JOIN THESE INCREDIBLE SPEAKERS AT THE BETTER BUSINESS SUMMIT
The Better Business Summit on Thursday 19th January at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School is for anyone wanting to make a positive difference through the work that they do. We spend most of our time at work, so shouldn’t that be a place where we feel purpose, motivation and part of something making a positive impact.
The Better Business Summit in November is an opportunity for us to not only listen to some amazing speakers who I hope will inspire and motivate us to all create great work, but for me, more importantly, an opportunity to be in a room with hundreds of other Purpose Driven Business Leaders who are motivated to create a better system for us all to live in.
I’m so excited to share some of the speakers we have at this year’s event. I hope when you look through this amazing list of speakers, you get just as excited as me. We have two stages, we’ve already announced the topics we are covering in the main lecture hall so you’ll soon see who is speaking in which session.
Our second stage is our Radicals Stage. Based in the exhibition hall, it’s going to really challenge some of the topics and ideas around impact driven business. More on that soon.
Bringing people together to discuss ideas, work together or help each other solve problems is one of the main reasons we started the Better Business Network. It is our dream to bring together our community and other business leaders who cared about figuring out how to create a better world together.
Check out this list, feel free to follow on social media the ones that you feel interested in, we have included all their links so you can do that. If you haven’t already bought your ticket, make sure to buy it now.
Ngunan Adamu, BBC, Moderator
Ngunan Adamu is a radio presenter and producer for the BBC. She founded the iWoman Academy, which empowers women through the medium of radio, and is an equality, diversity and inclusion expert.
Vikas Shah MBE, keynote speaker
Vikas Shah MBE is an entrepreneur, investor & philanthropist. He is CEO of Swiscot Group alongside being a venture-investor in a number of businesses internationally. He is a Non-Executive Board Member of the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and a Non-Executive Director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Vikas was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in Her Majesty the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List and in 2021 became a Deputy Lieutenant of the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy. He is an Honorary Professor of Business at The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester and Visiting Professors at the MIT Sloan Lisbon MBA.
Professor Hannah Holmes, Manchester Met Uni
Professor Hannah Holmes is Dean of Business School and Deputy Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the Faculty of Business and Law at Manchester Metropolitan University. Hannah’s work includes addressing the differential outcomes for BTEC and minority ethnic students, to help close the attainment gap.
Craig Pennington, Future Yard
After a career supporting the music industry, including the magazine Bido Lito and Liverpool Psychfest, Craig Pennington launched Birkenhead’s Future Yard venue in 2020. It trains young people in industry skills and will be the first carbon neutral grassroots music venue in the North.
Gihan Hyde, CommUnique
Gihan Hyde is the founder of B Corp, ESG and communications consultancy CommUnique and a columnist for the fintech publication Fintech Futures. CommUnique is the first Black, Arab female-founded business in the world to carry the certification and its campaigns have impacted over 150,000 employees, 200,000 customers and closed over £300m in investment.
Kyle Soo, B Lab UK/ Better Business Act
Kyle Soo is the partnerships and product manager for B Lab UK, the organisation which accredits B Corps, and an advocate for the Better Business Act. He organises Manchester’s Pecha Kucha night, is a Lego ‘Serious Play’ facilitator and is in the process of exploring doughnut economics for Manchester.
Louisa Burman, Impact consultant
Louisa supports SMEs to understand, improve and report their impact, specialising in social impact with a particular focus on stakeholder engagement to help businesses co-design effective change. She advocates for place-based investment to unlock the ripple effects of social impact, as demonstrated in her Board positions with Kindred and Sefton Park Palm House.
Besma Whayeb, Ethical Influencers
Besma Whayeb started the sustainable fashion and lifestyle blog, Curiously Conscious, in 2014 to communicate her passion for finding kinder ways to live. The Ethical Influencers platform grew out of it, to connect fellow influencers and amplify their voices and make positive change happen. It now has over 1,000 members in more than 60 different countries.
Patrick Hurley, Royal Society of Arts
Patrick Hurley is the area manager for the north of England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for the Royal Society of the Arts. He is a local councillor, social economy veteran and an original founder of good business magazine Ethos. The RSA’s mission is to embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufacturers and extend our commerce, but also of the need to alleviate poverty and secure full employment. The RSA characterises itself as an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges and has over 30,000 members.
Erika Rushton, Kindred; Islington Mill (Creative Economist)
Erika Rushton specialises in creative and community entrepreneurship and its capacity for transforming places. She is delivering a £7m expansion of Islington Mill Arts Club in Salford, is a founder and programme director of social investment CIC Kindred and a founder of the One Day network. She recently won the Northern Power Women’s Transformational Leader Award.
Phil Korbel, The Carbon Literacy Project
Phil Korbel is the co-founder and Director of Advocacy at The Carbon Literacy Project. He’s been a long-standing social entrepreneur, broadcaster and community activist, since his local work with Friends of the Earth in the 1980s. His social enterprise Cooler Projects CIC founded The Carbon Literacy Project and now delivers it on behalf of The Carbon Literacy Trust. He also once rode a tandem from Sydney to Manchester.
Madelyn Postman, 1% for the Planet
A director at Grain Sustainability, Madelyn Postman has been a member of 1% for the Planet since 2008, which is a commitment by businesses to donate 1% of turnover or income to environmental charities. She serves on its UK 1% for the Planet Steering Committee, is an experienced media speaker, and is currently writing her first book, Sixteen Stories. Since its beginning 1% For the Planet has certified more than $350 million in support to approved environmental partners.
We’ve decided to split the day in the lecture hall into Seed, Feed and Grow. This is to help you:
Seed new ideas,
Feed your imagination
Grow your business, impact and the better business movement.
We’ll be talking about a range of innovative new ideas and approaches and discussing how we can create systemic change through collective action, education and support. The Better Business Summit on Thursday 19th January at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School is for anyone wanting to make a positive difference through the work that they do.
Find out more about the session in our sessions blog post and If you haven’t already bought your ticket, make sure to buy it now.