The Most Reverend Justin Welby was born in 1956 and studied in Cambridge before entering the oil industry, where he worked for 11 years. In 1989, after sensing a call from God, he left industry to train for ordination. His ministry has combined commitment to his parish communities with Church work around the world, especially in areas of conflict. He served most recently as Dean of Liverpool Cathedral and then Bishop of Durham before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in February 2013.

Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is an active global voice on the importance of inclusive finance for achieving development and economic goals. Designated in 2009 by the UN Secretary-General as his Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, Queen Máxima encourages universal access for individuals and enterprises, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services, provided by diverse responsible and sustainable institutions. 

As UNSGSA, she works in partnership with stakeholders globally to raise awareness, encourage leadership, and foster action toward financial inclusion. She draws on her first-hand experiences gained through country visits and conversations with low-income families, small business owners, policymakers, and others to identify which financial services and policies can really make a difference for lives, livelihoods, and communities.

She shares her insights and knowledge across countries through speeches, meetings, publications, and other channels. Queen Máxima regularly convenes stakeholders from diverse sectors, such as government leaders together with technical finance experts, mobile phone companies, health and agriculture, venture capitalists, development partners, and more—helping people and institutions learn from each other and form new collaborations.   

Queen Máxima has also served as honorary patron of the G20's Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion since 2011. She is a champion of financial inclusion in her own country, particularly in the areas of financial literacy and education. She is a member of the Netherlands Committee for Entrepreneurship and Finance and honorary chair of the Dutch Money Wise Platform.

Sir Brian Pomeroy was the Senior Partner of Deloitte Consulting until 1999 when he took up a number of public, private and voluntary sector appointments. He was chairman of the Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce and is currently  president of the Financial Inclusion Commission and chairman of the government’s Action Group on Cross Border Remittances. Other current appointments include non-executive director of the FCA.

Scott Abrahams is group head, Acceptance for UK and Ireland MasterCard Worldwide. He is responsible for developing and executing the UK&I Acceptance sales and marketing strategy to drive Acceptance growth and increase revenue performance.

Before joining MasterCard, Mr. Abrahams was Vice President and General Manager of Global Supplier Relations EMEA at American Express. He was responsible for revenues from suppliers such as British Airways, Emirates, Air France and Hilton. Earlier on, he also held the positions of Vice President of Client Management UK and General Manager Nordics at American Express.

Prior to this, Mr. Abrahams was Head of Relationship Management at Barclays Bank, leading 100 sales people with a focus on implementing innovation, change, motivation and culture within his team.

Mr. Abrahams began his career at Sainsbury’s as a Graduate Trainee Manager, rising to Deputy Store Manager and then moving to Project Management where he was accountable for the movement and banking of all Sainsbury’s physical and electronic turnover.

Mr. Abrahams studied Economics and Law at the University of Leicester.

Christine Allison is an economist, and after years of working around the globe she has now turned her attention to financial exclusion and social business in the UK. She is the CSFI’s financial inclusion fellow and a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Task Group on Responsible Credit and Savings.  

Christine spent more than twenty years with the World Bank working in Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe. During this time Christine saw how microfinance, coupled with training and good business advice, could help even the poorest of’ people work their way out of poverty. Upon leaving the World Bank in 2008, Christine joined Plan International in London, a global children’s charity.  

More recently Christine has worked with the Devon (now Dartington) School for Social Entrepreneurs (DSSE), training social entrepreneurs and trying to bring more microfinance to the SW. Christine is currently attached to the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) and focusing on credit unions, another mechanism to help address financial exclusion. At the request of the then Bishop of Durham, now Archbishop of Canterbury, Christine spent time with credit unions in the NE. 

Christine is a member of the Plymouth Business School Advisory Council and a trustee of the Devon Community Foundation. She lives most of the year in Devon.

Michael S. Barr is Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, Professor of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and at the Brookings Institution.

He served from 2009-2010 as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. Barr was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and played a central role in the Administration’s housing finance policies.

At Michigan, Barr teaches financial institutions and international financial regulation, among other courses. Barr conducts large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and writes about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. Recent books include No Slack (Brookings Press 2012), Insufficient Funds (Russell Sage, 2009, with Blank) and Building Inclusive Financial Systems (Brookings Press, 2007, with Litan and Kumar). Barr is a frequent guest on CNBC and a media commentator on financial, housing, and economic issues.

Barr previously served as Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin's Special Assistant, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, as Special Advisor to President William J. Clinton, as Special Advisor and Counselor on the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department, and as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Southern District of New York.

He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, an M. Phil in International Relations from Magdalen College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar, and his B.A., summa cum laude, with Honors in History, from Yale University.

Lord Blackwell became Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group plc in April 2014, having joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Group’s Insurance Subsidiary, Scottish Widows Group in 2012.

He is also currently Chairman of Interserve plc. He is a former Senior Independent Director of Standard Life plc and Chaired their UK Life and Pensions Board. He has also been a Non-Executive Director of Halma plc, SEGRO plc and Dixons Group, a Non-Executive Board Member of both the Office of Fair Trading and OFCOM, and past Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies. Before that he was a partner of McKinsey & Co. and Director of Group Development at NatWest Group. From 1995 to 1997, Lord Blackwell was Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit and he was appointed a Life Peer in 1997.

Anthony Browne is the Chief Executive of the BBA.

Anthony was previously responsible for Morgan Stanley’s external engagement on political and regulatory issues for EMEA. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Anthony was policy director for economic development for Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. He set up the London apprenticeships programme, recruiting 40,000 apprentices in one year, and helped set up theCityUK, on whose board he sat.

Previously, Anthony ran Policy Exchange, the UK’s largest free market think tank, after spending the first two decades of his career as a journalist, with roles including economics correspondent of the Observer, Brussels.

Mike is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for small business issues and getting the voice of small business heard. For more than 40 years Mike has worked in the timber and manufacturing industry and has been a member of the Federation of Small Businesses since 1995. As a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Mike is keen to promote employability for all, enterprise, and manufacturing not just in the UK but across the globe.

Over the years Mike has held various positions within the FSB in the Staffordshire and West Midlands region, appointed as one of three Vice-Chairmen of the National Policy Committee in June 2007. He was elected National Policy Chairman in May 2010.

Juggling both his role at the FSB and running his business, Mike has travelled extensively in Europe exporting prime sawn timber to the European Furniture Industry as well as being an agent for specialised woodturning CNC lathes. His business continues to manufacture and supply Real Ale Brewers with their Cask Closures and they produce a range of giftware and promotional items which they laser engrave for B2B, visitor attractions, retail outlets, etc.

Mike has held a wide range of portfolios within the FSB including access to finance, home affairs, labour market issues and the new Army Reserves to name a few. Mike gained a commission in the TA in 1973 in which he served five years.

Sharon Collard is Professor of Personal Finance Capability at The Open University’s True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (True Potential PUFin).

Sharon background is policy-focused social research on personal finance. She has conducted extensive research on financial inclusion, consumer credit use and problem debt, and financial capability. Her research includes understanding motivations and barriers to engagement in the consumer debt marketplace; the work decisions of low-income two-parent households; working households’ experiences of debt problems; the impact of a cap on the total cost of high-cost credit; and the financial dimensions of wellbeing in older age.

Sharon regularly acts as an expert adviser on personal finance topics. In 2012-2014, she was a member of the Centre for Social Justice Serious Debt Working Group. In 2014, she was an academic adviser to the FCA on its work to develop a price cap on payday loans. She is currently a member of the UK Financial Inclusion Commission. 

True Potential PUFin is based at The Open University Business School. It is a pioneering centre of excellence for research and teaching related to personal finance capability, generously supported by True Potential LLP. Views expressed by True Potential PUFin may not reflect those of True Potential LLP.

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles joined HSBC Holdings in October 2013 as Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive. Sherard advises the Group Chief Executive on a range of business and client issues. He advises the Group Chairman on public policy issues. He is also a Director of HSBC Bank Egypt SAE.

Before HSBC Sherard worked for two and a half years as Business Development Director, International, at BAE Systems plc. Earlier he spent over 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service, which he joined straight from reading Classics at Oxford. He served in Cairo, Washington and Paris. He was also Principal Private Secretary to the UK Foreign Secretary, the late Robin Cook, and was Head of the Foreign Office Hong Kong Department from 1994 up to the handover to China in 1997. His final diplomatic jobs were as the UK Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009–2010), Ambassador to Afghanistan (2007-2009), Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2003–2007) and Ambassador to Israel (2001–2003).

Sherard is also Chairman of the Financial Inclusion Commission; a Board Member of the China Britain Business Council; UK Chairman of the Omani-British Friendship Association (business council); and Chairman of the Saudi-British Society and of Pitzhanger Manor Trust. He is the author of two books about his diplomatic experiences: Cables from Kabul and Ever the Diplomat. He speaks French and Arabic, some Hebrew and rudimentary Pashtu.

Carl joined Aldermore as Managing Director – Asset Finance in October 2013 having previously held the position of Managing Director of Hitachi Capital Business Finance. He started his financial services career at GE Capital holding various financial, operational and general management positions in GE’s Equipment Finance, Equipment Services and Restructuring divisions, including the post of CEO of the vehicle rental, plant hire and Key Leasing businesses. Carl has worked in a number of challenging turnaround or transformational situations leading sales, operational and process improvements. Latterly Carl enjoyed a period running a private equity owned construction equipment rental, leasing and services business before returning to financial services in September 2012. 

Carl has undertaken various levels of managerial, financial and change management training with General Electric and is also trained as a Master Black Belt in Six Sigma. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree from the University of Surrey where he studied German, Economics and International Business. He is also a Fellow of the Leasing Foundation.

Gary Dymski holds a BA in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania, an MPA from Syracuse University, and a PhD in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before entering academia, he worked in community-based organizations, served as staff director and fiscal advisor for the Democratic caucus of the Indiana State Senate, and was named a research fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. He was a member of the economics faculty at the University of Southern California before joining the University of California, Riverside (UCR) economics faculty in 1991.

From 2003 to 2009, Gary took an extended leave from the UCR faculty to serve as the founding executive director of the University of California Center Sacramento, an academic public-policy program in California’s state capitol. He became a leadership chair in applied economics at the Leeds University Business School in 2012.

Gary has done research on financial exclusion and inclusion since 1989; other topics of his current research include the causes and consequences of the subprime and Eurozone crises, financial regulation and financialization, inequality and economic development, and the continuing relevance of the work of Keynes, Kalecki, Commons, Minsky, and Polanyi. He and Nina Kaltenbrunner, also at the Leeds University Business School, are leading a project on inequality and finance in Europe.

Stephanie Flanders joined J P Morgan Asset Management as Chief Market Strategist for UK and Europe in November 2013. She was previously the BBC’s Economics Editor (2008-2013) and Economics Editor for its Newsnight programme (2002-2008). She has been a reporter at the New York Times; a speech writer and senior advisor to US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers (1997-2001); an FT leader-writer and columnist (1993-7); and an economist at the IFS and London Business School.

Douglas Flint is Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, appointed December 2010.

He began his career with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG) where he trained as a chartered accountant after graduating from Glasgow University. He was appointed a partner of KPMG in 1988. He joined HSBC on 30 September 1995 and was appointed to the Board as Group Finance Director on 1 December 1995.

Mr Flint was appointed Chairman of the Institute of International Finance in June 2012. He is a member of both the Mayor of Beijing’s and the Mayor of Shanghai’s International Business Leaders’ Advisory Councils which seek to improve the quality of its citizens’ lives through economic, environmental and social reform. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the China Europe International Business School, Shanghai and recently gave a master class to the students and alumni on the changing expectations and accountabilities of leadership. He is also an independent external member of the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board in the UK and, by invitation from the Prime Minister, a British Business Ambassador from January 2014.

In June 2006 he was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his services to the finance industry. Mr Flint served as a non-executive director of BP plc from 1 January 2005 until 14 April 2011 and was Chairman of its Audit Committee in his final year.

Mr Flint is married with three children. His hobbies include golf.

Tony Goland is a Director in the Philadelphia, PA office of McKinsey & Company. He is a leader of the Firm’s global Financial Institutions Group and the Americas Organization Practice, and he leads the Firm’s global efforts to promote financial inclusion among the world’s poor. Since joining the Firm in 1985, Tony has helped clients address their most challenging strategy, operations, and organization issues and build their capabilities to successfully implement. Tony has served private, public, and social sector clients across four continents.
In 2008, Tony founded the Firm’s Financial Inclusion practice, as a joint venture between the Social Sector and Global Banking practices. He has focused a significant amount of his work toward serving a range of clients around the world in this arena. Tony is a sought after expert, and he has spoken at numerous public and client events regarding what it will take to accelerate progress in achieving financial inclusion globally.

Tony currently serves on the Board of the Center for Financial Inclusion, and on the Underserved Advisory Committee of the Atlanta Life Financial Group. He is also privately active in animal rescue.

Prior to McKinsey, Tony worked for Morgan Bank Delaware, a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase, and served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Delaware. He also served as a Supply Sergeant in the US Army Europe, where he was stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany and received the Army Commendation Medal. Tony graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and summa cum laude from the University of Delaware.

Imran is a Partner in the Financial Services team leading our dedicated transaction strategy and commercial advisory offering across EMEIA. Imran joined EY earlier this year having spent 16 years focussed on the financial services sector. He brings a unique perspective on the sector having spent 8 years advising on the sector with Oliver Wyman and a further 8 years investing in the sector with Bridgepoint and latterly with Resolution where he led the M&A team.Imran holds a Masters in Engineering from Cambridge University and is a CFA charter holder.

Stuart Gulliver is Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc. He is also Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
Mr Gulliver joined HSBC in 1980 and has held a number of key roles in the Group’s operations worldwide, including postings in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and the United Arab Emirates.

Before his appointment as Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc in January 2011, he was Chairman of Europe, Middle East and Global Businesses of HSBC Holdings plc. He was appointed Chief Executive of Global Banking and Markets and HSBC Global Asset Management in May 2006.
He has also served as Chairman of HSBC France, Deputy Chairman of Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG and on the boards of HSBC Bank plc, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, HSBC USA Inc. and HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

Mr Gulliver was appointed to the HSBC Group Management Board in March 2004 and became a Group General Manager in August 2000. He has been an Executive Director of HSBC Holdings plc since May 2008 and an Executive Director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited since September 2006.
Mr Gulliver is a member of the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and of the International Advisory Council of the China Banking Regulatory Commission of the People's Republic of China.

Mr Gulliver holds a law degree from Oxford University.

Since joining the CDFA in 2011, Ben has been active in bringing community finance to the attention of policy makers, investors and thought leaders. Ben has helped secure over £72m of funding for members to lend to small, micro and social enterprises, has initiated significant new projects including a bank to CDFI referral scheme, piloting Community Finance Partnerships along with establishing a performance framework for the sector. Ben was one of the founders of the Community Investment Coalition, and has secured a central role for community finance in the innovative 22 member Social Economy Alliance, a new national force in driving pro-social business and fair access to finance.

Before joining the CDFA, Ben gained over twenty years of experience in the community sector, establishing the first non-solicitor legal aid advice agency followed by 12 years as CEO of the social action membership network, bassac during which time he oversaw the merger with DTA, to form the highly successful organisation Locality.

Ben has written and presented extensively on access to finance issues.

Monitise is a global leader in Mobile Money, delivering mobile banking, payment and commerce networks worldwide. 
 
Richard has global responsibility for Market Intelligence at Monitise, advising clients and partners on key trends and market dynamics to help them deliver successful Mobile Money services to their customers. 
 
Prior to joining Monitise in 2006, he was responsible for the internet and phone channel propositions for the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest. He has over 20 years’ experience with some of UK financial services' leading brands, covering retail, private, corporate and investment banking in senior consultancy, operations, marketing, strategy and development roles.

Dr. Paul A Jones heads up the Research Unit for Financial Inclusion (RUFI) in the Faculty of Education, Health and Community at Liverpool John Moores University. RUFI undertakes academic, action and evaluative research in a wide range of areas related to the development of financial services for lower and moderate-income households, money and debt advice and credit union development. Paul has published widely in the field of financial inclusion and credit union development.
Some examples of research studies include widening access to community and social finance in London (Santander), the strategic development of credit unions in the North East of England and Cumbria (Northern Rock Foundation), the strengthening of credit union governance (Cornerstones for the DWP)], access to affordable credit in Europe (The European Commission), credit union engagement with prisons (Ministry of Justice), access to banking for homeless and vulnerable groups (Northern Rock Foundation) and the development of integrated debt advice services (Citizens Advice).

RUFI also runs a Master’s level University Certificate of Professional Development in Promoting Financial Inclusion in Low Income Communities. This course, designed for practitioners in the field of financial inclusion, runs in January each year in Liverpool and currently in Manchester in partnership with City South Housing Trust. The course is planned to run in Wales and possibly in Scotland in 2015. 

Full details of Paul’s work can be found on the website:- www.ljmu.ac.uk/HEA/financialinclusion

Michael Joseph is employed by Vodafone Group Services Limited as the Director of Mobile Money and is responsible for leading the strategic growth and development of successful M-Pesa proposition.

Michael is also Vodafone’s Strategic Advisor appointed to the Boards of Vodacom Group South Africa, Vodacom Tanzania, Vodacom Mozambique and Safaricom Limited. He has been the first World Bank Fellow, appointed in March 2011 to advise Governments, Regulators and other institutions on Mobile Money and other ICT initiatives. Previously, Michael has been the CEO of Safaricom Limited, steering the company from a subscriber base of less than 20,000 to over 16.71 million subscribers at his retirement in November 2010. This phenomenal growth straddling nearly a decade was motored by the launch of many innovative products and services such as M-PESA. He has extensive international experience in company start-ups, the implementation and operation of large wireless and wire-line networks.

Naina Lal Kidwai is Executive Director on the board of HSBC Asia-Pacific since 2010 and Chairman, HSBC India. She is a Non-Executive Director of Nestle S.A. since 2006 and Immediate Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Chair of its Inclusive Governance Council.

She is a member of various government committees for Trade & Industry and India's representative on the BRICS Business Council. She is on the Governing Board of National Council of Applied Economic Research, the National Institute of Bank Management, Global Advisor Harvard Business School and the Chair of its India Advisory Board, and on the City of London’s India Advisory Board. Other international engagements include being Trustee of the Board of the ASPEN Institute, India, India Advisory Board of the Prince Charles Charities and Member of the International Council for Women’s Business Leadership (ICWBL) created by Hillary Clinton.

Her interests in Environment and Water issues are represented by her Board membership of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, the TERI Advisory Board, Founder and Chair of FICCI's Water Mission, World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Climate Change and Vice Chair of the Water Council and the Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

An MBA from Harvard Business School, she has been recognized in India and abroad with several awards and listings for leadership and business. Repeatedly ranked in the Fortune global list of Top Women in Business, in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times Global Listing of Women to Watch and listed by Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influentials 2002. She received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry in 2007

Her other interests include women empowerment through livelihood and wild life conservation.

Andrea Leadsom MP is the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, a post to which she was elected in 2010 following a 25-year career in the financial sector and 10 years working as a Charity Trustee of OXPIP, the Oxford Parent Infant Project.

In Parliament and beyond, Andrea campaigns on her three major areas of interest: reform of the European Union through her work as co-founder of the Fresh Start Project; reform of the banking system, as a Member of the Treasury Select Committee, particularly with regard to increasing competition and removing barriers to entry; and establishing a national network of parent-infant psychotherapeutic support services for families and their newborn babies through her new charity, PIP UK, and the 1001 Critical Days campaign, a cross party initiative to re-think how statutory services support new families. In April 2014,

Andrea was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Sir Richard Leese was born and brought up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. After graduating from the University of Warwick, he worked as a teacher in Coventry and as an exchange teacher in the USA before moving to Manchester to take up a post as a youth worker. He was employed variously in youth work, community work, and education research between 1979 and 1988, and was elected to Manchester City Council in 1984. He became Leader of the Council in 1996, having previously served as Deputy Leader (1990 – 1996), Chair of the Education Committee (1986 - 1990) and Chair of the Finance Committee (1990 - 1995).

Sir Richard’s political interests include the links between economic development and social policy, developing open democracy and the place-making and community leadership role of local authorities; and the role of cities in creating a sustainable future. He has a number of additional responsibilities including Director of Manchester Airport Holdings Ltd, Vice Chair of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Chair of the North West Regional Leaders’ Board, and Chair of the Core Cities Cabinet.

His interests outside politics include walking, cinema, music, and sport (as a spectator, principally Manchester City football and cricket). He is a regular runner and cycles to the Town Hall most days.

Mark Lyonette has led the Association of British Credit Unions since 2005 and has overseen the introduction of new enabling legislation and ABCUL’s successful bid for a major Government contract aimed at bringing improved sustainability and collaboration to the sector. He is also Chief Executive of ABCUL’s trading subsidiary, Cornerstone Mutual Services, which is developing a range of shared products and services for its credit union owners as part of the Credit Union Expansion Project. Mark is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Task Group on Responsible Credit and Savings and has served on a variety of other bodies including the Financial Inclusion Taskforce.

Juan A. Marchetti is a Counsellor at the Trade in Services Division of the World Trade Organization. He is the Secretary of the WTO Committee on Trade in Financial Services. He regularly lectures at the Universities of Fribourg and Lausanne, in Switzerland. His primary research interests lie in the law and economics of trade in financial services. He has published articles in refereed journals and contributed chapters to various collections, including the Oxford Handbook of Banking and the International Handbook on the Economics of Integration.

Catherine is a New Zealander who has spent the majority of her career in financial services in the UK. She is currently leading the Transactions, Insurance and Community Banking Propositions for Personal and Corporate Bank at Barclays. Having just returned from NZ where she was Chief Executive, Customer Markets and Products for ASB Bank. Prior to ASB, Catherine worked at Lloyds TSB where she ran the legal and risk function for the retail bank, and then led the current account business. Catherine also worked at the Prudential where she launched PruHealth - an innovative health insurer as its Chief Executive. She also worked at ITV Digital (pay television company) and worked for National Australia Bank both in the UK and New Zealand.

Audrey Mothupi is currently the Chief Executive Officer of SystemicLogic Group. A global research, innovation and digital technology firm with a proven track record for delivering practical solutions to clients across a disparate range of industries and geographies. Prior to this, she was the head of inclusive banking at Standard Bank Group, where the division she led was awarded the 2013 BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Award for innovation in societal and community impact. Audrey has experience in banking, insurance, group strategy, human resources, marketing, communications and corporate affairs.

Audrey serves on the Pick ‘n Pay board, as an independent non-executive director; is a trustee of the Liberty Education Foundation, an independent trust focusing on improving South Africa’s education system; the Chair of Orange Babies of South Africa, an organisation focusing on the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/Aids and the care of orphans’ and vulnerable children in South Africa, Namibia and Zambia; and a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative as part of the Aspen Leadership Network.

Audrey holds a BA (Hons) from Trent University, Peterborough, Canada, and further developmental courses and experience in Corporate Finance, Customers and Consumer analysis, Enterprise Economics, System Dynamics and Organisational Development.

Audrey is a proud mother of two, 16 year old, Melita and 11 year old, Zoya.

Rachel took up the post of Chief Executive Officer at Go ON UK, the UK’s digital skills alliance, in September. Prior to that she was Digital Leader and Head of Profession for Digital at the UK Department of Health, where she had overall responsibility for the Department’s digital strategy, services and transformation, and for leading and aligning digital activities and services across the health and care system. As a member of the cross-Whitehall Digital Leaders group she was also responsible for co-producing Government strategy on digital. Before joining the UK civil service Rachel worked in the private sector in marketing and digital communications.

Rachel is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars in the UK and abroad, is Chair of the Digital Leaders programme (http://digitalleaders.co.uk/) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

David Nicholson is Group Director of the Halifax Community Bank. He has specific responsibility for the Halifax business, its branch network and 10,000 colleagues. Halifax is playing a key role in the Group’s strategy as a challenger brand, with a focus on making customers better off.

As executive sponsor of the Group’s financial inclusion agenda, David is leading the activity and thought leadership from across the Group looking to enable individuals to access and benefit from the products and services they need to make the most of their money.
David has over 25 years experience in retail financial services. He is Chairman of the ‘Your Tomorrow’ pension fund trustees and is a member of the Institute of Financial Services School of Finance Board of Governors. He is also community ambassador for Yorkshire and Humberside and chairs the Group Regional Ambassador programme.

Chris Pond, Vice Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission,  is Partner and Head of Public Affairs at Kreab Gavin Anderson and Chairs The Money Charity.  A former Work and Pensions Minister and MP, Chris served as a member of the Treasury ministerial team between 2000 and 2003.  After leaving Parliament, he was appointed as Director of Financial Capability at the Financial Services Authority, as Chair of a public body (Capacitybuilders) supporting charities and social enterprises and as a Board Adviser to HMRC.  He now chairs the Equity Release Council Standards Board.  Chris has been CEO of two national charities – the Low Pay Unit and Gingerbread (the National Council for One Parent Families) – whose members are disproportionately affected by financial exclusion.  He has written and broadcast extensively on the issue of poverty and financial exclusion and has held Honorary Visiting Professorships at two universities.  

Miguel joined the Group in 2011 before which he held a variety of executive positions in the UK, USA and Spain for Santander.  Prior to this, Miguel worked as a Senior Partner at McKinsey for over 12 years.  He assumed his current role in September 2013 having previously held the position of Group Strategy Director and Commercial Director of the Retail Division. 

Miguel holds a “Cum Laude” degree in Business Administration from the University of Barcelona and an MBA from IESE Business School. He is a Board Member of Go-On UK.

