Click on a name to read about them and their talk
Tammy Banks
Founder and Director of a socially focused company that delivers training to key working services (ie Police, Charity, NHS), Tammy developed the Training methodology and quality standard Training 4 Influence.
She is also a Lay member on the House of Commons Committee for Standards, assessing and adjudicating complaints made about MPs and is on the Westminster Fellowship programme. Personal history, academic achievements and work experience have driven Tammy to champion the importance of effective, achievable solutions to prevent abuse and poverty.
Talk: How To Deliver Excellent training – Building For The Future
Tammy will highlight how training delivered well has the power to transform lives. She will argue that thousands of hours and pounds are wasted every year by poorly delivered training. Tammy’s story of education started at Peterborough Regional College when she was just 15 and living homeless. Sharing personal experience of abuse and poverty, she will share the takeaways that she has learnt throughout her career working in frontline services.
Lucy Vittrup
Lucy Vittrup, M.A. is a university lecturer, leadership coach, author and podcast host. Half Latin American and half Scandinavian, she trains performing artists, TV hosts and leaders to access their states of highest flow and has extensively researched sexuality and intimacy. Her passion for tech and its impact on relationship skills has placed her on tech stages and in the media.
Furthermore, she trains Scandinavian medical doctors in conducting conversations about sexuality and intimacy with patients.
Talk: Love In 96 Ways
We live in a time where children touch their phones more than they touch their parents, says Lucy. As a growing number of children and youths experience loneliness, anxiety and depression and adults seek refuge in dating apps in the constant search for sex and love, Lucy argues that perhaps it’s time to look back and learn from cultures and times, where there were 96 words for love instead of just one. In this talk she proposes an expanded awareness of love, which she believes may be humanity’s pivotal survival competence in a digital and volatile future.
Lee Waters
Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology at University of Northampton and consultant with over 15 years’ experience. Lee has worked with clients from various backgrounds such as start-ups businesses, education and beginner to international athletes (archery, athletics, basketball, ice hockey, football, rugby and waterpolo).
At present he is a PhD candidate in Sport and Exercise Psychology and is investigating the underlying mechanisms of decision making using eye tracker technology and reflective techniques.
Talk: Do You See? Using the Eyes to Improve Decision Making
Arguably the most important cognitive function we go through is decision making and we make thousands of them every day. They can determine our successes, failures and demonstrate our progress. To make effective decisions, however, we need information, and upwards of 80% (depending on the scenario) of that comes through our eyes. Lee will explore the nature of decision making, the role the eyes play, eye tracking technology and training activities that can be applied in many areas.
Kate Beddow
Journal therapist, contributing author and wellbeing coach. As a mindfulness and meditation teacher, ex-teacher, mum and stepmum, Kate works closely with people of all ages guiding them to create a calm and happy life, using writing and the power of words.
She is the creator of a wellbeing programme delivered in schools across the globe.
Talk: Is the lack of creative writing in schools impacting our children’s wellbeing?
Over the years the focus in schools has shifted away from creativity in writing and towards the technical elements of spelling, punctuation and grammar. With this, and the increased use of screens, our children are losing the ability to be truly creative, argues Kate. The positive effects creative writing can have on our wellbeing is well documented so it isn’t hard to see how this change could be contributing to the current mental health crisis we have in our schools, she says.
Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina
Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina (UK) is a global thought leader on digital wellbeing, TEDx speaker and author. She founded an international network of 100+ digital wellbeing coaches, who help people find a balance between their online and offline lives.
For over a year she lived without a smartphone, and her first TEDx talk about her experience called Could you live without a smartphone? has been viewed more than 350,000 times.
Talk: Are You A Robot?
Are you becoming a robot without realizing it? We confuse digital skills and skills we’ll need to thrive in the digital age. As our lives get increasingly digitized, we give away more and more human qualities – memory, focus, compassion, creativity, and internal body awareness, and behave more like robots. At the same time, we are creating more human-like machines. If we want to stay relevant in the coming years, we urgently need to start prioritizing human, and not digital skills — in education, workplace and our daily lives, says Anastasia.
Amanda Carlin
Director of Heritage, Culture & Community (HCC) Projects CIC, whose principles are based on the understanding that a sense of place, and understanding of the history and heritage of where an individual comes from, or has moved to, enhances a sense of identity and belonging. Focusing on the geographical area of the Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk Fens, HCC Projects CIC’s work includes: archaeological and historical research.
Amanda is Chairman of Heritage, Culture & Community (HCC) Stonea; a volunteer led constitutionalised sub-group of HCC Projects CIC, which publicises the importance of Stonea Camp in the Cambridgeshire Fens.
Talk: Looking Back to Build the Future
It’s easy to think today, that the Celts were unsophisticated and uncivilised, and yet archaeology shines a light on pre-history and the British Isles, and East Anglia has so much to tell us, all hidden beneath the soil, says Amanda. In her talk, she invites us into the world of Stonea Camp, Britain’s lowest lying Iron Age Hill Fort. An Iceni feasting or spiritual site, hidden deep in rural Cambridgeshire that enables the visitor to walk in the footsteps of Queen and military leader, Boudicca. What can finds tell us about the past? How will those facts shape our future?
Kelly Swingler
Kelly is a Coach, Speaker and Author passionate about preventing burnout and changing the world of work. She has worked in the People and Leadership arena for over 20 years and is known to be a rebel who challenges the status quo and encourages leaders to think differently about how they support and lead their people.
