12TH ANNUAL

Dr. Sujaya Banerjee has been a Human Resources professional for over 22 years and has transformed the HR functions in several leading organizations during her career. She is an OD professional par- excellence having set up world class PMS and Talent Management programs and helped build Learning Organizations through her assignments at ADNOC, Lowe Lintas and Partners, British Gas and the Essar Group. Sujaya has been listed among the Top 40 HR professionals in Asia ,has won the Youth Icon Award for 2009 and the Contribution to the HR Community Award in 2012, besides bringing several international accolades to India- the Learning Elite Award – CLO USA, Learning in Practice Award – CLO USA, Best Project Implementation in Asia- SuccessFactors and Best Business Adoption Award- SuccessFactors.
She has presented White Papers at leading conferences at GE’s John F. Welch Leadership Center (Crotonville), at the CLO Summit-Harvard Business School, ASTD, SkillSoft Perspectives and recently at SuccessConnect Sydney. She is a sought after speaker and thought leader and is a regular contributor to the Human Capital Magazine.
Sujaya is a TEDx speaker and leads the Learning & OD Roundtable- a forum for practitioners which has a worldwide membership of over 1600 Learning & OD professionals. The L&OD Roundtable enables capability building of Learning professionals and helps member organizations become Learning Organizations.

Katharina is an internationally recognised business communicator with proven delivery of effective global communication strategies and programmes, and has Lean Sigma qualifications for process and performance improvement.

Previous roles include Head of Internal Communications & Engagement at ABB, Head of Employee & Executive Communications at Zurich Insurance, Head of Internal Communications at Rio Tinto, Head of Global Internal and Management Communications at Shell, Head of Global Internal Communications at AstraZeneca, Corporate Communications Lead at GE Capital EEF and Corporate Communications Manager at Corange/Boehringer Mannheim. Katharina has worked in Nigeria, Hong Kong, the UK, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Howard co-founded True, a business set up to help organisations build winning cultures through maximising the potential of their people in early 2023.

Before True, Howard spent much of his career in senior in house communications and engagement roles at businesses such as Ernst & Young, GSK and latterly Johnson Matthey.

Over the past five and a half years, together with colleague Mike Pounsford and Kevin Ruck, Howard has led work focused on how organisations listen. Following four ground-breaking reports, a book, entitled “Leading the Listening Organisation” was published by Routledge in December 2023.

Howard was President of the UK chapter of International Association of Business Communicators for two years (2019-21), and Chairman of Wealdstone Football Club (2007-16).

Meet Simona, a dynamic communications professional with 15 years of experience in the energy management and automation industry at Schneider Electric. She's navigated the global and local realms of the €36 billion giant, honing her expertise in Internal and External Communications, People Development, and Change Management. Together with a dedicated team of leaders, she drives the employee and managerial communications strategy and channels while overseeing global functions' internal and external communications. Outside of work, Simona's passions include traveling and the arts.

Nicole Bearne has spent the last 25 years in the fast-paced world of Formula One motor racing.
Along the way, she has contributed to winning nine Constructors’ and eight Drivers’ World Championships. Her F1 experience spans executive and technical operations, internal communications and employee engagement. She holds a CIPR Diploma in Internal Communications and a Master’s degree in Organisational Behaviour. Nicole brings a blend of robust academic theory
and extensive real-world experience to building high-performing, people-centric organisations.
Nicole also speaks fluent Russian and spent several years living in the former Soviet Union.