Patrick Scheurle is the Chief Operating Officer at BlueOrchard, a pioneer in Microfinance Investment Management. He joined BlueOrchard from Bank Vontobel, where he was in charge of corporate business development and key strategic initiatives for the private bank.

Prior to that, he held the position of Business Project Manager at Credit Suisse following various assignments as financial analyst and portfolio manager with major Swiss asset management companies.
He is the author of several books and published a number of articles in peer reviewed academic journals, newspapers, as well as business magazines on different financial topics. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Financial Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich.
Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland, where he also served as an Assistant Professor of Management and obtained his Master degree in Accounting and Finance.

Peer Stein, a German national, is Director in the Finance and Markets Global Practice of the World Bank Group, a position he assumed in July 2014. In this role, he is responsible for delivering the Practice’s financial, advisory and knowledge, and convening services for the global themes, such as financial systems and stability, financial inclusion, and SME finance. Before that, Peer was responsible for IFC’s Access to Finance Advisory Business Line, a position he has held since 2012.

Peer has also been leading the World Bank Group’s engagement with the G-20 on financial inclusion and is the current chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Finance.  He joined IFC in 1996, and has worked in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe on both the investment and advisory sides of IFC.  Prior to joining IFC, Peer worked in Germany as a management consultant in enterprise restructuring and as a partner in a strategic market research firm covering Eastern Europe. He also teaches financial sector reform and development at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.  

Peer is married and has two children.

Peer Stein, a German national, is Director in the Finance and Markets Global Practice of the World Bank Group, a position he assumed in July 2014. In this role, he is responsible for delivering the Practice’s financial, advisory and knowledge, and convening services for the global themes, such as financial systems and stability, financial inclusion, and SME finance. Before that, Peer was responsible for IFC’s Access to Finance Advisory Business Line, a position he has held since 2012. 

Peer has also been leading the World Bank Group’s engagement with the G-20 on financial inclusion and is the current chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Finance.  He joined IFC in 1996, and has worked in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe on both the investment and advisory sides of IFC.  Prior to joining IFC, Peer worked in Germany as a management consultant in enterprise restructuring and as a partner in a strategic market research firm covering Eastern Europe. He also teaches financial sector reform and development at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.  

Peer is married and has two children.

Wilf Stevenson joined the House of Lords in July 2010, and is the Opposition Front Bench spokesman for BIS, specialising in Higher Education and Trade; and for DCMS, where he is in the lead for Media and Sport. He is an Opposition Whip, and has also served on the Lords Communications Select Committee (2010-2011).

Outside the House of Lords, Wilf is chair of StepChange the UK Debt Charity which provides confidential, free, professional counselling and money management assistance to some 500,000 financially distressed families and individuals each year.

Prior to being appointed to the House of Lords, Wilf Stevenson spent a year as a special adviser to the Prime Minister; and before that nearly 11 years as the Director of the Smith Institute, an independent Think Tank. Prior to that, Wilf was Director of the British Film Institute (1987-97), joining the BFI from what is now Edinburgh Napier University.

Chris is a Partner in Grant Thornton UK, responsible for the development of the Global Financial Services capability. He spent over 20 years working in banking, mainly with ABN AMRO, prior to becoming a consultant in 2000. His experience ranges from operations to IT, to sales, marketing and product management, primarily within wholesale and transaction banking.

Chris founded SMART UK in 2006, as a subsidiary of the US firm, which merged with LECG and was then sold in early 2011 to Grant Thornton. He started SMART UK after periods with two other consultancies: Capco, which he joined in 2000, where he was responsible for developing the global corporate banking practice; and BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting), which he joined in 2003, as managing director and leader of the financial services practice in the UK and Netherlands.

Chris is a qualified banker in the UK, and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Jen is the Managing Director of Retail Business Banking at Lloyds Banking Group and a member of the Retail Executive Committee. She is responsible for the providing service to nearly a million small business customers in the UK through the Lloyds and Bank of Scotland brands.
Previously Jen was the Business Design and Delivery Director for the Retail division where she was accountable for aspects of branch and telephone banking support and the delivery of strategic change. In her career at Lloyds, Jen was also the Shared Services Director for the Retail branch network for the Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands. She also ran telephone banking, the ATM network and account processing for millions of Halifax / Bank of Scotland customers at the height of the financial crisis. 

Before joining Lloyds, Jen was the VP, Global Accounts at Invensys Plc where she was responsible for sales to several major oil and gas clients. She started her career at British Airways Plc where she assisted the Board and General Counsel at the time of 9/11 and was the General Manager, Flight Training providing technical and customer service training for thousands of pilots and crew at airlines across the world. 