In 2013, despite on paper having a very successful career, she reached burnout, and became determined to stop anyone else experiencing the same thing.
Talk: Should We Be Thankful For Burnout?
“Type into google ‘the impact of chronic workplace stress’ and you’ll find over 382,000,000 million results, and with burnout numbers on the increase, what are we doing about it? Or, should we be thankful for burnout when it comes knocking at our door, asks Kelly?
Jym Brown
Jym is a consultant, author, coach and speaker. He works with a range of businesses, professional sports teams and athletes using a unique blend of philosophy and psychology to improve processes, develop teams and individuals and increase performance.
Jym is the author of two books as well as scientific journal articles relating to psychology and philosophy. He is a former lecturer of over 10 years and speaks at an array of different events in order to help people open their minds to new concepts and approaches that can transform their potential. He is an active PhD researcher as well as registered HEA fellow.
Talk: Unlocking Human Potential
Jym will talk about unlocking and realising our potential and will explain why he believes the secret to this can be reduced down to attitude and approach – toward challenge, toward risk and toward truth. Using a unique blend of philosophy and psychology, he will discuss the reasons why he believes many of us never reach our potential and show us ways to move into the future with renewed purpose.
Katie Allen
Katie Allen (she/her) is a specialist Equity, Diversity and Inclusion consultant and Executive Coach. Her vision is that we all have the power to be an Ally, and she is on a mission to help 1 million people, by changing the way we approach equity and inclusion in the workplace and in society. Through her work, she enables organisations to connect their desire for high performing, intentionally inclusive workplace cultures with a strategic and achievable approach.
Katie is no stranger to enabling courageous conversations, and uses her own experiences, successes, and failures to help her audiences examine their personal feelings about equity and inclusion. Her humour and vulnerability allow us all to let go of the fear of our own “foot in mouth” moments and become united in our curiosity and desire for change.
Talk: Is Allyship The Paradox That Can Unite Us?
At a time when our opinions feel more polarised than ever, the desire to surround ourselves with people who think, feel and act like us can be strong, says Katie, especially when the fear of doing or saying the wrong thing can prevent us from wanting to stand out from the crowd.
Katie explains how the paradox in allyship, and shifting our thoughts, feelings and behaviours from ME to WE might be the key to long lasting societal change.
Chezzy Kennedy
Neurodiversity Training Director, keynote speaker and Neurodiversity Trainer with a BA (Hons) in Special Educational Needs and over 13 years of experience working with neurodiverse individuals in their homes, specialist and mainstream schools, and business locations.
Chezzy is proudly Autistic and Dyslexic, and has delivered face-to-face and online neurodiversity training to hundreds.
As a neurodivergent individual, Chezzy is well-placed to share knowledge based on personal experience and best practices.
Talk: There Is No Such Thing As A Naughty Child
Chezzy was the ‘Marmite’ kid at school. Tapping into her own life experiences, she will explain why she believes there is no such thing as a naughty child, only a child that hasn’t had their needs met. Chezzy will challenge thinking around behaviour and encourage us to start looking at the communication behind that behaviour so we can help our children become a community of next generation thought leaders.
Chad Marshall-Lane
Chad has worked in health and social care for over 25 years and set up his own training company to concentrate on inclusion, diversity and acceptance Chad is passionate about promoting equality and diversity within the workplace and across society.
He believes that basic equality and diversity is no longer enough and is passionate about promoting a culture of diversity and inclusion for everyone, no matter who they are or what their background is.
Chad identifies as a straight male and does not get questioned about his gender identity anymore. However, discrimination and hate crime for the LGBTQ+ community is on the rise. With this in mind, Chad uses his experiences, knowledge and training to help raise awareness so that society can be inclusive and accepting of everyone.
Talk: Hate Crime and Discrimination: Finding The Way Forward
In his talk, Chad will look at discrimination and rising hate crime in the UK, explore what defines a hate crime and explain why he thinks we need to take Equality and Diversity training a step further to build an accepting and supportive society of the future.
Noel Moran
Noel Moran is the founder of Noela Yoga Wellness and Training, business manager at Penal Reform Solutions and Taye Training Facilitator. Noel is a major advocate in positive change and believes everyone has the capability to unlock their highest potential. His journey comes from an extensive lived experience in criminal justice, after serving 15 years 2 month in Prison. Noel now spends his time passionately sharing his experience and knowledge through training frontline professionals and working with people experiencing multiple disadvantages. Noel became a yoga teacher whilst serving his life sentence and developed a 10-week mindfulness-based yoga course.
He now delivers this in Prisons nationwide to share the practice and give hope to others incarcerated, he fundamentally believes we can all be the light at the end of our own tunnel.
Talk: Build For YOUR future – in any environment
Noel’s talk will share his personal journey of trauma and marginalisation. Noel served a life sentence, spending years in some of the country’s toughest prisons, not only did he survive, but he taught himself yoga and mindfulness and fought the system to be allowed to become a qualified teacher. Whilst he was doing this he acted as a Samaritans listener, supporting other prisoners who were suicidal and self-harming. Noel will explain how learning the mindfulness practice of freeing his mind, and focusing on his own personal growth enabled him to light his own light and have hope for the future.
This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED.