Sarah Mason is the Chief People Officer for SThree, a FTSE 250 staffing organisation focused on STEM industries. Her previous experience includes Chief People Officer at Foxtons and a board member of the Association of Business Psychology. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and has an MSc in Management Consultancy and Organisational Change.

David’s career started in automotive component manufacturing after he graduated with a degree in manufacturing engineering. After a period specialising in quality management and continuous improvement he became a Chartered Engineer and then went on to complete a master’s degree at Loughborough University in quality and human resource management. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

He is passionate about building highly-engaged organisations and he decided to move his career into human resources, organisation development, people strategy and talent development. He has held executive and board-level HR roles in international businesses such as Carlsberg and Norbert Dentressangle (now XPO Logistics).

David is currently Group People and Organisational Development Director at Dole plc, the world’s largest fresh produce supplier with 34,000 people operating out of 30 countries. He reports to the CEO and is responsible for group people strategy, organisation design, succession planning and talent development. Since joining the company in early 2017, David has been involved with several strategic initiatives including designing and implementing a group people strategy in addition to being part of the process of listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Catherine Douglas has over 20 years of experience in banking having held Exec and Senior Leadership roles in retail, retail banking, business banking / SME, strategy and estate agency.
Catherine has worked for a variety of banking establishments including HBOS, Santander and TSB. She joined The Co-operative Bank as Managing Director of SME in October 2020.
Catherine became Chief People and Sustainability Officer at The Co-operative Bank in 2023. Catherine leads the People, Estates and Brand and Marketing teams. This is alongside responsibility for the Bank’s delivery of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Sustainability and Values and Ethics commitments.
Catherine has been actively involved in the Diversity and Inclusion agenda throughout her career and is a keen advocate for the co-operative movement and what it stands for. Catherine is also a board member of Bankifi.

Katie brings over twenty years of experience in transforming and aligning people and business strategies within technology businesses. She has a strong track record of delivering value throughout the employee lifecycle, ensuring investment in skills, learning, and development are at the heart of an organisation’s approach.

Previously, Katie held the role of Chief People Officer at tech start-up Beamery, and before that, she was the Chief People and Transformation Officer at Rizing, a leading SAP consulting firm.

At OneAdvanced, Katie’s focus is on building innovative, forward-thinking people strategies that support OneAdvanced’s ambitious growth plans. These strategies aim to foster an environment where everyone can unleash their full potential.

Jag Dhanji joined Foundever as the Chief People Officer in September 2023 as part of the Global Executive Team. She is responsible for leading the People strategy which includes developing strong talent and leadership, key strategic capabilities and an enagaging and inclusive culture.

Previously, Jag was the Global Chief People Officer for Ogilvy. Prior to that she held senior international HR roles at Costa Coffee, Vodafone and Diageo.

Jag resides in London and holds a master’s degree from Aston Business School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Leeds.

Tamie Hutchins joined James Finlay Limited, a global 2B beverage business and member of the Swire family group of companies in 2013 and took on the role of Group Human Resource Director in 2016.

Having been both an HR Manager and Operating Company Human Resources Director, Tamie has a deep and wide-ranging knowledge and experience of both the local and global nature of Human Resources. Her current key areas of focus are Human Rights Due Diligence, organisation design and culture.

Sinéad Kilkelly joined ESB in April 2022 as Executive Director, People and Sustainability. Prior to this, Sinéad was Chief People Officer with Bus Éireann, a position she held since 2018. Previously she held a number of senior leadership roles in Ireland and overseas including Vice President People Services at Etihad Aviation Group in Abu Dhabi, where her responsibility included leading major organisational change programmes. She also held senior HR roles in Ulster Bank and Intel Ireland. Sinéad has a B.Sc. (Management) and an MBA from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), is a Chartered Fellow with CIPD and a Board member of Self Help Africa.

Michelle is a seasoned HR professional with extensive experience serving as Chief People Officer for various renowned, international companies and has held the position of President for Human Resources at Croda International since January 2023. Prior to this Michelle was Chief People Officer for British Airways and before that QinetiQ. She holds a Master’s degree in Employment Studies and HR Management and was a trustee at a leading national charity for community integration.

Michelle is passionate about creating a high performance and inclusive culture, demonstrating care and compassion for people and leading with purpose and integrity. Creating an environment where we can all thrive is important to Michelle and leads by example as a coach and mental health champion.

In her personal time, Michelle enjoys spending time with her two very active children who are both a challenge and a joy!

Derek McKay is the CEO and Founder of Senovis, With over 25 years of professional experience in the sector, prior to Senovis Derek also founded Adare Human Resource Management in 2003, and since then, he has been overseeing the growth of the business to become one of Ireland’s leading HR Consultancies (www.adarehrm.ie). In 2022, Derek changed roles from Managing Director to joining the Board of Directors. Additionally, Derek has also successfully launched an HR SaaS resource, Linea, within the Irish market (www.linea.ie) which continues to grow exponentially.

Besides all his professional experience, Derek is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD), holds a Diploma in Personnel Management from the National College of Ireland as well as a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree from Trinity College Dublin. Derek is a member of the CIPD Ireland National Committee and Chairperson of the Sustainable HRM Skillnet.

Additionally, in his spare time, Derek contributes by volunteering as the Chairperson for the Marie Keating Foundation, a charity whose mission is to make cancer less frightening by enlightening and whose aim is to live in a world free from the fear of cancer.

Katie Jacobs is an award-winning business journalist and editor. She is a well-regarded commentator on the world of work, HR and leadership and previously worked at the CIPD, where she built the body’s HR leader network from scratch, creating a strong peer community of chief people officers.

In her journalism career, she was previously editor of HR magazine, where she delivered brand extensions such as the HR Excellence Awards, the HR Most Influential ranking and the HR in the Boardroom CHRO development programme, as well as running the day-to-day editorial of the magazine. She has written about the world of work for magazines including People Management, Work and Management Today and newspapers including the Times and the Financial Times. She was also editor of Supply Management, the magazine of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

Katie is the co-host of CIPD Work magazine’s popular What If podcast, which puts provocative business questions under the spotlight. She is the co-author of several influential CIPD reports including The Value of People Expertise on Corporate Boards and Responsible Business Through Crisis, a three-year landmark research project with Professor Veronica Hope Hailey exploring the impact of the pandemic on leadership. In her journalism and speaking work, she has interviewed everyone from comedians Katherine Ryan and Sue Perkins (in front of large live audiences), to FTSE100 CEOs and board chairs, as well as countless CPOs, academics and HR thought leaders.