REBA Future Forum 2023

Simon Greenman

Global AI and technology innovator, Partner at Best Practice AI, co-founder of MapQuest and former member of the World Economic Forum Global AI Council

Simon Greenman is a global AI and technology innovator with over 25 years of experience as an executive, investor, and director. He was a co-founder of MapQuest, one of the first internet and AI brands. 

Currently a Partner at Best Practice AI advising on AI strategy, technology, and governance, he recently served on the World Economic Forum's Global AI Council. Simon has spent over a decade as Chief Digital Officer leading digital transformations of directory companies and has worked with the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, AOL, and Accenture. 

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simongreenman/

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Naga Munchetty

Journalist and broadcaster

Naga Munchetty is known nationwide as a high profile journalist and broadcaster. Her career as a journalist began at the Evening Standard and The Observer newspapers, and soon moved into reporting for Reuters Financial Television. Her love of financial matters, news and television led her to CNBC Europe where she became an Executive Producer. She has also worked as a Producer and Reporter for Channel 4 News, before becoming an anchor for Bloomberg Television. There she fronted a daily show and regularly grilled major CEOs and Central Bankers.

In addition to her prolific television work, Naga is a familiar voice on radio. Golf is one of Naga’s passions and she plays as much as she can - she plays off a handicap of 9. In 2013, Naga was crowned the winner of Celebrity Mastermind on the subject of The Ryder Cup - she answered every question correctly on her pet subject.

In 2014, she was named by the Asian Power List as one of the UK’s most powerful Asian females. Naga is a supporter of many charities and causes close to her heart, including mental health, education, women’s rights and animal welfare.

She is always keen to combine a love of sport with taking on fresh challenges – she ran the 2013 London Marathon and in 2015 took to two wheels completing the Women V Cancer Ride The Night 100km cycling ride. Naga recently returned to the saddle completing a gruelling London to Paris bike ride and the 100 mile Prudential Ride London event.

Naga was one of the judges for The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2016, and in the same year she was a celebrity contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. In 2018, she collected ‘the ‘Media Personality of the Year’ award at the Asian Media Awards. As a seasoned and tenacious journalist and broadcaster, she is comfortable in all circumstances. One of her key skills is the ability to put audiences and interviewees at ease with her level-headed, considered, meticulous and thoughtful manner.

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Debi O'Donovan

Co-founder & Director, REBA

Debi is the Co-founder  &  Director at REBA.

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Naomi Alexander

Head of Reward and Recognition, Utility Warehouse Limited

Naomi Alexander is the Head of Reward & Recognition at Utility Warehouse Limited.

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Janet Cooper OBE

Experienced Reward Professional & Chair of three Remuneration Committees, Session moderator

Janet Cooper OBE is an experienced reward professional, chairing 3 Remuneration Committees,  she is a Non-Executive Director of Nurture Landscapes Group, Chair of ProShare.

Janet was one of the first women partners at global law firm Linklaters where she led the executive incentive and employee share plans team for over 20 years and has advised many global companies on their remuneration strategies. She is currently ranked in the legal directory Chambers as the top lawyer in the UK for Employee Share Plans and Executive Incentives.

Janet  has worked across both the private and public sector, recently completing a 9 year term on the RNLI Trustee Board where she was the first woman to be Chair and is Vice Chair of the University of Roehampton.

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Josh Hart

Co-founder & CTO, YuLife

Josh Hart is the Co-Founder and CTO at YuLife.

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Will Aitken

Director, Isio

Will heads up Isio’s Strategic Benefit Design team. He has worked in all areas of employee benefits for over 30 years. He advises corporates on structuring employee benefit provision. He's particularly focussed on benefit provision that is fit for the challenges of the 21st century, which means looking afresh at benefits through the various lenses of flexibility, employee financial wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, ESG and value for employers.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-aitken-57309313/
: @@willjaitken

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Jake Attfield

Head of Strategy, Fair4All Finance, Session moderator

Jake is the Head of Strategy at Fair4All Finance where he leads on new initiatives and research to improve the financial services system for people in vulnerable circumstances.  Jake joined Fair4All Finance in September 2021 from the Money & Pension Service (MaPS) where he led the development of the delivery plans of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing with a specific focus on creating a Nation of Savers and the role employers and partnerships should have in improving the financial lives of people across the UK.  Prior to MaPS, Jake was HR Director at T-Systems in the UK where he developed a holistic wellbeing and inclusion programme, implemented a responsible investment strategy for the company pension scheme and worked with partners and industry bodies to improve pension and benefit provision.  Jake has a BA in History of Art & the History of Scientific Thought from Leeds University and holds a master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Andrew Bates

VP Global Benefits, EH&W, GSK

Andrew Bates is the VP Global Benefits, EH&W at GSK.

