Events

We run quarterly events exclusive for Charter signatories,
in addition to our public events.
At our quarterly events, we bring signatories together with subject matter experts to discuss one of the Charter goals; it is a valuable opportunity to learn from one another and progress with your business goals.

"Access to the Bristol Women in Business Charter events and community has allowed us to continue to develop our understanding of good practice, to hold conversations with clients and other stakeholders about what that means and what our priorities are."

BURGES SALMON, PROGRESS REPORT

OUR NEXT EVENT

Spotlight on Goal 2 - A commitment to increase the numbers of women at senior
levels and on the board*
Monday 27th November, Lunchtime (Online Event)

Charter Goal 2 : a commitment to increase the numbers of women at senior levels and on boards.
At this event we'll hear from some of our Signatories to explore how they have managed to make progress against this goal.

Guest Speaker: Olaide Oboh, Executive Director, Socius

Olaide is a strategic thinker and problem-solver with a 15-year record of successful delivery in public and private sector organisations. With a degree in Sociology, Olaide is fascinated by how people engage with one another, with physical spaces and society in general; and this curiosity drives her.

Guest Speaker: Laura Calcott, Human Resources Business Partner, National Composites Centre

Laura has been a HR generalist for 14 years, working for Professional Services and Engineering organisations. Most recently she has been leading in Equality Diversity and Inclusion, with a passion for driving inclusive culture

Guest Speaker: Charlotte Whitaker, Partner, Dispute Resolution team, Burges Salmon. Charlotte has over 13 years experience in advising on large scale investigations, inquests and public inquiries. Charlotte has a people focussed approach and is recognised as a “Next Generation Partner” in Legal 500 for Health and Safety in both the South West and London and “Up and Coming” in Chambers for Public Inquiry work. Charlotte feels passionately that law firms need to inspire those at the start of their career so that talent is not lost to “this isn’t possible”. Charlotte is a member of Burges Salmon’s BBalanced network and has used the platform to share her experiences of life as a female solicitor with a young family.

This is a signatory only event, please bring your teams along to this online event, sign up for tickets here

future EVENTs

Planned future events for 2023/2024 are:

Attracting and Retaining Women in Digital and Tech Roles**
Tuesday 20th February, Breakfast Event (Face to Face)

*Signatory Exclusive Event
**Paid for Event (free for Signatories)

our recent eventS

PUBLIC EVENT - WOMEN IN BUSINESS SERIES, LAUNCH EVENT
RECRUITING FOR DIFFERENCE - 20th Sept 23

Panel one: Professional panel of experts on recruiting for difference

Panel Two - Those with lived experience of intersectionality and who have experienced barriers to the workplace
Representatives from: University of Bristol, Babbasa, TLT, MOD, Bristol City Council, Hargreaves Lansdown, Burges Salmon.

Our lived experience panel shared their advice and insight into areas including: race & ethnicity, gender, disability, LGBTQ+, neurodiversity.

Annual impact - Public event - April 2022

In April, we launched our Annual Impact Report, with an event focusing on the amazing work carried out by the Charter and its Signatories in the past 12 months. Featuring an all male panel (a first at our events), we discussed the importance of allyship in addressing gender equality.

Recruiting for Difference - not just the right thing to do, but makes business sense." Nina Searle from our hosts TLT LLP shared advice that has helped TLT to accelerate the pace of change business on their gender equality journey.
Sangeetha Wynter from Babbasa shared the disappointing statistic that #Bristol is the 7th worst city in the country for racial equality.
Dr Caroline McKinnon from University of Bristol joined our professional panel. Caroline is working with staff at the university to improve the diagnosis rate and offer them the support that they need, whilst recognising that no two people are the same.
Karen Cooke from Hargreaves Lansdown has been doing some great work with The Women's Work Lab to help women who have been on benefits long term back into the workplace. She joined our Professional Panel to share some insights on how the scheme has worked.
Mel Rodrigues from Gritty Talent, shared some of her experience of working in the TV industry. Organisations must do more to not only attract diverse talent, but also to remove microaggressions and create a culture where individuals can thrive.

Signatory exclusive event - goal one
flexible and part time working

We discussed how we can promote part-time and flexible working successfully within our Signatories businesses. We were joined by 3 speakers talk through the challenges, experience and opportunities for women who want to work flexibly and/or in reduced hours roles - particuarly in senior roles.

Susan Durbin - Professor of Employment Studies/Human Resource Management, UWE
Harriet Kirkpatrick Co founder, TRIA
Hannah Newmarch Deputy Director LCI, UWE

public event - october 2022
The Untapped talent pool

At our first face to face public event after the pandemic, we heard from existing Charter signatories and other guest speakers about how to address the gender bias in the workforce and how to make your business a truly gender equal work place.

past events

HOW to keep women moving in their careers

Charter Signatories came together to discuss Goal 4: Encouraging and supporting female employees in lower paid and lower skilled roles to progress throughout the organisation. With expert speakers:

Ellie Wintersgill, Head of Department, City of Bristol Collge
Zahid Gill, Head of Department of Higher Education, City of Bristol College
Serrie Chapman, The Women's Tech Hub

SUPPORTING WOMEN IN LOWER PAID AND OCCUPATIONS TO EXCEL

We focused on the 4th Charter goal: "Encouraging and supporting female employees in lower paid and lower skilled occupations to progress". To learn more about supporting your female employees to boost your progress as an organisation.
With expert speakers:
Camilla Rigby, founder of The Women's Work Lab CIC.
Robert Halton, Chief People Officer at independent law firm. Burges Salmon.

ENABLING FLEXIBLE AND PART-TIME WORKING
IN SENIOR LEVEL ROLES

Covid19 has changed the term flexible working. On the 5th of May we came together to learn more about real flexible and part-time working benefitting your business. With expert speakers:

Kristal McNamara, Charter Ambassador and founder of HR change consultancy firm, WorkWell.
Katharine Finn, a senior audit partner at PwC's audit practice.

ELIMINATING BIAS FROM YOUR MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

Charter Signatories joined together virtually to share what works (and what doesn't!) when implementing unbiased processes.

We discussed our challenges and celebrate our successes! Members of the Charter community are making a real difference in this area and there was lots to share.

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