The Benefit of Brave Conversations: for aspiring, early stage and established Non-Executive Directors
With a backdrop of continuing national and international turbulence, the ability to navigate
brave conversations effectively has become a skillset, which is drawn on ever more
frequently. Understanding the ‘why, when and how’ of having these more difficult interactions
will be explored by our panel, led by our Regional lead, Rebecca Ganz.
We are very much looking forward to hearing the experiences and stories of Kathryn Smith
(Professional footballer, Exec EDI lead & Non Exec), Cherrie Daley (Performance
Psychologist & Non Exec) and Dianne Walker (Award Winning Non Exec, Chair, Senior
Independent Director).
Reflecting on the diversity of industry experience in the panel across the charitable, private
and listed sectors, we anticipate a varied and spirited debate on the benefit of engaging in
brave conversations.
This Women on Boards North Autumn get together is a chance to connect with like-minded women – in a warm, friendly atmosphere over drinks and nibbles. We look forward to seeing you there!
Lead for the North, Rebecca Ganz
Rebecca Ganz, Non-executive Director, Entrepreneur & C-Suite adviser and Women on Boards Lead for the North
Rebecca Ganz (aka Becks) is an ex-pat who successfully kickstarted her Non-Exec career in August 2018. With a range of Chair, Non-Exec & Advisory Board roles, which span Education, Institutional Health and Business sectors, Becks knows what it takes to strategically build a Non Exec portfolio, while continuing to grow her Entrepreneur and C-Suite coaching practice. Becks is Non-Exec of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust & Blueskeye AI Ltd, Trustee of Leodis Multi Academy Trust and Advisory Board Member for Patchwork Health. As part of her Board roles, she Chairs various committees relating to transformation, strategy, finance, risk & remuneration. For further background on Becks, please see www.rebecca-ganz.com
Speakers
Kathryn Smith, Non Executive Director, Trustee & Management Exec, EDI Lead
Following on from a career within education, Kathryn has pivoted into the Sports Development landscape becoming Football Development Manager at Manchester FA and has progressed through executive management to become a non executive director at Rotherham United Community Trust within 18 months.
Kathryn is a professional footballer for Leeds United Women’s FC and a 3W football referee in the women’s pathway, as well a qualified teacher and coach. Kathryn leads on equality, diversity and inclusion and has used her knowledge of education, and strategic business management to secure a non executive director role on a board and wants to share the importance and benefits of that for professional development at an early career age.
Dr. Cherrie Daley, C.Psychol, AFBPsS, Non-Executive Director
Cherrie has a background in Performance Psychology, having spent two decades immersed in the world of elite sport with Olympic and Paralympic athletes, England Rugby and most recently with Manchester City and Global parent company City Football Group. Cherrie maintains involvement in elite sport settings consulting on strategy for both the Premier League and a top-flight club, and serving as a NED for the Rugby Football League (RFL) based here in Manchester.
Cherrie’s passion lies in supporting systems, leaders and teams to thrive and she now provides advisory services in corporate settings. Cherrie is a co-founder of Next Brave Move – a consultancy on a mission to ‘reimagine work-life for good‘ helping individuals and business to avoid exhaustion and burnout by unlocking ‘healthy high performance’.
Dianne Walker, Chair, Senior Independent Director, Audit, Risk & Remuneration Committee Chair, FCA, PWC Alumnus, Former CEO and FD & Award Winning Non-Executive – Dame Helen Alexander Award
Dianne is a highly experienced Non-Executive with experience across diverse industries within the listed and private sectors. With roles spanning a broad range of sectors including ESG, Energy, FMCG, Chemicals, Sport, Engineering, Police Development, banking, and
online Retail, Dianne brings extraordinary diversity of thinking as well deep technical skills and governance expertise to her board portfolio.
Passionate about EDI and learning from doing the ‘hard yards’ in establishing her early Non-Executive portfolio, Dianne knows when and how to have effective, brave conversations to benefit both the individual and the organisation.
What previous Boardroom Insights attendees say:
“A most insightful evening. I met some fascinating ladies and I found the whole event inspiring.”
“I got so much from you and wanted to thank you for sharing your learnings. You’ve helped me reframe what a NED is.”
“It totally surpassed my expectations! Inspirational! I made some great contacts.”
“The session was a true inspiration to me. It was just what I needed at this time. The speakers you chose shared great insights on what NED roles they’d done, why they’d chosen them and how they got them. I also liked the Q&A session where the panel shared their hints on how to demonstrate what you will bring to the organization.”
With thanks to our hosts, PwC