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Brian Bené

VP Customer Experience, Octopus Money

Brian leads brand and customer experience at Octopus Money, which offers 1-to-1 money advice to employees across the UK. Brian’s hugely passionate about the role business can play in creating a better world – starting with how we engage and support employees. Before joining Octopus, Brian led innovation and customer experience initiatives for brands including Airbnb, American Express, Google and Vodafone.

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Erik Boesten

Head of Reward, L&G Capital, Legal & General Group plc

Erik Boesten is the Head of Reward, L&G Capital at Legal & General Group plc.

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Dani Brackpool

Senior Reward Manager - Benefits, Wickes

Since starting her HR career 27 years ago Dani has worked in a variety of roles including Training, Recruitment, Shared Services, Reward and Pensions before ending up specialising in Benefits & Wellbeing.

Currently Dani is the Senior Reward Manager - Benefits at Wickes. She has been both an Advisory Board member and Employee Wellbeing Awards judge for REBA.

As the previous Benefits Team Leader at Sainsbury’s Group, she was responsible for driving the benefits strategy across the Sainsbury’s brands including Argos, Habitat, Nectar, Tu and Sainsbury’s Bank.  She’s constantly looking for new and innovative ways to bring to life the company’s benefits offering, working closely with the Wellbeing Team to ensure clear communication and delivery under their wellbeing pillars.

As the former Benefits Manager for Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays responsible for core and voluntary benefits, Dani successfully managed the launch and implementation of multiple new benefits and services such as digital GP, personalised financial education, ULEV car scheme and brand new flexible benefits platform, achieving the Workplace Wellbeing Charter and winning REBA’s Employee Wellbeing Award for Benefits Strategy 2018 as well as nominations for WSB and Employee Benefits awards.

Also qualified as a Mental Health First Aider, Dani is passionate about positively influencing the health and wellbeing of colleagues and is looking forward to returning to a live REBA event!

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Tia Brett

Director, Global Benefits, Kimberly-Clark

Tia Brett is the Director, Global Benefits at Kimberly-Clark.

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Chris Britton

People Experience Director, Reward Gateway

Chris ensures that every employee at Reward Gateway has the same amazing experience that we help our clients implement in their teams. Whether it's thinking of joining us and all the way through to the point you leave us, people experience covers the entire employee lifecycle.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-britton-/

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Stella Chaplin

Director, Pensions & Benefits, Total Reward UK & Europe, Atkins Global

Stella has 35 years’ experience in UK pensions and slightly shorter in benefits, employee wellbeing, payroll and share plans and is a Chartered Governance associate.  During her career she has worked for the BOC Group (now Linde), Centrica, DP World, TT electronics and now with SNC-Lavalin in a variety of pensions, benefits and project roles.  

As Chair of the UK&E Health and Wellbeing Committee at Atkins, the team have been delighted to see the recognition of various wellbeing initiatives that support the workforce. Stella is an active supporter in her spare time of Christians against Poverty and has a keen interest in financial wellbeing. 

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Guy Clarkson

UK Digital Growth Leader, Mercer Marsh Benefits

Guy Clarkson is an accomplished Technology and Consulting Growth Leader with a versatile skill set and a proven ability to create value, engage clients, and drive business growth while upholding a steadfast commitment to Employee Engagement & Wellbeing. Guy’s approach is grounded in effective communication and establishing productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Guy is dedicated to pioneering innovations that enhance commercial performance through organisational design and process efficiency improvements. As the UK Digital Growth Leader at Mercer Marsh Benefits, Guy leads a dynamic team responsible for driving digital growth across the UK. Guy’s primary focus is on delivering a fully integrated Employee Benefits (EB) brokerage, consulting, and technology solutions to clients.

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Fran Cooper

Head of Total Reward, Europe, AECOM

Fran Cooper is the Head of Total Reward, Europe at AECOM.

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Anna Cotgreave

Head of Reward and Benefits, UK, Clifford Chance

Anna is the Head of Reward and Benefits, UK for global law firm Clifford Chance. Anna has responsibility for all of the firm's healthcare benefits, ensuring the offering is best in class, whilst being cost effective and relevant to the workforce.

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Craig Cowdrey

Co-Founder and CEO, Sonder

Craig's passion for solving complex problems has taken him through careers in law, diplomacy and the military. As CEO, Craig drives Sonder’s strategy and culture, leading a high-performance team to deliver Sonder’s vision to provide everyone with global support through the right care at the right time.

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Amanda Dini

Int'l Pensions and Benefits Specialist, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Amanda is a Global Rewards Professional with broad experience in compensation and benefits, be it in the pharmaceutical industry (Ipsen and Bio-Rad), high-tech (Adobe Systems, Zebra Technology or Unisys).

Amanda is a frequent contributor to REBA events and research, having recently contributed to the Pensions Strategies for the New Age of Retirement.

Amanda is a Fellow member of the CIPD and is passionate about diversity and well being in the workplace, taking a holistic and practical approach to reward.
 

  

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Ross Elmsly

Head of Solution Advisory, Beqom

Ross Elmsly is the Head of Solution Advisory at beqom, a leading provider of performance management and compensation solutions. With a decade of experience in beqom, working with global organizations across diverse industries, Ross specializes in helping clients tackle complex challenges related to performance management, compensation, and pay equity. He brings a deep understanding of the challenges, coupled with real world experience of the tools and technologies, to chart the way forward.

Prior to joining beqom, Ross held roles at SAP in Singapore and the UK.  

Ross holds a Masters of Commerce with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland.

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Jane Fenwick

VP Reward, bp plc

Jane Fenwick is the VP Reward at bp plc.

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Lisa Fitch

International Benefits Director, Comcast

Lisa Fitch is the International Benefits Director at Comcast Corporation.

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Adam Fox-Everitt

Head of Reward, Browne Jacobson

Adam is the Head of Reward at Browne Jacobson. He and his team are responsible for attracting, retaining and motivating people who are committed to tackling society's biggest issues.
 
Browne Jacobson has been the UK's #1 ranked employer for social mobility for the past two years, having been the first law firm to ever top the rankings.
 

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Samantha Francis

EMEA and APAC benefits lead, Haleon

Samantha Francis is the EMEA and APAC benefits lead at Haleon.

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Susie Godfrey

Head of Performance & Reward EMEA, Norton Rose Fulbright

Susie has worked in reward in the legal sector for over 10 years, most recently joining Norton Rose Fulbright as their Head of Performance and Reward – EMEA. Susie has experience of managing employee benefits, pensions and all aspects of compensation in the UK and internationally.  

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Tim Goodchild

Director, Global Benefits & Mobility, Anaplan

Tim Goodchild is the Director, Global Benefits & Mobility at Anaplan.

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Matthew Gregson

Executive Director, Howden Employee Benefits

Today, Matthew oversees all aspects of Howden’s proposition for Corporate clients. He has over 20 years’ experience in employee benefits, including a large portion of his career helping shape the flexible benefits market in the UK. Matthew has personally helped many large and complex employers introduce transformational change to their pension and benefits programmes, working with providers and partners in industry to innovate and maximise the value they bring to clients.

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Karen Hartmann

Vice President – Head of Compensation and Benefits EMEA, Moody's

Having started her career in Pensions consultancy, Karen has since gained extensive experience across the HR spectrum including Reward, Payroll, Shared Services, Recruitment and M&A. She joined Moody’s as Head of Compensation & Benefits, EMEA in 2021 from her previous Director, Total Rewards role at Mastercard and is a REBA Advisory Board member.

At Moody’s Karen is responsible for defining and delivering Total Rewards strategy for the EMEA region, ensuring alignment with the global Moody’s Total Rewards philosophy. In addition she is currently focused on a number of global projects including the roll-out of a new global gender-neutral parental leave and the implementation of a new global benefits platform.

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Brett Hill

Head of Health & Protection, Broadstone Financial Solutions Limited

Brett is Head of Health & Protection and jointly leads the Employee Benefits Consulting division at Broadstone, a leading pensions, investment and employee benefits consultancy. With over 25 years’ experience in the health and protection industry, Brett leads Broadstone’s growth in this market having held roles with insurers in sales, underwriting and proposition development, followed by senior leadership positions in the intermediary market. Brett is passionate in his belief that employee health, wellbeing and protection are interconnected, and must be at the heart of any truly engaging and effective employee benefit and risk management strategy.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-hill-02aa011a/

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Damon Hopkins

Head of DC Workplace Savings, Broadstone Financial Solutions Limited

Damon has nearly 20 years in the pensions industry, the last 14 of which he has specialised in DC. He joins Broadstone from Aon’s DC consulting team where he held a multifaceted leadership role which included business development, people and proposition development.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damon-hopkins/

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Elle Hopkins

VP, Global Total Rewards, Medallia Inc.

Ellenor Hopkins is VP, Global Total Rewards at Medallia, the market leader in customer, employee, citizen and patient experience. She lives in London, and with two children aged 18 & 12. Elle is no stranger to the work life juggle, having worked full time and flexibly since 2008.
Elle has over 20 years experience in a variety of People roles within the Technology, Media, Consulting and Retail industries, and has spent the last 10 years focusing on International Total Rewards, striving to make tangible impacts on the employee experience through inclusive wellbeing, benefits, compensation and mobility packages.
Medallia’s award winning platforms put the customer and employee  experience at the center, enabling organizations to make the right decisions faster, take immediate action, and achieve outstanding results through feedback.

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Laura Jackson

Independent Benefits/Wellbeing Consultant

Laura is an independent benefits and wellbeing strategic consultant working with companies ranging from large corporates to start-ups. She has over 25 years experience in the sector, and in her former career was Global Head of Benefits & Wellbeing at Credit Suisse where she was responsible for developing a global wellbeing and benefits strategy, and implementing an approach that met the diverse needs of employees across the world. 

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Selina Jones-May

Senior Director – Global Benefits, Global Mobility & Wellness, Lumentum Operations LLC

Selina Jones-May is the Senior Director - Global Benefits and Wellbeing at Lumentum Operations LLC.

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Christina Kelly

Reward Manager, Reward Gateway

My journey began in hospitality operations at McDonald’s UK&I. This experience equipped me with a deep understanding of the importance of the people experience at the heart of the workplace. The next chapter of my career focused on people, from Talent Management to Learning and Development and, most recently, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. This journey allowed me to witness the power of comprehensive reward and wellbeing programmes in growing, motivating and engaging a diverse workforce, leading to my next step into Reward and Benefits. At the heart of my passion lies the belief that a well-crafted Rewards and Benefits strategy can drive employee satisfaction and boost success and the overall customer experience. I most recently joined Reward Gateway as part of their mission to make the world a better place to work.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-k-1023b442/

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Clare Kidd

Head of Strategic Reward, Currys

Clare Kidd is the Head of Strategic Reward at Currys.

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David Kirk

Growth Leader, Technology, Aon

David Kirk leads Aon's Employee Technology Growth and a team of strategic consultants who advise across all health and broader human capital solutions.  

With approaching 15 years of experience in new category design technology businesses, David joined Aon 1 year ago to bring the same approach to our enterprise technology capabilities. 

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Max Landry

Co-CEO, Peppy

Max Landry is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of digital health platform, Peppy.

Max has spent his career launching and building businesses. Before launching Peppy in 2018, he co-founded and served as Chief Executive of The Conversation. Prior to that he co-founded and served as Managing Director of Paperstone, one of the first online suppliers of office products.

Max is driven by his ambition to make personalised, expert-led health support available to everyone, regardless of job role or salary. Beyond work, he loves cooking, boxing and spending time with his young family.

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Stephanie Leung

Co-Founder and CEO, KareHero

Today, the UK workforce supports more adults over 65 than children under 15. As Co-founder & CEO of KareHero, Stephanie is dedicated to transforming how businesses assist employees with adult caregiving responsibilities. KareHero empowers companies to retain top talent by turning the chaos of elderly caregiving into a simple stress-free journey. KareHero excels in securing funding, tailoring care packages, and providing emergency & long term care support. Its care concierge solution has already helped employees acquire £400k+ in care funding and saved over 2000 employee hours in navigating care, reducing caregiver burnout and stress. Over the last 20+ years, Stephanie has held leadership roles in Forbes' top 20 private and public companies, most notably as part of Uber's EMEA leadership team, as DEI Co-Chair and Head of EMEA for Women@Uber. She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the board of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC, a FTSE100 company. Stephanie holds a Masters from Harvard and Cambridge, where she focused on the impact of the ageing population on the global economy.

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Aidan Lever

Research and Insight Director, REBA

Aidan Lever is the Research and Insight Director at REBA.

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Dawn Lewis

Content Editor, REBA

Dawn is REBA’s content editor and she's working alongside Maggie to fill the website with the articles, insights and interviews that REBA members want to read. She's been working in the HR world for more than 10 years, having previously been part of the editorial team at Pay & Benefits magazine.

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Sarah Long

Head of New Business, WEALTH at work

Sarah joined WEALTH at work in 2021 and heads up the new business team.  Sarah has extensive experience in both broad based and executive compensation plans on an international level and has over 20 years’ experience in the equity plans/employee benefits market.  She is passionate about all aspects of wellbeing in the workplace and in particular financial wellbeing to help improve people’s lives.  A keen runner having participated in many marathons and is proud to have raised over £28,000 for breast cancer charities.  In her spare time Sarah is also a Rugbytots coach.

Sarah Long | LinkedIn

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Matt Macri-Waller

Founder & CEO, Benefex

Matt is a global thought leader and Founder & CEO of Benefex, the award-winning global employee experience provider. Matt’s vision is now impacting the lives of millions of people at work every day, but he also believes we’re just getting started. Matt believes that no one comes to work to do a bad job, or be actively disengaged, and he's helped hundreds of organisations understand their employee engagement, working with them to design and deliver an employee experience which enables them to achieve their strategy. His mission is simple: Everyone deserves to have an exceptional employee experience, every day. Matt is part of the Advisory Board for KPMG’s Global Fintech 100 business, and for Salary Finance. He is also a Barclays Entrepreneur Ambassador and Advisor. He’s been nominated as a ‘Business Hero’ by The Times, and secured a place within the Reward100 most influential leaders in the Industry. Plus, he has a 99% CEO approval rating on Glassdoor.

Matt Macri-Waller | LinkedIn

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Stuart Marlow

Senior Director - Total Rewards, HR Data & Analytics, Avis Budget Group Inc

Stuart Marlow is a Senior Director - Total Rewards, HR Data & Analytics at Avis Budget Group.

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Graham Meinke

Chief Product & Innovation Officer, Zest

Graham, a seasoned product and innovation leader, boasts over a decade of experience leading pioneering products and services. As the Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Zest, Graham leads the teams responsible for designing and developing Zest’s market-leading employee proposition platform. His unwavering passion lies in creating workplaces where individuals thrive, feel valued, and unlock their full potential—a vision that directly impacts employee productivity, engagement, and overall business success. With a profound belief in the power of data, Graham champions informed decision-making and strategic evolution.

Graham Meinke | LinkedIn

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahammeinke/

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Amol Mhatre

Global Head of Intellectual Capital, Research and Innovation for Health, Wealth, Career (HWC), WTW

Amol has extensive experience in helping global companies develop and implement their people strategies.

Amol is responsible for managing WTW’s Health, Wealth, Career innovation and research agenda and shaping cross-business solutions to effectively address current and emerging needs of organizations around design, financing, delivery and governance of people strategies.

Amol routinely speaks with HR and finance leaders responsible for human capital and risk decisions at large global organisations and is often invited by companies to facilitate cross-functional workshops.

For over 25 years, Amol has worked in the US, the Netherlands and the UK in various leadership and strategy roles for international consultancies.

Amol earned an M.A. and a B.Sc. in mathematics. He was a university lecturer of mathematics for several years prior to joining his current profession.

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Chris Morrison

Head of Reward, Menzies Aviation

Chris Morrison is the Head of Reward at Menzies Aviation.

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Michaela O'Reilly

Head of Reward & HR Analytics , Ipsos

Michaela has been head of HR and reward analytics at Ipsos Mori since 2019, having joined the polling company as reward manager in 2016. Her responsibilities include leading total reward strategies, benchmarking and compensation structures.

