Skip links


Speakers

Lady Hale is the most senior judge in the United Kingdom. After teaching law at the University of Manchester for 18 years and then proposing reforms to the law at the Law Commission for over nine, she became a High Court Judge in 1994. In 1999 she was promoted to the Court of Appeal and in 2004 to the appellate committee of the House of Lords.

In 2009, this became the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She was appointed its Deputy President in 2013 and its first woman President in 2017. She is also President of the United Kingdom Association of Women Judges and a past President of the International Association of Women Judges. She was Treasurer of Gray’s Inn in 2017 and Master of the Company of Fellmongers of Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Lady Hale has been described (Times 29th September 2019) as : ‘One of the most powerful women in Britain, and certainly the most prominent wearer of brooches’. She defines feminism as ‘believing in equality, equality for women and the validity of women’s experience.’

Dr Alison Gardner leads the Communities and Society research programme at the University of Nottingham’s ‘Rights Lab’, a global research programme which aims to contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goal 8.7 of ending slavery and forced labour by 2030.

She was the winner of the 2018 Marsh Prize for Community Activism in Combating Slavery, and named in the UK Top 100 Modern Slavery Influencers for 2018.

Her work focusses on place and community-based responses to modern slavery, including campaigning work to develop slavery-free cities. She has career experience and expertise in local government and public policy.

Jane Garvey is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and co-presents the hit podcast Fortunately with Fi Glover. She presented the Sunday evening BBC 5 Live programme with Peter Allen. Jane also presents a wide range of documentaries for Radio 4 including the series, Summer Nights and The Lost World of the Suffragettes for BBC World Service.

Before she joined Radio 4 she co-presented Five Live’s Drive Show on weekday afternoons on BBC Radio Five Live, for which she received Sony’s News Broadcaster Award Gold Medal in 2002. Jane was the first voice on BBC Radio Five Live when it launched in March 1994, as co-presenter of the award-winning Breakfast Programme. As part of the station’s 20th anniversary Jane presented a special programme.

Outside of broadcasting, Jane has chaired events, including the Stratford Upon Avon Literary Festival as well as the Hay Literary Festival in 2019.

Professor Sue Black OBE was recently named in the list of top 50 women in tech in Europe, and winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lovie Awards 2018. Sue is one of the leading tech personalities in the UK today.

An award-winning computer scientist, radical thinker, and social entrepreneur Professor Black is well known for founding the high profile campaign to save Bletchley Park, capitalising upon social media as a fitting continuation of Bletchley’s technological legacy. She is a passionate advocate for women in tech, and has spent the last 20 years campaigning for more recognition and support for women in computing. This led to her founding #techmums, a social enterprise which empowers mums and their families through technology.

Professor Black is also an academic with 20+ years’ experience with over 40 publications and a PhD in software engineering to her name. In 2017 she received the Social Impact ABIE Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration, was made an OBE in the New Year Honours list 2016 and sits on the Government’s new advisory board for improving digital services. Professor Black has joined the vibrant computer science department at Durham University as a Professor in Computer Science and Technology Evangelist. The role will combine her research interests, with the opportunity to inspire and motivate others in the field.

Recently Professor Black was interviewed by Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs covering all things tech and how to “be your best self on social media” and appeared as a guest panellist in the special edition of Woman’s Hour recorded live at the British Science Festival in Brighton. She has most recently featured in a video as part of the BBC Ideas online platform in which she tells her story and shares her advice for being successful and finding the superhero in yourself.