Mary Ball is the founder and ‘Chief Problem Solver’ at BallPoint Consultancy. With over 15 years’ experience in fast-paced tech startups, she’s led sales, account management, and strategy across a range of high-growth businesses.

She’s known for her practical, direct approach and her ability to simplify complex challenges into clear, actionable steps. Mary’s focus is on helping founders and CEOs separate the ‘shiny’ from the valuable so they can prioritise what truly moves the needle.

She also works with SMEs to unlock growth, particularly when it comes to accelerating revenue, refining sales strategy, or regaining momentum after hitting a plateau. Through BallPoint, she partners closely with clients to identify opportunities, shape the path forward, and support them through to execution.

Dan is the Global Inclusion & Diversity Talent Acquisition Lead at Avanade, a global IT consulting firm with just under 20,000 full time employees globally. His role at Avanade is a strategy / advisory function to help the business create sustainable diversity talent strategies to improve the internal representation numbers to be reflective of the communities Avanade serves. In 2022 he delivered a program designed to cross train women from outside the IT sector into Avanade’s Data Analytics practice. In each of the past 3 years he has supported the TA function deliver over 40% female hires into the business.

He is also the founder of The Intersection Network, a community interest company created specifically to help TA professionals navigate the intersection of diversity and talent acquisition activities. Dan recently created and launched a new online diagnostic tool to help organisations assess the maturity of their talent acquisition diversity and inclusion efforts. Designed for TA, HR and diversity professionals the ‘Diversity & Inclusion Talent Acquisition Maturity Assessment’ assigns a score that benchmarks your current strategies against best practice and also your industry peers. Dan has been in the talent acquisition space since 2003 with a focus on D&I since 2015.

Nabila is a Strategic Advisor to Smoothstack USA and an Advisory Board Member at Migrant Leaders UK. Previously, she was on the Board of Tenth Revolution Group (TRG), the parent company of various talent delivery and talent creation brands.

She was also Group President of Revolent, responsible for leading on the creation of tech talent that can thrive in niche technology markets. Nabila was the first and youngest female VP at the FTSE 250 company she used to work for and has accrued 20 years of leadership experience in professional services, talent solutions and marketing based in the UK and USA.

Nabila plays an active role in encouraging, supporting, and promoting diversity in the workplace and was recognized in Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35 List 2019, as well as being selected as Globant's Most Inspiring Executive UK in 2021.

Since Alexis joined Stafford Long, her journey has been deeply rooted in bridging the gap between organisations and the untapped talent often overlooked. As the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), her role transcends mere responsibilities—it embodies a mission that she holds dear. Alexis’s approach to EDI goes beyond traditional boundaries. She’s championed a shift from seeking culture ‘fit’ to valuing culture ‘add,’ advocating for the inclusion of diverse perspectives, experiences and identities that enrich workplace environments. Her involvement as a judge on panels for prestigious awards like the ‘Women in Tech awards, ‘RAD awards’, ‘UK Top 50 Inclusive Employers’ and the ‘Inclusive Awards’ speaks volumes about her commitment to the cause. It’s an opportunity that has allowed Alexis to witness first-hand the remarkable initiatives aimed at promoting inclusion.

Danielle has been a senior leader in tech recruitment for over 20 years, working for global leaders Hays and Frank Recruitment Group. Last year she launched her own IT recruitment company, CloudCo Solutions, bringing all of her experience and relationship-centric approach to create a values-led business focused on finding diverse Cloud talent for their customers. Danielle believes in creating opportunities for all and is a strong advocate for ED&I within the technology sector, building long-term partnerships to drive change and really make a difference. Not only is she driving change in the industry, she has spent the last 10 years running kids coding clubs to engage children from a young age to pursue tech careers and regularly speaks at industry events on improving diversity in the sector.

Anthony has been in the tech industry for nearly 20 years and has an extensive background in supporting companies with employer branding and recruitment attraction as ex MD of Technojobs and ContractorUK.

Anthony founded the popular site, womenintech.co.uk which was started up to support more women finding and growing their careers in tech. Anthony has played an active role supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives in the industry, has helped to set up a popular women in tech mentoring scheme and advised many companies on their Women in Technology journey.

Anthony now supports and advises clients within the Recruitment, Corporate, HR Tech and D&I sector at The PHA Group.

Anju is the Founder of MEA Consulting Group, a thought leading diversity and inclusion consultancy. Anju has cultivated innovative and thought provoking training and advisory for some of the world’s leading and aspirational organisations.

Prior to founding MEA, Anju had a successful career in Investment Banking for 12 years, working at Citigroup, Barclays and Lloyds building a commendable track record on the trading floor. Having experienced invisible barriers underrepresented groups face first hand, she became super passionate about driving change.

Anju is also Business Mentor for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. She was showcased as an inspiring woman for International Women’s Day 2020 at United World College South East Asia, nominated for Asian Woman of Achievement awards 2021 and is featured in Forbes, BBC, Good Morning Britain and The Guardian.

She holds Gender Diversity Executive Education from INSEAD, Core Consulting from CASS Business School and a BSc (Hons) Finance & Accounting.

Ben is a globally renowned leader in talent acquisition, with an impressive track record in technology recruitment across both agency and in-house settings, including his recent roles at AstraZeneca and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Widely recognised for his initiatives supporting Women in Tech, Ben has built a formidable reputation and demonstrates an unwavering passion for driving positive change in the realms of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.

A previous recipient of the 'Best Recruiter' award, Ben now contributes his expertise as a judge for the event.