Prior to this, she was UK pensions manager for American Express and has held pensions roles at Friends First Assurance and Davy.

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Jonathan Parr

MD, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Jonathan Parr–MD, Performance, Reward and Mobility at SMBC Group. Over 25 years ofHR delivery in financial and professional services including Deloitte, ING and Nomura.Global experience in retail, wholesale and investment management with deep technicalexpertise in performance and reward policy design for board, executive and all employeepopulations, reward regulations, RemCo and reward governance including mergers andacquisitions, benefit plan design, change and communications

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Ketan Patel

Head of APAC and EMEA Benefits, Haleon

Ketan is the Head of Benefits for APAC and EMEA at Haleon. He and his team are responsible managing benefits strategy and benefits delivery across 60+ markets.   Over the past 12 years, Ketan has worked in both the Benefit consultancy and in-house Benefits areas, allowing him to bring a different prospective in evolving the benefits design at Haleon.

He is a proud  member of the REBA Advisory Board.

Haleon is the largest consumer healthcare business in the world, Haleon purpose is to deliver better everyday health with humanity.

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Tim Perkins

Co-Founder & CEO, nudge Global

With over 18 years’ experience in HR and reward, Tim has been at the forefront of innovation in the industry. Prior to nudge, Tim was part of the team at Thomsons Online Benefits (now Darwin), the global benefits platform that brought employee benefits online. In his time at Thomsons, Time worked with HR and reward leaders from the world’s leading companies to share marketing-leading employee benefit strategies.

In the space of just three months in 2012, the UK saw not one, but two once-in-a-generation legislative changes hit the world of personal finance. The first Auto enrolment changed the pay and savings of over 10m people, and the second removed access to financial advice for 20m at exactly the same time they most needed it. Tim, alongside nudge co-founder Jeremy Beament, recognizes that people have an unprecedented level of responsibility for their money, but are lacking confidence and knowledge.

People are crying out of help and that’s where the idea of nudge was born – a market-leading, global financial wellbeing platform filling the void in financial education. nudge has grown rapidly, supporting almost half a million people to improve their financial wellbeing and create brighter financial futures for themselves and those they love.

Tim Perkins | LinkedIn

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Dr Mridula Pore

Co-Founder, Peppy

Mridula is Co-founder of Peppy (www.peppy.health). She is passionate about making healthcare more affordable and accessible. Despite spending her career in healthcare, Mridula is an engineer by training, studying first at Cambridge, before spending several years at MIT on a PhD/ MBA programme. She was previously an engagement manager at McKinsey and a business unit head at Sandoz (a Novartis company) where she delighted in disturbing the established markets of originator pharma companies. She lives in West London with her husband and two young children

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Catherine Ritchie

Senior Wellbeing and People Experience Manager, Clifford Chance

Catherine Ritchie is Senior Wellbeing and People Experience Manager at global law firm Clifford Chance. A key member of the firm's HR team, her focus is on driving forward the strategic and programmatic elements across all locations, but with specific responsibility for the UK and Middle East. Since 2018, Catherine has been developing people-first strategies to promote wellbeing and positive experiences across market-leading businesses. In 2023 she was recognised for her work by Make a Difference (Best Multinational Workplace Wellbeing Programme). Her training in marketing combined with her rich experience means her work achieves impact across diverse populations.

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Samantha Sergent

Director, International Benefits, Microsoft

Samantha Sergent is the Director of International Benefits at Microsoft, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping benefit programs & experience for employees and their families in over one hundred countries.

With a 13-year tenure at Microsoft, Samantha has traversed a multifaceted career path, spanning a diverse set of roles in both HR Shared Services and Total Rewards. Her career has been characterized by a commitment to transformation and operational excellence. Samantha's passion for innovation and her focus on driving efficiency have consistently propelled her to new heights within the organization.

Samantha’s career took a turn six years ago when she shifted her focus to employee benefits. Since that pivotal move, every day has been a new challenge, an opportunity for fresh insights, and an adventure that spans across regions, countries, and markets.

In 2020, Samantha embarked on another exciting chapter in her life when she relocated to the UK, a bold decision made during the tumultuous year. Together with her husband and their two children, Samantha continues to embrace change, learning, and growth.

