Our Team

​The Women in Business Charter CIC is managed by a dedicated team of five, supported by an amazing team of volunteer ambassadors, who help run our events, raise awareness of the charter and support us to deliver our goal of acheiveing a gender equal region.

Meet the Team

  • Portrait of a woman with dark skin, wearing glasses, a black top, a checkered blazer, earrings, and a hairstyle with thick twists piled on top of her head, standing against a plain white wall.

    Sandra Gordon, Director

    Sandra is an experienced board professional, NED and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant and Executive & Leadership Coach.

    She aims to improve representation and fairness, especially for the disadvantaged. Employees should have equal access to opportunities. Diverse leaders reflecting our community should be common. Young women should feel equal and respected. Sandra proudly supports workplace gender balance.
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    Kristal McNamara, Director

    Kristal is an experienced director and People & Culture change consultant with a 20+ year career in transforming values-led businesses and creating inclusive workplaces. She is dedicated to promoting gender equality and equal chances for all underrepresented groups in the workforce, leading our members to create fair opportunities for women in businesses.

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    Sarah Rice, Director

    Sarah is a communications expert on work-life impact, with 25+ years as an award-winning journalist and PR professional. She’s worked with national media and major firms like Bosch, The RAC, and EasyGroup. Founder of Bristol-based Rice PR, she helps global clients navigate the future of work and communicate EDI and ESG initiatives clearly. Former Trustee and Chair of refugee charity Aid Box Community, she advocates for equality, social mobility, and fair pay.
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    Sonia Cohen, Operations Manager

    Sonia is a People Operations Specialist and has built her career in people-focused roles.

    Difference has often been the reason for rules and behavior. Growing up with Deaf parents, Sonia has long understood social inequalities. With strong values, she enjoys supporting signatories and seeing the progress being made.
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    Lucy Kirmond, Social Media Manager

    Lucy is a skilled storyteller and marketing expert focused on creating content that drives change. She has worked in different countries and roles, specialising in brand strategy, localisation, and social media for both national and international companies. She is passionate about promoting gender equality and creating equal opportunities for all.

What we offer

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    Events

    ​We host regular signatory exclusive events. We bring leaders together to share knowledge, host keynote speakers and those with different perspectives to share their lived experience.

    Find out more
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    Insight

    We share our insight, thought leadership, research, press, and news, along with expert opinions, event highlights, and industry trends.

    Find out more
  • Three adults sitting at a table during a meeting or discussion, focusing on a woman with dark hair and a woman with braids wearing glasses, both looking intently at someone or something off-camera.

    Programmes

    Our specialist programmes support our signatories in acheiving their goals, including our peer to peer mentoring programme.

    Find out more

Our Ambassador Team.

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    Nick Sturge, Advisory Group Chair

    Nick has worked in tech since 18 as an engineer, entrepreneur, director, investor, adviser, and supporter of tech entrepreneurs. Now a portfolio non-exec, adviser, and coach, he works with clients in Cardiff, Bristol, and Bath. He is a governor at Bath Spa University and Equal Opportunities Ambassador with Babbasa. Awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to the digital economy, he focuses on good governance, inclusive innovation, founder journeys, and diversity’s economic value at board level.

    Nick is the chair of our Advisory Group.

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    Anita Sawhney

    Anita is an experienced HR and coaching professional with a background in psychology and a Master's in HR Management. She focuses on diversity and employee groups that support company HR goals. Anita is certified in Thomas International PPA and is working towards a Level 5 Coaching and Mentoring qualification.
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    Bianca Jones

    Bianca has spent 7 years specialising in mental health and race awareness training, collaborating with businesses to combat racism and improve workplace mental health. She created the Anti-Racism courses Race Ahead and Race Aware, which help businesses and individuals understand race, racism, its mental health impact, and promote proactive anti-racism allyship.
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    Emma Fry

    Emma is a consultant focused on driving social, environmental, and organizational change. With a psychology background and a master’s in Social and Organisational Psychology, she has worked on projects exploring gender and social class in academia and barriers to women's leadership progression. She now helps organizations achieve transformative, sustainable change.
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    Emilie Culwick

    Emilie, an Associate Lecturer at the University of the West of England and part of the Human Resource Management cluster, focuses her research on tackling gender inequalities and systemic barriers in employment. She combines her expertise with teaching, inspiring students toward greater workplace equality, diversity, and inclusion, and is dedicated to promoting social justice for future generations.
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    Helen Farmer

    Equity, Diversity and Social Inclusion Consultant/Research Associate Helen works with supporters from school to boardroom, focusing on underserved youth and overrepresented groups to remove barriers and improve access, progress, and support. She specializes in research, strategy, setup, and support of multi-partner, cross-sector programs for clients ranging from corporates and charities to universities and employability schemes.
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    Jess Woodsford

    Jess is a coach, trainer, and facilitator passionate about equality and social justice. She helps individuals and managers become inclusive leaders. Formerly a senior public sector leader focused on equal access to higher education, Jess co-founded Inclusive Futures CIC, offering coaching to support underrepresented groups in higher education.
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    Serrie Chapman

    Serrie, co-founder of Women’s Tech Hub Bristol, is an experienced Engineering Consultant in semiconductors, holding a CRTS degree in real-time computing from the University of the West of England. She currently works as a Requirement Engineering Consultant. WTH supports local women in tech to grow their careers and helps companies foster diverse, inclusive workplaces.