2024
WIRexec Leadership Summit Europe

Specialising in Executive Leadership Coaching, Ali’s career has been honed ‘in the field’ working for, with, as and alongside Leaders. Formative years spent in both Operations and L&D within a large global airline, gave Ali first-hand experience and deep insight into the critical impact leader’s behaviour has in creating working environments in which people feel able to develop and thrive both professionally and personally. After 13 yrs of rich experience Ali transitioned successfully into an independent leadership coaching career which has since spanned 25yrs working with many diverse industries and clients across the world. To mention some, but not all, BT, Trailfinders, Expedia, Virgin Retail, Danone, United Airlines, Delta, Borealis, Flaktwoods, Xerox, Hamptons International, Phillip Morris, Köhler, Star Alliance, Shell, Etihad.....

In 2004 Ali was approached to partner with CRA Inc in the USA as an associate within the leadership faculty providing Executive Leadership Coaching for many valued clients across EMEA, ASIAPAC & the USA including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, C.I.T., BNPParibas, Debevoise & Plimpton, Acacia Mining, BorgWarner, Davidson Kempner, Oppenheimer & Tory Burch.

Widely experienced across a variety of industries, Ali has a reputation for achieving results in organizations undergoing transformational change, building capability and confidence for people in their roles and in successfully influencing resistant mindsets.

Outside of the corporate world, Ali often coaches private individuals to push through challenges they feel are holding them or their organizations back. One amazing opportunity was spent in India supporting the Maharaja of Udaipur refine operationalnand service leadership across his 12 luxury palace hotels throughout Rajasthan. With a love of travel and curiosity for people & learning, Ali relishes opportunities to soak up new experiences which deepen and inform her Coaching practice.

Coaching is increasingly recognised as the accelerator in peoples’ success stories both professionally and personally. Ali believes coaching leaders to lead well is an enormous privilege even when the message leaders need to hear is a tough one. If it is the key to leaders building better relationships, reputation and results, Ali will deliver it in a way it can be heard.

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Fiona McKinnon is the cofounder and CEO of Moment Company.

Burnout was the catalyst for change in Fiona’s life and career.  After 22 years of living, working and travelling around the world as an executive in the AdTech and Media industry for brands such as The Guardian, CNN and Warner Media in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada, Fiona experienced first-hand the physical and mental impact of not being able to say No!!

It was at this point that she became curious about the connection between our mind, stress and our body’s reaction, which led to her practising Transcendental Meditation and breathwork, and to train in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Mindfulness and Reiki.  The impact was profound and life changing.

Fiona co-founded Moment Company in 2020 with Alex Strang and Charlie Cadbury to bring together the techniques that helped them overcome stress and burnout.  They are passionate about sharing the benefits of taking mindful Moments throughout the busy working day to improve mental fitness, mindset control and to build happier healthier lives.

Gimena Diaz is the former General Manager of PayPal France. She has 20 years’ experience in business development and management in High Tech: online and mobile services, payments, digital ID, fintech/banks, telecom and e-commerce. She worked for companies such as Schlumberger/Gemalto and she joined PayPal France at the beginning of the adventure in October 2007 to build the Business Development and Innovation team before becoming the Sales Director in 2010.

In 2012, as PayPal France General Manager and European coordinator, she grew PayPal France from 4 to 7 million users and reached 40% of e-commerce websites penetration turning PayPal into the N°1 alternative payment leader in the country. She also launched new services and experiences for PayPal in Europe throughout the four years in the role. In 2016, she moved into a more entrepreneurial adventure as board member of Paris Business Angel helping start-ups with fundraising and international development. She helped as board member and investor a number of start-ups in the social network, health and digital marketing sectors.

In 2019, Gimena Diaz joined Onfido, leader in the Digital ID based on Biometrics and Machine Learning, as VP Southern Europe Middle East and Africa. She built the team and the business in the region for three years. In 2022, she moves back to the entrepreneurship by creating a Fintech, Kallpa Finance.

Finally, Gimena Diaz is actively working on gender equality through her UN Women France role as Board Member since 2016.

Gimena is Argentinian-Italian, she has a Master in Economics and Finance at Sciences Po (2000) and a Post-Graduate Master in Telecom and Media at Dauphine PSL University (2001).

Kiran is an expert in complex conflict negotiation and cross-cultural facilitation. Kiran brings herself, her story, and her history in all that she does. She loves to laugh, make up a good story, see new places, but above all to find the meaning in the ordinary parts of life. She has worked in the non-profit and international development sector for over a decade for organizations driven to building greater equity and justice, before co-founding, SANTALUM, a change management consulting supporting leaders navigate issues of conflict, power, and culture. She has worked with a range of clients across the private and public sector including Big Society Capital, Westminster City Council, KIND Snacks, and Goldman Sachs. Kiran graduated with an MBA from Baruch College and holds a BA in International Affairs and Sociology from Georgia Tech and CUNY School of Professional Studies.

Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.

Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.

In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.

MB Christie’s executive career spans over 25 years of leading fast growth digital organisations (QXL, Rightmove, Tech Nation) and spearheading digital transformations at leading brands (the Financial Times, TUI Group, Simply Business) in both Chief Product Officer and COO roles. Her specialities are scaling digital, tech and data products and operations in fast growth businesses.

MB recently transitioned to a portfolio NED career. She has just been appointed to the board of Moneysupermarket Group, a FTSE 250 company whose purpose is to save people money through its price comparison site and its intelligence on Money Savings Expert. She is also a NED on Social Finance, a non-profit that tackles complex social problems (e.g. domestic abuse, prisoner reoffending, social care) through innovative partnerships with government, charities, and private sector investors. And she is on the Board of Advisors for One Tech, a social enterprise that aims to create a more inclusive tech start-up ecosystem.

MB received her BSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and started her business career as an accidental entrepreneur in Prague, Czech Republic in the 1990s.

Mark is the Founding Director of Transform Performance International, a performance improvement consultancy that unlocks growth through behavioural and cultural change.

Following a corporate background in financial services and technology, Mark co-founded Transform Performance in 1999. Since then he has led performance improvement projects for clients in over 60 countries. He has worked as a strategist, chair and facilitator with global brands, investment houses and academic institutions. His creativity has ensured that Transform Performance International has a well-earned reputation for inspiring leadership and coaching talent, growing sales and transforming the way people communicate. In short, delivering results through change.

Mark’s expertise lies in improvement at an individual, team and organisational level, through changes in mindsets, attitudes and beliefs. He has also led research projects into belief systems which drive behaviours affecting individual, team and organisational performance (subsequently published as co-authored best-selling books). As a coach and mentor, he develops emotional intelligence ​in others to enhance their interpersonal relationships in an increasingly virtual world where the manner and style of engagement can make or break internal collaboration and external customer success.

Mark is co-author of The Leader’s Secret Code, The Salesperson’s Secret Code and ​100 BIG IDEAS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED.

Nadia Edwards-Dashti co-founded the Harrington Starr Group in 2010, a leading Financial Technology recruitment business with offices in London, New York and Belfast. In 18 years in the financial services technology sector, she has been responsible for helping over 2000 people find jobs and has grown from a trainee to a Chief Customer Officer. She runs the Podcast Series ‘FinTech with Nadia: The DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Discussions’ to story tell the challenges and successes of this industry. Nadia has written a book through Palgrave Macmillan, ‘Fintech Women Walk the Talk: Moving the needle for workplace gender equality in financial Services and beyond’ and within it quotes 100+ of her podcast interviewees.

Winner of Investing in Talent 2019 Awards - Most Inspirational Recruitment Leader, Innovate Finance: Women in FinTech Powerlist, FinTech Magazine Top 100 Women in FinTech 2022, Partner to the University of East London: Centre of FinTech

Odharnait started her career at Google and now runs Solas, a consultancy that develops business leaders who will build an inclusive and sustainable future. She has deep expertise in leadership and organisational development, human-centred design and innovation. She has worked across the non-profit, commercial and public sectors, with partners like M.I.T. and UNICEF and has co-founded two companies. As Chief Learning Officer at T-minus, she helped hundreds of leaders in startups and global corporations, like Unilever, develop the mindset and skills they need to build organisations that foster creativity, resilience and growth. She was the lead author of the Disruptive Leadership Report, which investigated the main challenges and capabilities needed for business leaders hoping to survive and thrive in an age of disruption.

Rob Marklove is the Managing Director of Transform Performance International, a performance improvement consultancy that unlocks growth through behavioural and cultural change. Transform Performance has delivered award winning solutions in over 60 countries, in local languages, for clients such as Microsoft, GfK, American Express, Kantar, System1, Deloitte and Ashtead PLC.

Rob develops and implements the company’s business strategies by creating, executing and monitoring the performance of business plans. He is passionate about professional development and employee engagement in pursuit of company goals. Previously, Rob was the Commercial Director and still has a large involvement in helping clients get the most value from the services that we deliver. He organises, speaks and facilitates events in the sales and leadership specialisms to help other professionals in their development.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/robmarklove.

Tiama Hanson-Drury is Chief Product Officer at Minna Technologies where she runs the global product and design functions. Prior to that, she ran products for insights & research tech companies like Dynata and Zappi. She is passionate about building product growth engines and brings extensive experience in data-driven product development in the consumer and B2B Insights platform space. Her expertise includes Product Led Growth, Transformation, Consumer Insights, B2B2C data products, B2B enterprise platforms and the increasingly complex area of personal data privacy.

Tiama is actively committed to supporting diversity, she helped develop mentorship and diversity efforts at Kantar Profiles and Zappi and served as Dynata’s Executive Diversity & Inclusion sponsor. She is an active Exec member of Women In Research (WIRe).