Sponsored by
In alphabetical order
You cannot vote in this category.
This category is judged based on evidence provided according to the British LGBT Awards criteria.
Caroline Waddington
Credit Suisse
Waddington is a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, EMEA CFO and an executive director of the principal UK legal entities. She has also held several senior finance roles at Barclays Capital, RBS and Deutsche Bank. Waddington sits on the UK Culture Board and is a senior champion of the LGBTQ+ & Ally network, where she champions progression of LGBT+ inclusion. She engages senior leaders and is actively involved in the firm’s LGBT+ initiatives, from mentoring to events and visibility. She is a thought leader and, through her intersectional work, is an incredible asset to all of the company’s diversity networks.
Des Johnson
BP
Johnson is Vice President of Digital Product Delivery in BP’s Customer and Products division supporting the delivery of the company’s customer-facing digital experiences. He has been a member of BP’s Pride network for several years and in 2022 joined the Steering Committee. Outside work, Johnson is an ambassador and speaker for FFLAG (Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a charity supporting parents and carers of LGBTQ+ people) and a volunteer with Diversity Role Models for their work in schools on LGBTQ+ inclusion. Johnson is married to Anne and is a proud father to two gay sons – Jack and Matthew.
Dr Gillian Bowen
YMCA
Dr Bowen is second-generation Windrush descendent and a proud Grenadian as well as a passionate ally to the LGBT+ community. She is the CEO of YMCA London City and North, where she supports LGBT+ young people disproportionately impacted by homelessness and consistently advocates for the LGBT+ community in her university board role and beyond. As a trustee of Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity, she has supported their rapid growth in tackling bullying and bringing LGBT+ inclusive education to more than 5,000 schools and millions of young people across the UK.
Jane Cubbin
GSK
Proud mum of her trans son and working tirelessly as GSK Spectrum’s trans, non-binary and allies lead, Cubbin is committed, dedicated and delivers unwavering support. She is a visible advocate and strong voice globally for LGBT+ inclusion, empowering and elevating our LGBT+ community and passionately educating and inspiring colleagues. Open and transparent in her experiences, she creates a safe space for all. Her TDoV Campaign in 2022 led to engagement globally and she has organised impactful events featuring Tom Daley, Jake and Hannah Graf and Bobbi Pickard, all of which are driving real change across GSK.
Jeff Dodds
Virgin Media O2
Dodds is Virgin Media O2’s Chief Operating Officer. He is proud to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and is the executive sponsor for the company’s LGBTQ+ employee network, Proudly. Dodds re-joined the company in May 2017 as Managing Director of Virgin Mobile. He had previously spent five years at Virgin Media, including as Chief Marketing Officer. Jeff also sits on the board of the disability equality organisation The Valuable 500 and is a Non-Executive Director of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Joelle Ivett
Arcadis
Ivett, an Associate Project Manager at Arcadis, is extremely passionate about driving LGBT+ diversity in the construction industry. She leads companywide communications to raise awareness, including knowledge sharing on Section 28 and LGBT+ language. Following nomination as a co-chair for Building Equality Manchester, Ivett’s recent highlights include marching with 100+ construction professionals in Manchester Pride, outreach days at Salford Pride and the Pink Picnic. She also collaborated on and presented an ‘Allies Toolbox Talk’ to more than 300 consultants, contractors and clients, then appeared at a Trans Awareness Event to raise funds to replace the Trans Memorial Statue in Manchester.
Liz Crutchley
HomeServe
A passionate advocate of inclusion, while Crutchley’s current role is as a director of DE&I her allyship for the LGBTQI+ community started long before this. As a member of the business LGBT+ network she played an active part in progressing change and implementing policy to support LGBTQI+ people both in the workplace and in society as a whole. As an influential member of the senior team at HomeServe, she supported the network to gain sponsorship of Walsall Pride for the last two years, membership and participation of the Stonewall Equalities Index, support the creation of gender-neutral toilets and most recently implemented a trans-inclusive policy.
Manuela Sforza
Avanade
Since joining the organisation four years ago, Sforza has been instrumental in driving LGBT+ inclusion as a core priority of Avanade’s DEI strategy. In her role, she has supported the growth of Avanade’s LGBT+ employee network in the UK and across Europe, helped launch the UK’s self-ID programme incorporating sexual orientation and gender identity data, contributed to the roll-out of a gender pronouns campaign, set up numerous sessions open to all employees on various LGBT+ inclusion topics to raise awareness and increased allyship and organised sponsorship of UK Black Pride. Partnering with Avanade’s transgender employees and HR, Sforza also led the launch of the company’s pan-European gender transitioning paid leave policy and transgender and non-binary inclusion guidelines.
Phil Adcock
Ford
Adcock is a long-term business ally for LGBT+ at Ford, one of the largest companies in the world, with the Global Chair and Vice Chair of Ford Pride working for him. Through his allyship, Adcock enables, not just in the UK but also globally, the Ford Pride group to support the LGBT+ community of employees, partners and customers to be consistently strong, vibrant, visible and active. His allyship has ranged from individual and personal help through to executive-level sponsorship of large-scale, significant public LGBT+ events such as the Very Gay Raptor and Tough Talks Series in 2022.
Rishi Jain
Liverpool Football Club
Jain is Liverpool FC’s Senior ED&I Manager. Having worked in that sector for 15+ years, he has an expert understanding of how to successfully integrate EDI and create positive change. Jain is a driving force and constantly strives for progress. In 2020, he was named on the Global Diversity List. Previous work led to recognition at the European Diversity Awards, Northwest Football Awards and Inclusive Companies Awards. In December 2022, he presented on his and Liverpool’s commitments to eradicating hate speech and violence at the United Nations in New York. Rishi previously worked at Manchester United, Kick It Out and The FA.
