IWD 2021

#ChooseToChallenge

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021

Online Panel Discussion

Thursday 4 March 2021 at 16.30 to 18.00

Booking link:

https://www.iod.com/events-community/events/event-details/eventdateid/31384

( No charge to attend and all are welcome )

IoD City is pleased once again to be leading again on this year’s Celebration of International Women’s Day with our panel discussion on Thursday 45 March 2020 This event is opened to all ( men and women ) who would like to attend. We are delighted that the following groups have been to join us:

• Women in the Livery, a section of City Livery Club
• Women Icebreakers of The 48 Group Club
• The British Malaysian Society
• PAWA ( Pan Asian Women’s Association ( Charity No 1148405)
• Mulan Foundation Network ( Charity No 1147252)
• tve ( Television for the Environment Charity No 326585)

The theme for IWD2021 is ChooseToChallenge – A Challenged World is an alert world. Individually we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions- all day, every day. We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping. Leadership, diversity and inclusion and equal opportunities for all are not just women’s issues. It is a business issue which is essential for economies and communities worldwide to thrive and to achieve an equal footing, ‘particularly in the current challenging and unprecedented Covid-19 world.

OUR PANEL SPEAKERS

Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE

Margaret Casely-Hayford has been a non executive member of the Board of the Co-op Group since 2016 and was appointed Chair of Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018, the same year in which she was appointed as the Chancellor of Coventry University. She was the Director of Legal Services and Company Secretary of the John Lewis Partnership for 9 years. Prior to that she was with international City law firm Dentons for 20 years including being a Partner at the firm. Margaret advises young entrepreneurs in particular women, BAME and LGBT people. She is an Ambassador for Board Apprentices and chairs the Advisory Board of Ultra Education, an enterprise that teaches entrepreneurial skills to  primary school children and is Patron for the John Staples Society which develops social mobility through providing opportunities and access. She is also a Trustee of the Radcliffe Trust which supports the development of skills in classical music and traditional arts and crafts. Margaret chaired the diversity review of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards for CILIP ( the Libraries Association ) for which she was awarded a Fellowship of CILIP. In 2018 she was appointed CBE for services to charity and promoting diversity. This was on completion of her chairmanship of Action Aid. She has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of her former University College: Somerville, Oxford.

Alderman  Emma Edhem

Emma Edhem  is a barrister of more than 20 years ‘ standing and the Alderman for Candlewick Ward in the City of London since 2017. She is the Deputy Head of Chambers at No.5 Chambers. Her main areas of practice include international arbitration, domestic and cross border commercial disputes, fraud and libel. Emma has successfully represented several high profile clients in well-publicised cases some globally over the last few years She is the Chairman of the Turkish British chamber of commerce and Industry, the first woman to g=hold this position. She is also a board member of the Azerbaijani British law Association and President of the Turkish British Legal Society. As Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce  she has been part of the Lord Mayor’s visit to Turkey in 2014 , seeking to promote our trade with them and to bring additional work to the UK as a whole and to the City in particular. Emma is a Council member of the City Livery Club and a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Woolmen. Her work at the City of London Corporation includes serving as a Governor of the City of London School for Girls and also on the Tackling Racism Taskforce.

David Stringer-Lamarre

A staunch supporter and believer that Diversity is good for business and that leaders should lead by example by having diversity in their own ranks, David Stringer-Lamarre is the Chair of IoD London region, having previously chaired IoD City of London. He is the Managing Director of Fortis Consulting London Ltd and is passionate about effective engagement, innovation and organisational performance, with a strong focus on outcomes. David holds a Business Cultural Training certificate and has travelled to some 70 countries. He holds several degrees including law and an MBA from Imperial College. He is an Hon Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School. Other appointments include being the Vice President of Blackheath ( Rugby ) Football Club, the Renter Warden of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters. David was a panel speaker at the Women in Finance 2020 Summit. He is a director of The 48 Group Club and the Strategy Director of Medical Prime. David was also one of the Chairman’s ambassadors for the tve 2020 Global Sustainability Film Awards.

