Polly McMaster is co-founder and CEO of The Fold, an award-winning British brand focused on creating workwear that inspires women to feel confident and ‘put-together’ every day. 

Her career journey is an inspiring one – possessing both a PhD in molecular biology from Cambridge University as well as an MBA from London Business School, along the way Polly has also worked in healthcare consulting and private equity in the healthcare industry.

On pivoting into fashion, with a desire to stand out for the right reasons and feel confident in what she was wearing, Polly spotted a gap in the market, and the rest in history!

Setting a new standard for modern, professional workwear, The Fold has grown to enormous heights, now with a flagship store in Chelsea, the company has also successfully expanded into international markets, made great advances in sustainability, not to mention navigating a global pandemic…

Polly was named as one of the Kindness and Leadership 50 Leading Lights, part of the Women of the Future Programme, in 2023.

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The Kindness and Leadership 50 Leading Lights lists have been revealed! Head to our website to find out more.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

For more information on The Fold London: Modern, Luxury Womenswear - click here.

Currently Head of Communications for EMEA and APAC at commercetools, the leading provider of composable commerce, interestingly that’s not how it all started for Serena Chaudhry Pandey.

Serena also has over a decade-long experience as a war journalist under her belt, including reporting on events as varied as the conflict in Iraq to the death of Nelson Mandela; with Serena’s expertise in global affairs and storytelling always shining through.

Amongst her many journalistic achievements, Serena led the launch of Reuters’ groundbreaking digital product, Africa Journal, and produced several flagship TV programmes for BBC News.

In 2020, recognising the transformative power of technology, Serena made a bold transition into the tech industry and joined AI-company Dataminr, leading a team training AI models for real-time dissemination.

Serena was Highly Commended at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, part of the Women of the Future Programme, in 2022.

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The shortlists for this year’s Women of the Future Awards UK and Southeast Asia have been revealed! To view our finalists and find out more about how to attend the ceremony on Wednesday November 13th 2024, please visit our awards website.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Ayesha Ofori is the founder and CEO of Propelle, a pioneering investment platform designed to empower women to achieve financial independence.

As a former Executive Director and Private Wealth Adviser at Goldman Sachs, Ayesha personally managed over £500 million in client assets, working closely with ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Motivated by a desire to bridge the gender investment gap and make investing more accessible to women, Ayesha left her successful career in traditional finance to launch Propelle.

With an MBA from London Business School and a master’s degree in physics from Imperial College London, Ayesha combines deep financial expertise with a passion for helping women build wealth and securing their financial futures.

Ayesha was the recipient of a Women of the Future Award in the Real Estate, Infrastructure and Construction category in 2019.

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The shortlists for this year’s Women of the Future Awards UK and Southeast Asia have been revealed! To view our finalists and find out more about how to attend the ceremony on Wednesday November 13th 2024, please visit our awards website.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

For more information on Propelle, the UK's first investment platform for women, please visit: https://propelle.io/

PLEASE NOTE THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED IN MARCH 2024

Jenny Brown is Headmistress at City of London School for Girls.

Joining the school in 2019, Jenny has focused much of her headship around the notion of ‘finding space to pioneer’ – central to which is the idea of carving out more space for reflection and wellbeing.

The position is Jenny’s second headship role; she spent previously spent five years as head of St. Alban’s High School for Girls, an independent day school for pupils aged 4 to 18.

Prior to this Jenny worked in several leading schools, including South Hampstead High School and St. Paul’s Girls’ School, where she was Director of the sixth form.

Also an identical twin with a passion for reading, theatre-going and wild swimming, Jenny featured on the Kindness in Leadership 50 Leading Lights List, part of the Women of the Future Programme, in 2023.

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This year's Kindness in Leadership 50 Leading Lights List will be published live here on 25th September 2024, and feature in the Financial Times the week commencing 30th September.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

#LeadwithKindness #Kindnessrules #50LeadingLights #KindLeaders

Natasha Latiff is an international lawyer and expert on gender equality and human rights.

With over 15 years of grassroots and high-level experience in policies and programming on ESG and human rights in a globalised economy, Natasha has advised and run projects for the likes of the United Nations, European Union, and US Agency for International Development.

Natasha set-up the Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights (SAHR) while reading law at the University of Warwick; the initiative has gone on to gain recognition from leaders such as former President Bill Clinton and former UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve.