Jen is a non executive director and Board member of the Kent Community Trust, one of the largest Trusts in the UK. She is also a member of the Finance and Business Performance Committee and Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee. 

Jen graduated with an MA (Hons) in Modern Languages from St. John's College, Oxford. She lives in Sevenoaks, Kent together with her husband and their three young children.  

Simon Walker became Director General of the Institute of Directors in October 2011.

Previously he was Chief Executive of the BVCA, the organisation that represents British private equity and venture capital from October 2007.

Between 2003 and 2007 Simon worked at Reuters as Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing.  He was Communications Secretary to HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace from 2000 to 2003.  Earlier he served as Director of Corporate Affairs at British Airways and a non-executive director of Comair Ltd (South Africa).  From 1996-1997 Simon worked as a special adviser in the Prime Minister's Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street.

Simon was a partner at Brunswick, the public relations group, and Director of European Public Affairs for Hill & Knowlton in Brussels. He has been a member of the Better Regulation Commission, a Trustee of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Trust, the New Zealand-UK Link Association, and the UK-US Jamestown Committee.  He is a governor for the environmental foundation, The Hillary Summit, a Council Member of the European Policy Forum and a member of the Parliamentary Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Public Engagement.

Simon was born in South Africa, and has worked as a journalist and consultant in New Zealand, Belgium and the UK.  He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford Union.  He was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.  He is married with two children.

Stewart is the Executive Director of NEF (New Economics Foundation), the UK’s leading think tank promoting social, economic, and environmental justice.  

Following graduation in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, Stewart’s career began in marketing and sales with Rio Tinto Zinc, followed by a Master’s Degree in Business & Economics at London Business School.  Stewart spent seven years with the World Bank, in Washington DC, working on industrial and financial development in East Asia.  He then worked for Robinson Packaging, in Derbyshire, UK, for nine years (the last five years as Managing Director), leading a successful business turnaround before joining Oxfam in 1992 as International Director.  In that role, he gained responsibility for 2,500 staff in 70 countries and for all of Oxfam’s policy, research, development, and emergency work world-wide.  He was awarded the O.B.E. for services to Oxfam in 2002.

Stewart joined NEF as Executive Director on 1st November 2003.  He is also a Trustee of ODI (Overseas Development Institute); is on the Board of the New Economy Coalition (NEC), in the USA; and is currently Vice-Chair for the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Values.  His interests include: global governance, functioning of markets, links between development and environmental agendas, the future of capitalism and the moral economy.

Sian Williams is Head of National Services at Toynbee Hall, the first purpose-built university settlement in the world founded in 1884 in London’s East End. Sian has been responsible for Toynbee Hall’s financial inclusion programmes since October 2009, including Transact (the UK’s national forum for financial inclusion), financial inclusion training, research, evaluation and strategic consultancy.

Sian takes a whole systems approach to financial well-being that looks, not just at helping individuals increase their skills through needs-led financial education such as Toynbee Hall’s Community Money Mentors programme, but also at the policies of organisations and institutions that can make it difficult for people to make the most of their money. She has co-led the Financially Inclusive Tower Hamlets programme, which adopts this environmental approach within the local communities which Toynbee Hall serves. Sian has also led the development of a ground-breaking financial health needs assessment and impact measurement tool, MAPT, supported by the Citi Foundation. MAPT provides service providers a unique way to understand service users’ needs and measure the impact of financial health interventions, both for the individual and for groups.

Sian shares Toynbee Hall’s financial inclusion expertise through expert panels and consultancy, advises the UK financial services sector and government on financial inclusion issues, and is a trustee for the Money Advice Trust, a leading debt advice charity. Sian previously undertook a range of policy, management, training and representational roles in the UK and overseas within her 15 year career as a British diplomat with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Christopher Woolard is Director of Policy, Risk and Research, and a member of the Executive Committee at the Financial Conduct Authority.
He is responsible for conduct policy, strategy, risk, competition, consumer issues, the Chief Economist’s department, data and market intelligence. He is chair of the FCA’s Policy Steering Committee.
Prior to this Christopher was Group Director and Content Board member at Ofcom, and a non-executive member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. He has spent most of his career in regulation or policy development including working at the BBC and as a senior civil servant at the Department of Trade and Industry.
Christopher is a Sloan Fellow of London Business School.