Gurnek was born into a Sikh family from the Punjab region and arrived in Britain at the age of 7 to grow up in London’s East End. He went on to obtain degrees and postgraduate qualifications, eventually being awarded a doctorate in psychology from Oxford University. He has coached business leaders in half of the FTSE 100 companies.

Kylie is a business psychologist, author and co-founder of NOUS. Research which provide provocative insights and opens minds was integral to her experience of growing up in Australia, and the challenges of being an outsider herself. She coaches CEOs and senior leaders in a variety of global organisations and has consulted businesses extensively on issues of culture change, purpose driven leadership and strategic talent development. She is also passionate about the world of art and the critical way in which it impacts society.

Anita Kirpal is a psychologist who comes from a campaigning background, working with families suffering racial violence and women and children experiencing domestic violence. After a decade of community work and two decades in leadership consulting, she helps companies develop genuinely inclusive, purpose-driven leadership. She is a business psychologist and executive coach to FTSE 100 leaders.

Georgia is a business psychologist who is passionate about creating better alignment between business and society. Combining studies in psychology and human rights she started her career working in diversity and inclusion. She has worked for 20 years as a consultant and a coach to senior leaders globally to help them develop purpose driven teams and organisations.

Akal grew up in London and holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oxford respectively. At university, he was particularly interested in the evolution of the history of economic thought over time and the way in which behavioural economists added rigour to our understanding of individuals’ decision making. He is deeply interested in the psychological and economic forces that drive the political and corporate world and believes in offering perspectives which are supported empirically.

Rowenna Davis is a writer, teacher and community activist. She grew up in London where she got a lot of her politics from her multicultural state school in Cricklewood. She is now a councillor for her home ward of Waddon and serves as chair of scrutiny for Croydon.

Sadie is a researcher, with a degree in human geography from the University of Edinburgh and a masters in international development from the University of Amsterdam. Through her studies and work, she has cultivated a passionate interest in global issues of inequality and justice. She is motivated by a firm belief in the power of research to drive positive societal change.

Bryony is a creative freelancer, born and raised in London to first generation Ghanaian parents. She has a degree in theatrical costume and set design and has worked in the arts and entertainment industry for over 20 years. Her studies have informed her event curation, interior design and graphic design for our book, England our England.

Richard Hawkes is a leader in the charitable and international development sector with over 25 years’ experience in strategic leadership, innovative social finance and fundraising. As Chief Executive of the British Asian Trust, he drove significant growth and impact across South Asia. He has also held senior executive roles in organisations including Scope, VSO and Sense International. Richard began his leadership journey in student politics, where he developed a lifelong commitment to advocacy and social change. He has also served as a trustee and board member for organisations including UNICEF UK, Motivation and the World Humanitarian Forum.

Matt Nicholls is an experienced strategist, entrepreneur and digital transformation leader whose career spans over three decades across media, communications, technology and innovation. He has founded and led successful consultancies and been instrumental in helping organisations unlock sustainable growth through strategic insight, new venture development and emerging technologies, working with global blue-chip clients and C-suite leadership teams.

Catherine Roche is the Chief Executive of Place2Be. She began her career in teaching before completing an MBA and joining KPMG. Her pro bono support for Place2Be from 1996 inspired her to join the charity as Chief Operating Officer in 2003 and then Deputy CEO. In 2014 she became Chief Executive and has led the organisation’s development since then. Catherine served on the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network Board for six years from 2019. She is also a school governor of her local secondary school and a non-Executive Director of GoodCorporation.

Coupe held various roles in British retail food chains including Unilever, Tesco, Dales Discount, Asda and Iceland. He joined Sainsbury’s in 2004 as trading director and in 2007 was appointed a main board director. In 2010 he was promoted to group commercial director and has been credited with the chain’s success in e-commerce and creating the company’s ‘Brand Match’ campaign.

Jonathan Portes is a Senior Fellow of ‘UK in a Changing Europe’, a research initiative of the Economic and Social Research Council. His work focuses on immigration and labour mobility, and the economic implications of Brexit. After studying at Oxford and Princeton University, Portes began his career at HM Treasury, before serving as Chief Economist at the Department for Work and Pensions, Chief Economist at the Cabinet Office and Director of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. Portes writes frequently for the national and international press. His most recent book was “What do we know about immigration”.

Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over 17 years he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including the Laurence Olivier Award, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, and more.

André Lacroix is an experienced Chief Executive with a strong track record of delivering long-term growth strategies and shareholder value with global companies across multiple industries. André was previously Group Chief Executive of Inchcape PLC from 2005 to 2015 and prior to this he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euro Disney S.C.A. From 1996 to 2003 he was the President of Burger King International, previously part of Diageo.

Paul Roseby is a broadcaster and Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. In over 10 years at the helm of the world’s leading youth theatre he has commissioned over 100 plays, pioneered the NYT REP Company and a ground-breaking international cultural exchange programme, and directed the London 2012 Team Welcome Ceremonies. Paul has also written and presented a number of shows on Radio 4 and presented TVs shows on Channel 5, UKTV and the BBC.

Andrew Cooper is founder of the London-based research and strategy company Populus, where he works with a wide range of major UK and international business clients as well as political campaigns. From 2011-2013 he was Prime Minister David Cameron’s Director of Strategy in 10 Downing Street. He is a frequent commentator on UK and global politics on broadcast media and in print, and is a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics and St Antony’s College Oxford. Since 2014 he has been a member of the House of Lords as Lord Cooper of Windrush.

Miles Hewstone is a leading social psychologist who is well known for his work on social relations. He is a former editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology, and co-founding editor of the European Review of Social Psychology. He is a past recipient of the British Psychological Society’s Spearman Medal (1987), and its Presidents’ Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge (2001).

Fiona has over 25 years’ experience pioneering innovation in the highly-disrupted and competitive media sector. She was a board director of Time Inc. (UK) for 10 years, and most recently Group Managing Director of Time Inc. (UK) Lifestyle, the largest women’s media portfolio in Britain, with an audience reach of 60%. She has led some of the UK’s most visible media names including Wallpaper*, Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens, Woman & Home, Marie Claire, Woman’s Weekly, Country Life and has extensive experience across luxury, fashion & beauty, interior design, health & wellbeing, travel, food, entertainment and technology.

Ian is a Partner in Fragomen’s London office where he focuses on UK immigration, UK Government Strategies Practice and Fragomen’s Strategic Migration Forum. Before joining Fragomen, Ian spent eight years at the Home Office working on contentious migration and criminal justice policies. In January 2009, Ian took responsibility for the development and oversight of the UK’s economic migration policy. His last role as a civil servant saw him play a central role in the design and implementation of the UK’s much-debated policy placing a cap on economic migrants.

Tom Baldwin has worked as Assistant Editor of The Times and Director of Communications for the Labour Party. He is the author of Ctrl Alt Delete: how the media and politics crashed our democracy.