Women’s Inclusion in Learning Leadership

With over two decades of expertise, Jackie has been at the forefront of learning transformation within both large complex corporates and dynamic start-up/scale-up businesses.
As a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a Fellow of the LPI, her career in L&D leadership has spanned renowned organisations such as Unilever, GroupM, Barclays, and PMI, among others. Jackie’s north star is ‘exploratory innovation,’ a principle that fuels her passion for building powerful and collaborative learning ecosystems that deliver fast, impactful, and sustainable competitive advantage for individuals and organisations alike.
Jackie contributes to the industry with regular speaking engagements and panel discussions, and has enjoyed 7 years as an official judge for the LPI’s International Learning Awards.

I’m an inclusion consultant. I equip organisations with the tools, awareness, knowledge, and insight needed to enable them to practice inclusive leadership and implement inclusive processes, utilising an intersectional, holistic approach to respect, value, and embrace difference.

I collaborate with clients to facilitate equity, inclusive growth, and cultural transformation, enabling true psychological safety, and empowering every individual to thrive as their most authentic selves.

Since joining the LPI in 2014, Kelly has played a fundamental role in the creation on of the LPI’s product development programme, identifying new market opportunities and orchestrating international design and delivery teams to implement innovative new products and services for the workplace learning sector. Prior to joining the LPI, Kelly worked for over 20 years in senior sales and management positions for QA, New Horizons, Element K and Knowledge Advisors, and was responsible for spearheading international business growth in those organisations, as well as building highly capable teams across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Dr Serena Gonsalves-Fersch, is the head of Talent Management for SoftwareONE and the 2024 winner of the Colin Steed Award for Outstanding Contribution to Learning. Serena is a Learning & Development leader and holds a doctorate from Middlesex university on the future of learning & the learning and development function in technology accelerating organisations.

Her current role includes Performance Management, Succession Planning, Talent Identification, Workforce Planning and leadership of the SoftwareOne Academy – the organisation’s corporate university. She has a wealth of experience both as a management consultant, and in internal leadership roles, in setting learning strategies, managing talent and career development and predictive learning solutions.

Sarah has over 20 years experience working in L&D and Talent teams in both the UK and the US for some well-known global brands such as Tesla, BBC, Gousto, Camelot and Accenture.  She has a passion for organisational culture and employee experience and ensuring that the role of L&D isn’t simply to take orders from the business for training but really focussing on individual and team performance.

Sarah is a qualified coach, MHFA and she values the importance of focussing on individual behaviours through tools such as Insights Discovery, StrengthsFinder, DISC and how they can collectively shape a culture.

Abi is a marketing professional with a career spanning nearly fifteen years – nine of which have been in the Learning & Development space. Specialising in marketing transformation, she has led all aspects of strategy, brand, campaigns, content, and technology for organisations from scale-up/SME to the FTSE250.

Abi is a Fellow of the LPI, Membership Advisory Board member, and recent winner of the brand new ‘Best use of AI in Learning’. She is a passionate storyteller, and lifelong advocate of ‘bringing your whole self’ to work!

Prachi is the Global Head of Leadership & Learning Development at dunnhumby, a trailblazer in Customer Data Science. With a rich background spanning roles at Vodafone, IBM, NIIT, and Siemens, Prachi has consistently excelled in building capable teams to enhance business performance.

At dunnhumby, Prachi leads an innovative team committed to providing exceptional support across onboarding, mentoring & coaching, leadership, and core learning initiatives for both colleagues and clients globally.

Pash is an experienced Learning and Development professional with over 20 years of experience supporting overall business strategy and driving business growth through learning and talent initiatives. Pash’s most recent role is Head of Curriculum Learning at KPMG. Her previous roles include: Director of Learning at Forensic Risk Alliance, Head of Learning for Deloitte Consulting and Vice President of Global Digital Learning at Allianz Global Investors. Pash is also an Associate Lecturer for the Open University. Her global perspective and experience in building world-class learning initiatives provides opportunities for all colleagues to grow and develop their careers.

Eleonora’s leadership and forward-thinking vision were internationally recognised in 2019, when she was among 90 global leaders selected to attend the Executive Program at Singularity University in Silicon Valley. There, she delved into the emerging technologies which are expected to reshape our world in the next two decades. Her commitment to fostering the gender gap, as well as addressing the future of work, earned her the accolade of LinkedIn Top Voice in 2022 on Diversity & Inclusion topics and she has also obtained a Certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Organisation Excellence at Cambridge Judge Business School. Additionally, as the founder of WomenX Impact, she has created a vibrant community, podcast and platform that champions female empowerment, leadership, and entrepreneurship. This initiative has galvanised over 20,000 women, creating a powerful network united in the pursuit of excellence and change.

I am a Group People Director with over 20 years experience and a passion for learning and development, coaching, and strategic leadership. With a proven track record of driving organizational excellence through talent development and coaching initiatives, I pride myself on making a meaningful impact on organizational success. I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate and support  learning leaders who share my commitment to unlocking human potential and driving sustained growth and innovation.

With over 10 years of learning industry experience, Ashley Sinclair is a female entrepreneur and Managing Director of the multi-award-winning marketing agency MAAS Marketing. She’s a passionate leader and a strong advocate for equity and female-focused initiatives that truly shift perceptions and mindsets. She’s an ardent supporter of female enablement and empowerment and recognises the role all individuals play in creating true gender parity in our industry.