Natasha’s work predominantly focuses on sexual crimes – and she has supported lawyers seeking justice for hundreds of survivors of atrocities, and spearheaded reform. She has made it her mission to help survivors of war, conflict, violence and trauma.

Natasha was the recipient of the Mentor Award at the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia in 2023, with the judges particularly struck by her humility and perseverance.

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The WOMEN OF THE FUTURE AWARDS SOUTHEAST ASIA 2024 are now open! Click here to find out more.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Tina Afiqah is an author and creative therapist.

Tina is also the co-founder of ParaBelle Studios, a homegrown business in her native Brunei, with the aim of bridging generations to celebrate heritage through its contemporary collections of stories and illustrations.

Tina was awarded the Women of the Future Southeast Asia Arts and Culture Award in 2023. The Award was in recognition of her innate ability and motivation to harness her profound knowledge and experience, to empower individuals in crafting a diverse array of literary works, ranging from preserving the rich tapestry of traditional Bruneian folklore to heart-warming children's books.

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The WOMEN OF THE FUTURE AWARDS SOUTHEAST ASIA 2024 are now open! Click here to find out more.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Lily Elsner is the co-founder and CEO of Jack Fertility, a postal male fertility test company revolutionising male reproductive healthcare, and on a mission to make sperm testing as easy as possible.

A Wellesley College graduate, Lily went on to earn an MBA from Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and is now an entrepreneur whose career has spanned biotech, start-ups, as well as law and banking; consistently advising those at the most senior levels.

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The WOMEN OF THE FUTURE AWARDS 2024 are now open! Click here to find out more.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Lesley Woods’ 20-year career in public relations has taken her around the world. Adeptly combining her Chief Communications Officer Ministry of Defence ‘day job’ with serving as a Squadron Leader in the RAF Media Reserves, Lesley has worked with international partners and film industry collaborators to shine a light on the work of her military colleagues.

As a serving senior Royal Air Force Reserve Media Officer, her operational experience equips her with unique perspectives that informs her civil service role, where she leads campaigns for the MOD Communications Directorate.

Lesley’s keynote speeches and masterclasses cover everything from what climbing a tree for Tom Cruise taught her about leadership, to why saving a TV documentary crew from a burning tent in Afghanistan made her a better communicator.

A compelling organisational storyteller, in creating and curating reflections of her own experiences on a broad range of topics, Lesley is quite remarkable in lending a voice to those who serve.

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Tickets for the WOMEN OF THE FUTURE ASIA PACIFIC VIRTUAL SUMMIT are available now!

2024 AGENDA: Human leadership in an AI world

This year, across a week-long festival, we will focus on the world’s transition to an era of powerful, new technologies and what this will mean for the next generation of leaders. What will leadership look like in an era of significant artificial intelligence, virtual collaboration and the next iteration of the internet? How will this technological change affect our work as leaders, our teams and our communities? Will leadership skills change and if so, which skills will become most valuable?

Click here for more details.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Dr Omnia El Omrani is a Climate and Health Junior Policy Fellow at Imperial College London.

She was the first official Youth Envoy for the President of COP27 and the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then was appointed as Health Envoy for the 28th UN Climate Conference (COP28).

Omnia has attended the last five UN Climate Change Conferences in Katowice, Madrid, Glasgow, Sharm El Sheikh, and Dubai representing more than 1.3 million medical students worldwide in the International Federation of Medical Students' Association (IFMSA), and in Egypt representing youth globally.

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The WOMEN OF THE FUTURE 50 RISING STARS IN ESG NOMINATIONS are closing soon! Click here for more details.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk

Peter Brown is Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Global People and Organisation Leader, managing operations across 157 countries with a workforce practice of over 10,500 professionals.

He joined PwC UK as a partner in September 2010 having previously held senior roles at large professional services organisations.

With over 25 years’ experience as a Workforce and HR transformation expert, Peter is committed to working with large multinational organisations to help them tackle their staffing and people challenges.

Prior to working in professional services, Peter was in the Royal Air Force and continues to support them as a Trustee of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, with a focus on inspiring STEM skills in young people.

Peter received an MBE for his services to the Royal Air Force in 1999, and was named in the top 25 Global Human Capital consultants in 2023; he also featured on the top 50 Kindness in Leadership list the same year.

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The KINDNESS & LEADERSHIP 50 LEADING LIGHTS NOMINATIONS are closing soon! Click here for more details.

For more information on the Women of the Future Programme Awards and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk