PowerWomen Speak

Ingvild Næss is the CIO of Schibsted and CEO of E-Tech AB delivering IT services across Schibstead. She is on the Board of Komplett ASA, an electronic consumer goods company, and Neddy AS, an ed-tech startup. Ingvild was named female media leader of the year in Norway 2023. She chairs the board of Feltgis, a startup focused on using data in forestry. Ingvild used to chair the Norwegian Media Businesses Association's data and privacy committee. Furthermore, she was appointed as a member of the Norwegian government's privacy commission. She is also a member of the board on the Polytechnic society. Ingivild is married with two children and loves running.

Sarah Friar, former CEO of Nextdoor, soon to be the CFO of OpenAI, led the company to nearly triple its reach to over 92M Neighbors in 335,000 neighborhoods worldwide. Previously, as CFO at Square, she oversaw its IPO and $30 billion market cap increase. Her prior experience spans Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Salesforce. Currently a Board Member of Walmart and Consensys, she's also known for her Board contributions to Slack Technologies and New Relic. A Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and on the Advisory Boards of Operation HOPE, the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and Co-Chair of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Sarah is committed to mentorship, founding LadiesWhoLaunch.org. Raised in Northern Ireland, she holds degrees from Oxford and Stanford, earning an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for entrepreneurship.

Joanna Jensen is the founder of the UK’s number one baby and child personal care brand, Childs Farm, having created the brand in 2010 as a result of her own daughter's sensitive and eczema prone skin.  In March 2022, Jensen sold Childs Farm for £40m to PZ Cussons Plc Jensen is a keen supporter of other female entrepreneurs.  She is a mentor to a number of British SMEs through Imperial College’s mentoring programme and is a leading advocate of supporting female founded businesses.  She works on the advisory board of Buy Women Built (BWB) driving awareness of female founded brands to UK consumers and investors.   Joanna is also a Sustainability advisor to The British Beauty Council. Childs Farm is the market leader in sustainability, and recently became a certified B Corp.

Today we welcome Ruba Borno VP, Worldwide Channels & Alliances for Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this role, Ruba leads the AWS Partner Organization (APO), a global team responsible for recruiting, enabling, buying and selling with over 100,000 companies in more than 150 countries. Ruba also leads AWS Marketplace where AWS partners can sell their services and solutions to customers.

Prior to joining AWS, Ruba held several leadership positions over the course of her six-year tenure with Cisco, a leader in IP-based networking technologies: Vice President, Growth Initiatives and Chief of Staff to the CEO; Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Managed Services (2018-2020); and SVP and General Manager of Cisco’s Global Customer Experience (CX) Centers (2020-2021)

Before Cisco, Ruba was a principal with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a leader in BCG’s Technology, Media, & Telecommunications, and People & Organization practices. She is a member of The Forum of Young Global Leaders, an organization that seeks to drive public-private cooperation in the global public interest in alignment with the World Economic Forum. She also previously served on the Board of Directors at Experian.

Ruba holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Ann Cairns started her career as a research scientist and was the first woman to work offshore with British Gas. She moved into investment banking in her 30’s and rose up the ranks in Citibank – ExCo Citi Global Transaction Bank, CEO of ABN Amro Transaction Bank, CEO of Lehmann Holdings and was responsible for the restructuring (with Alvarez & Marsel).

After 15 years at Citi, she enjoyed a number of senior roles at other financial institutions before finishing her executive career as Executive Vice Chair at Mastercard. 

Ann believes that women should rise to the top of the corporate world in equal numbers to men and has chaired both the 30% Club and the Financial Alliance for Women. She was also the Chair ICE Clear Europe prior to her current boards. 

Today Ann is Chair of 2 commercial boards - CAB Payments and TMF, and 2 non-profits Moving Ahead (mentorship) and Stock MS, and the board of Lightrock, a PE Impact investor.

Lisa is Co-Head of Global Banking Coverage, alongside Gerry Keefe, responsible for a multi-billion- dollar business delivering tailored financial solutions to Corporate and Institutional clients worldwide through a comprehensive suite of services including liquidity and cash management, trade services, lending and structured finance. In addition, Lisa has global responsibility for the Institutional Client Group (ICG) and regional responsibility for Global Banking Europe.

Lisa joined HSBC in June 2021 from Wells Fargo where she served as Executive Vice President and Head of International. Over a 15-year career at Wells, Lisa was also Co-Head of Corporate & Investment Banking, head of both the Financial Institutions and Industrials groups, and the London-based CEO of Wells Fargo Securities International Limited, responsible for leading investment banking and capital markets activities in EMEA.

Lisa has over 30 years of institutional sales and marketing experience, and joined Wells Fargo through the predecessor firm, Wachovia, in 2005. Lisa spent eight years with Morgan Stanley Inc., where she was a director in leveraged finance, and was also the high-yield product manager for generalist sales. She also held roles at Toronto Dominion Securities and Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup).

Lisa has been recognised as one of Financial News’ Top Twenty Most Influential in Investment Banking.

Lisa earned her B.A. in economics and graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and participated in executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

Katherine Ainley is the CEO of Ericsson UK and Ireland, working alongside major mobile network operators and service providers to create world leading mobile networks and game-changing technology for millions of subscribers and enterprise partners. She is also a member of the leadership team for Ericsson Europe and Latin America.  Katherine joined Ericsson in February 2021 from BT where she held a number of senior executive positions for more than 10 years, including the roles of Managing Director of Ventures in Enterprise and CEO of Tikit, a then wholly owned subsidiary of BT. Her career has also included management and consultant roles with Lloyds TSB and Ernst & Young in transformation and customer experience.  Responsible for a team of more than 2,500 employees across the UK and Ireland, Katherine is leading Ericsson’s vision for 5G technology and deployment in the UK, focusing on supporting the business growth of network operators through continuous technology and product performance, enabling digitisation across new industries and delivering world-class connectivity for consumers.  Originally from Wigan in the North West but now living in South East London, Katherine has studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has two young daughters and is a passionate supporter of Diversity and Inclusion programmes at Ericsson. 

Alison Hutchinson CBE is the CEO of Pennies, an award-winning fintech charity making digital giving affordable, sustainable, and feel-good. She is also a Senior Independent Director at DFS plc, Yorkshire Building Society and Foresight Group Holdings Ltd. Alison was previously a Trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation, Non-Executive Director of Aviva Life Holdings UK and AIL (General & Health Insurance), subsidiary boards of Aviva Group plc, LV=, and of LMAX Exchange. In 2016, she was awarded a CBE for services to the economy and charities.   Prior to creating Pennies, Alison was CEO of Kensington Group plc, a role she took over as CEO of the specialist lender in March 2007. Alison led the turnaround of Kensington as the “credit crunch” took its grip globally leaving the financial markets with the worst liquidity crisis ever experienced. Key experiences include: the sale and delisting of Kensington Group to Investec plc, diversification of the funding model and a complete integration programme with Investec plc including a significant downsizing of the business. She joined Kensington in October 2004 as Managing Director to diversify the business into broader product segments and channels. Kensington moved into the FTSE250 after only 5 years of being in the market and was the first lender to win the Queens Award for innovation in recognition of the sustained growth and value they contributed to the specialist lending market.   Previously she was at Barclays, where she was Marketing & Communications Director for Barclaycard.  Other roles have included Chief Executive Officer of Barclays B2B, the Business Services subsidiary of Barclays Corporate Banking, as well as various global senior executive roles at IBM Corporation where she worked for 14 years working across the globe, running a European consortium of banks, and latterly leading the global business for ecommerce solutions for the financial services sector. She passionately believes in customer service and ensuring executives spend time in the business and at the coalface where the business really delivers.   Alison was educated at Strathclyde University where she graduated at 19 with a BSc in Technology and Business Studies.  She is married with three children and loves fresh air, exercise, and quality time with her family.

Today we welcome Tracy Watkinson who is a Chief Operating Officer and Transformation specialist who worked in the world's largest investment banks for over 20 years, alongside a Non Executive Director career. She is currently the COO of the Finance Function at NatWest Group, and Board member of NatWest Trustee & Depositary Services company. 

Tracy was awarded for her thought leadership in gender diversity receiving the Champion for Women Award at the Women in Banking & Finance Awards in 2018. 

And more recently she was a finalist in the WeQual EMEA Awards, recognising CEO-2 level women ready for the next level in FTSE100 companies.  

Today we welcome Tracy Watkinson, a Chief Operating Officer and Transformation specialist who worked in the world's largest investment banks for over 20 years, alongside a Non Executive Director career. She is currently the COO of the Finance Function at NatWest Group, and Board member of NatWest Trustee & Depositary Services company. 
Tracy was awarded for her thought leadership in gender diversity receiving the Champion for Women Award at the Women in Banking & Finance Awards in 2018. 
And more recently she was a finalist in the WeQual EMEA Awards, recognising CEO-2 level women ready for the next level in FTSE100 companies.