Speakers
Dr Colin Church
Chief Executive, Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining
Dr Colin Church is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the global network for the materials cycle. He is Chair of the Green Alliance-convened Circular Economy Task Force that aims to lead policy discussions with ambitious business thinking, and a member of the UK Government's Circular Economy Taskforce. He is a Trustee of CHEM Trust and a Board Member of the Materials Processing Institute and the Federation of European Materials Societies. Colin is also a member of various industry-academia advisory bodies and of the UK Department for Business and Trade's Critical Minerals Expert Committee. He is a Fellow of IOM3, a Chartered Environmentalist and a Chartered Resource and Waste Manager. In 2021 -2 he chaired the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy in Scotland; in 2023 he was the vice-chair of the Task & Finish Group on Critical Minerals Resilience for the UK Government. He was a Board member of the Society for the Environment 2019-2025.
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Previously, Colin was the CEO of CIWM, the professional body for resources and waste management. Before that, he spent 21 years in the UK Civil Service working in a range of areas including climate change, the theory and practice of regulation, and environmental protection including resource and waste management. He was also a non-executive director of WRAP, the waste reduction and resource efficiency body and the Carbon Trust, the carbon reduction body.
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Jen Baxter
Deputy Chief Executive, Chartered College of Teaching
Jen is the Deputy Chief Executive at the Chartered College of Teaching and is responsible for overseeing the charity’s operations. Her areas of responsibility include finance, governance, people and culture, legal, compliance, data protection and strategy development. She joined the Chartered College as Chief Operating Officer in its first year in 2017.
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Previously, Jen was Head of Strategy and Planning at Teach First, Head of Business Development and Strategy at CfBT (now Education Development Trust) and a Senior Consultant at Deloitte. She started off her career as a teacher as part of the inaugural Teach First 2003 cohort.
Louise Simpson
Executive Director, Institute of Chartered Foresters​
Louise is dedicated to elevating the professional status of Chartered Foresters and Arboriculturists among employers, decision-makers, the public, and individual professionals. They offer expert advice to key decision-makers and influencers.
With 20 years of experience, Louise excels in evidence gathering, policy development, strategy, campaigning, stakeholder engagement, fundraising, and people management.
Neeta Major
Group CFO, British Medical Association​
Neeta is Group Chief Financial Officer of the BMA and serves on the BMA, BMJ Group and BMA Investments Boards. She has held a variety of leadership roles working extensively across private and public sectors for 35 years. Neeta led the BMA as Co-CEO from 2022 to 2025 when membership grew by over 20%. During her tenure as Co-CEO she also served as Trustee of BMA Charities and is currently also a Trustee of BMA Foundation.
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Neeta is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, commencing her career at Coopers & Lybrand (Price Waterhouse Coopers).
Neeta has two grown up children – one recently qualifying as a doctor in the South of England and of course a BMA member. In her spare time Neeta enjoys listening to music and has recently decided to try and learn the guitar.
Fintan Hourihan
CEO, Irish Dental Association
Fintan Hourihan has served as chief executive of the Irish Dental Association since June 2008.
Fintan worked previously with the Irish Medical Organisation and the ASTI, representing doctors and teachers, and has over two decades of experiences in individual and collective representation and negotiations on behalf of teachers, doctors and dentists. He represents the IDA at the Council of European Dentists and the world dental federation (FDI) and has served as Honorary Chair of the Irish Inter Professional Association.
He is a graduate of the University of Limerick and University College, Dublin and has contributed to and produced an extensive range of publications and articles.
Ayça Donaghy
CEO, The Lighting Industry Association​​​
Ayça Donaghy is CEO of the Lighting Industry Association, the UK’s largest trade body for lighting. Appointed in October 2022 to modernise and transform the organisation, she brings fresh thinking from over 15 years in the electro-technical sector and an Executive MBA from London Business School.
Without prior association experience, she has delivered major change, including a full update of The LIA’s Articles and Bylaws to strengthen governance, alongside initiatives on skills, compliance, and sustainability. Recognised in 40 under 40 (2024) and the 2024 and 2025 Women in Trade Associations Powerlist, Ayça is passionate about driving innovation, sustainability, and influence across the sector.
Martin McTague OBE
Chair, Federation of Small Business​es
Prior to becoming National Chair in 2022, Martin served as Policy & Advocacy Chair since 2016, and has been a volunteer with FSB for more than 20 years. As National Chair, Martin is the elected leader of the organisation, chairs the Board of Directors and is focusing his term of office on creating major new FSB partnerships.
He was awarded an OBE for services to small businesses in the King’s New Year Honours List for 2024.
Martin served on the Government’s Low Pay Commission 2018-2023. In August 2023, he was appointed to the ACAS Council by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. He has been running his own business for 35 years and currently owns and manages three businesses, offering public policy, engineering and IT consultancy services.
Graham Watts OBE
Chief Executive, Construction Industry Council
Graham has served as Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Council since 1991, shaping policy and liaising with government and industry. He previously led the British Institute of Architectural Technologists. He chairs the Competence Steering Group following the Hackitt Review and is a director of several construction bodies. A former Olympic fencing team leader, he also writes on dance and chairs the Critics’ Circle Dance Section and National Dance Awards. He received an OBE in 2008 for services to construction and holds numerous honorary fellowships across built environment institutions.
Max Sugarman
Chief Executive, Intelligent Transport Systems​
Max is Chief Executive of Intelligent Transport Systems UK, the industry association for the transport technology industry. He manages the strategy and direction of the organisation, representing the sector to government and stakeholders and making the case for intelligent transport.
He has more than a decade of experience working in transport, innovation and communications. He has previously worked at the Catapult Network, where he supported the nine Catapult innovation centres on cross-cutting policy issues, and as Public Affairs & PR Director at the Railway Industry Association (RIA), the trade body for rail suppliers, where he led an award-winning communications function.
Mary Suphi
Chief Executive, British Association of Urological Surgeons
Mary Suphi is Chief Executive of The British Association of Urological Surgeons, where she leads strategic transformation in one of the UK’s most respected surgical membership associations. She works in close partnership with trustees to strengthen governance, drive cultural change, and deliver long-term impact for its members.
Mary brings a wealth of leadership experience, having steered organisations through growth, restructuring, and risk mitigation across sectors. Her approach is values-driven and inclusive, aligning purpose with performance. A respected voice in the voluntary sector, Mary is known for navigating complexity with empathy, insight, and strategic foresight.
Jackie Maginnis
Chief Executive Officer, Modular & Portable Building Association
Jackie Maginnis, Chief Executive Officer of the Modular & Portable Building Association is a great ambassador for MMC, having worked within the volumetric industry for over 40 years.
Prior to her role with the MPBA she worked for a manufacturing and hire company of volumetric buildings, being involved with the design and manufacturing process and supplying buildings to all sectors of the market.
With her passion for the industry sector and the help of the committees from within the member companies, part of her role is to promote the features and benefits of the use of offsite volumetric buildings. As Chief Executive of the MPBA, Jackie plays a key role in the connecting of sectors in the modular and portable building industry. The Association collaborates with specialist technical advisors to enhance innovation in the design and manufacture of modular buildings.
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Tanja Munro
Director, European Consortium for Political Research
Tanja Munro is the Director of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), a leading scholarly society connecting over 50,000 political scientists across 330 member institutions worldwide. Since joining ECPR, Tanja has played a key role in driving a major digital transformation, strengthening the organisation's market position, and expanding its services in response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tanja brings a wealth of experience in strategic leadership and partnership-building across fields including higher education, international development, and mental health; she has held senior roles in the UK charity sector across events, communications and fundraising. Her leadership blends strategic vision with people-centred management to foster innovation, collaboration and the development of sustainable networks.
