Guests in March: Jude Kelly CBE, Founder, WOW (Women of the World) Foundation and more
1 April 2022
In March’s Change Makers episodes, Michael Hayman is joined by Jude Kelly CBE, Founder, WOW (Women of the World) Foundation; Mark Campanale, Founder, Carbon Tracker Initiative; Garvita Gulhati, Founder, Why Waste?; Juergen Maier CBE, Co-founder, vocL; and Melissa Morris, CEO & Co-Founder, Lantum
Courage to change: the urgency of gender equality – Jude Kelly CBE, Founder, WOW (Women of the World) Foundation
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Michael was joined by Jude Kelly CBE, the award-winning theatre director, producer and founder of WOW (Women of the World) Foundation, the global movement that says a gender equal world is desirable, possible and urgently required. Through its flagship WOW festivals as well as year-round events and school programmes, WOW was designed to ensure a high-profile cultural space existed for women’s stories to be shared.
Described by the Financial Times as someone who has never changed down a gear in her life, Jude describes that moment in 2010 when WOW was launched as the moment that she “truly came out as a woman” and, in 2018, she chose to step back from her role as Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre to focus on growing this incredible initiative, which is now the world’s biggest and most comprehensive festival, celebrating women girls and non-binary people.
With WOW Festival 2022 set to kick off next Friday, Jude joins us to share her journey from artist to activist, the cultural moments and movements that shaped her world view, and the importance of self-identity.
Ending finance’s carbon footprint: mobilising against climate change – Mark Campanale, Founder, Carbon Tracker Initiative
Mark Campanale is a leader described as opening “a different front in the fight against global warming.” He is an Ashoka Changemaker and the founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, an independent think tank that looks at the impact of clean energy transition and a move away from fossil fuels on the financial markets. The aim is to change how financial analysts and fund managers determine investment risk and mobilise shareholders to align their business priorities with the climate agenda.
And as co-founder of Planet Tracker, Mark’s goal is to align capital markets with natural ecological limits to growth, based on his ‘unburnable carbon’ thesis, which identified that up to 80% of proven fossil fuel reserves are effectively unusable, if we are to stay within the planet’s Carbon Budget.
Self-belief, positivity and collaboration: how to deliver systemic change – Garvita Gulhati, Founder, Why Waste?
Garvita Gulhati is an Ashoka Young Changemaker and founder of the ‘Why Waste?’ campaign. She has lived up to her own quote for life that change starts alone, but happens together, dedicating the prime of her youth to causes that bring people together to make the world a better place for future generations.
Having started ‘Why Waste?’ at just 15 years old with the aim of tackling global resource waste, at 22, Garvita is showing no signs of slowing down. She was awarded the ‘Young Social Changemaker of The Year 2021’ and is continuing to build communities and projects focussed on creating systemic change for the better.
Giving a voice to industry: how to leave a legacy – Juergen Maier CBE, Co-founder, vocL
Juergen Maier is the former CEO of Siemens UK, the UK Chair of Digital Catapult, Vice Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, and co-founder of vocL, which works with the next generation of business leaders to help them find their voice and enable them to have a more positive impact on society.
Named as the most influential businessperson in North West England, Juergen describes himself as an industrialist, with a purpose to provide leadership, encouragement and critique for UK policies and activities that support green re-industrialisation, particularly in northern regions and in the context of a post-pandemic economic landscape.
Fit for the future: Why healthcare could be the new frontier for innovation – Melissa Morris, CEO & Co-Founder, Lantum
Building the operating system behind a better future in healthcare is the mission of our Change Makers guest today, Melissa Morris, the CEO and Co-Founder of Lantum.
Lantum is a total workforce platform for healthcare organisations, reducing spend and empowering healthcare staff. Through its unique end-to-end platform, it has helped to modernise how healthcare organisations connect with the workforce and fix what Melissa describes as “the broken system” of NHS staffing.
Recognised as one of the of the UK’s top female tech leaders and healthtech innovators, this is the story of a founder with a mission to support the NHS and other healthcare organisations find the people they need, when they need them.