Clare Rewcastle Brown

Clare Rewcastle Brown is a British Investigative journalist well known for exposing the 1MDB scandal, the biggest corruption scandal in the world involving missing millions and involving a head of state. Her book on 1 MDB

“ Sarawak report: the Inside Story of the 1MDB expose “ has been described as superb, well written and a first hand account of corruption in Malaysia. Born in the former British Colony of Sarawak ( now part of Malaysia ) she is the Founder of Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak in 2010. She moved to England when she was eight, attending private school and subsequently obtaining her Master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. Following University she became a journalist, joining the BBC World Service in 1983. During a visit to Sarawak in 2005 to speak at an environment conference, she was asked by local journalists and activists to help publicize deforestation in the state. Her probing into the issue led her to uncovering the 1 MDB scandal and the eventual toppling of the Malaysian government in 2018 that had been in power for 60 years since Malaysia’s Independence from Britain in 1957.

Rie Hamaguchi

Rie Hamaguchi is a business lady with over 30 years of experience and rewards in the global business world, property ,finance and trade as well as in the diplomatic world as a reputable diplomat that has served Japan ( Tokyo), USA ( Washington DC) UK ( London ), Austria ( Vienna) , Russia ( Moscow), G8 Summit in Germany ( Munich ) as as a Government official worked in the Korean Peninsula ( North/South Korea ).Today based in London Rie acts as an active investor through her collaboration with other global private funds, global pension funds, family offices and other financial institutions . She represents and acts on behalf of private investors, companies, business groups that want to benefit from her long term strong business and personal relationship with the highest decision makers and top executives. She is the founder of the High Society Private Salon, the “ Salon de Branch of Wisdom consisting of Royal members, diplomats, academics, entrepreneurs, high profile people. As part of her activities and global connections , she has been appointed as the

Director of the Global Diplomat Women’s Club. As a believer in giving back to the community Rie is a charity volunteer and an official befriender of elderly people who live alone as well as being a mentor for aspiring young entrepreneurs in property and start ups. Rie was awarded the Pro Memoria medal of Poland and the Diplomat Award medal of Austria.

Mei Sim Lai OBE DL FCA FCCA

Of Malaysian Chinese origin, Mei Sim Lai OBE DL is a Chartered Accountant and the Founder & Principal of LaiPeters & Co. In 1979, she became the first female and Chinese partner of  Pridie Brewster, a leading City firm of Chartered Accountants established in 1914 (now part of BDO UK ). Alongside her professional work, Mei Sim holds and has held several senior board positions in the public, private and charity/voluntary sectors. These include 11 years as a Public Works Loan  Board Commissioner, 7 years on the Senior Salaries Review Body, 8 years on the Board of St Mary’s Hospital Paddington and also a Special Trustee, 6 years on the MoD Diversity Panel as well as the DTI Ethnic Minority Business Forum where she chaired the Access to Finance subgroup . Mei Sim ran IoD City as its Hon Secretary from 1991 to last Autumn and still chairs its China Interest Group. She is active in the Civic City and was the first ever Chinese person in the very long history of the City to be a Master of a City Livery Company when she took office as the Master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders in 2011. She is also a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Horners. Mei Sim chairs The British Malaysian Society, Mulan Foundation Network, Chinese Welfare Trust and television for the environment.  She is a Trustee of PAWA and a director of The 48 Group Club and leads on Women in the Livery. She has been Chair of City Women’s Network,  IWF UK and is a director of Arab International Women ‘s Forum and International Women of Excellence. She is a Past Winner of the Asian Women of Achievements Award, the TIA 100 Women in the World who make a Difference Award and also the Sino Pro Award for outstanding contribution to the Chinese Community.  In 2004, Mei Sim was appointed OBE for services to Equal Opportunities.  Since 2006 she has been one of her Majesty’s Representatives in Greater London and is the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for London Borough of Brent. She is also the President of the Royal British Legion of Wembley & Sudbury. Mei Sim received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of Nottingham in 2019.

Dawn Butler MP

Dawn Butler is a Labour Party Politician who is the Member of Parliament for Brent Central since 2015. She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Women & Equalities from 2017 to 2020 and was MP for Brent South from 2005 to 2010. Dawn is a former Chair of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party. Following her appointment as the Minister for Youth and Youth engagement in 2009 she made history by becoming the first black woman to speak from the despatch box in the House of Commons. In the same year she was named female MP of the year at the 2009 Women in Public Life Awards. In October 2016 she was appointed to the new role of Shadow Minister for Diverse Communities. Born in Forest Gate to Jamaican immigrant parents, Dawn was educated at Tom Hood School in Leytonstone and Waltham Forest College. She has worked as an officer of the GMB including being their national race and equality officer. She has also been an adviser to Mayor of London Ken Livingstone on employment and social issues. Dawn was on the British Vogue 2020 list of 25 Influential women.