its approach to culture, placing purpose, psychological safety, and shared values at the forefront without compromising operational success. Construction isn’t typically at the top of people’s minds when discussing progressive people practices, but it should be. By breaking down silos between field and office teams, investing in employee growth, and embedding belonging into everyday workflows, Vestacon has built more than just workspaces; we’ve built a unified, empowered workforce. Learn practical strategies to embed belonging into your workflows, retain talent in a competitive market, and lead with empathy in traditionally rigid environments.

Laura Cooke
CEO
Positive Foundry

Dawn Griffin
Chief Human Resources Officer
Trimedex

Building a thriving workplace

Exploring how to create meaningful work environments by developing a robust associate value proposition—ensuring employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated. Highlighting the fundamental importance of creating a place where everyone can do their best work; where every individual feels respected and appreciated for their unique perspectives and contributions. Together, these themes form a blueprint for building workplaces where people thrive, organizations grow, and collective purpose is achieved.

A talk from Inspiring Workplace Winner…

James Ferguson
Corporate, Director of Culture
Wurzak Hotel Group

From Worst to First

How we built a culture worth celebrating!

Cal Rolle
DEIB & Culture, Associate Director
Novo Nordisk Canada

Dan Riley
Co-Founder
RADICL

Jacob Sarasohn
Director of Marketing and Communications
Royal Ambulance

Stop Treating Internal Communication Like an Afterthought: How Structured, Intentional Communication Builds a People-First Culture

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