Samantha is a believer in the power of networking and knowledge-sharing within the professional community. She is grateful for the continued learning and engagement that organizations like REBA provide to benefit professionals. Today, she eagerly anticipates the opportunity to connect with fellow professionals, share her insights, and learn from the diverse perspectives that make this community so vibrant and dynamic.

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Nikki Severs

Group Reward Director, BBC

Nikki Severs is the Group Reward Director at BBC.

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Yasemin Sezgin

VP Total Rewards, Pixel United

Yasemin Sezgin is the VP Total Rewards at Pixel United.

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Mirka Slater

EMEA Benefits Team Lead, Meta

Mirka Slater started out in banking, but career goals changed after joining the reward team at Merrill Lynch 17 years ago. She has been working at Meta/Facebook since 2017 and is currently the EMEA Benefits Team Lead. 

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Isha Smith

Global Head of Total Rewards, SoundCloud

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Gemma Stokes

Head of Global Benefits and Recognition, Avanade

Gemma is an experienced HR Leader with over 15 years’ experience mostly in the Professional services industry. Gemma is currently the Global Head of Benefits, Employee Policies and Recognition at Avanade.  She and her team are responsible for driving the Global Benefits and Recognition Strategies across 26 countries.

Gemma is passionate about creating a people first approach to benefits and recognition.

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital, cloud and advisory services, industry solutions and design-led experiences across the Microsoft ecosystem. Every day, our 59,000 professionals in 26 countries make a genuine human impact for our clients, their employees and their customers.
 

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Kathleen Vanoppen

Senior Global Compensation Program Manager, Medtronic

Kathleen Vanoppen is the Senior Global Compensation Program Manager at Medtronic.

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Dan Waller

Global Head of Reward, LRQA

Dan Waller is the Global Head of Reward at LRQA.

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Kirsten Watts

Associate, Barnett Waddingham

Kirsten Watts is an Associate at Barnett Waddingham.

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Lisa Whelpdale

President of Total Rewards, Wood

An experienced reward professional, Lisa’s 30 year career has spanned the full spectrum of reward in both a consulting and in-house capacity in major multinational organisations. Operating at Director level, Lisa has successfully led teams in developing innovative performance and reward strategies that directly underpin the delivery of people and business strategies.

Most recently, Lisa was Group Reward Director at Currys where she had responsibility for overseeing all aspects of employee rewards, pensions, benefits and wellbeing for UK&I. Lisa held a similar role at Imperial Brands where she joined from PwC where she was a Director in PwC’s HR consulting practice. Lisa has also held senior leadership roles at Shell where she had various global roles in reward and global mobility and more broadly in divestment and acquisition transitions.

Lisa lives in Bath and likes nothing more than taking out her three golden retrievers and golden doodle for long walks in the countryside.

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Phil Williams

Head of Employee Programmes, BI WORLDWIDE

With more than 25 years’ experience in the engagement industry and a co-founder of one of the first specialist agencies in the field of digital engagement programmes, Phil brings a passionate and experienced perspective to all the global businesses he works with. 

As Head of Employee Programmes at BI WORLDWIDE, he leads the design and delivery of global employee engagement programmes emanating from the EMEA region. In the last few years, he has overseen the implementation of several global programmes, reaching half a million employees in over 100 countries for some of the world’s biggest companies across sectors including Banking, Pharmaceutical, Technology and Professional Services. 

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Justine Woolf

Director of Consulting, Innecto Reward Consulting (part of the Personal Group family)

Justine Woolf heads up Innecto’s client-facing services in her role as Director of Consulting.

She has a strong reputation for delivering commercially focused reward and recognition programmes for clients that improve employee motivation and engagement, positively impacting the bottom line. Justine draws on more than 25 years of experience in pay and reward, both as a consultant and in in-house reward roles. She has successfully managed and implemented challenging reward agendas for a huge variety of clients, and her natural skill at building and developing strong client relationships is evidenced by the number of clients who return to work with Justine and Innecto year after year.

In 2021 & 2022 Reward Strategy recognised Justine as one of The Reward 300, an index of the industry’s most important influencers and decision-makers. As a recognised thought leader and commentator on reward, she is frequently asked for her opinion and comment by the media.

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