MAD stands for Make A Difference and the MAD World Summit is Make A Difference Media’s annual sister event. Now in its fourth year, the Summit is firmly established as the global go-to conference and exhibition for employers who want to ensure inclusive, sustainable and preventative approaches to mental health and wellbeing are embedded as a business priority – now and for the future.
Taking place on 21st October in Central London, this year’s Summit provides the opportunity that like-minded employers have been craving – to come together, cut through the noise and share knowledge, in-person, in real-time.
Recognising that diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging should be at the forefront of workplace mental health and wellbeing initiatives year-round. this will be a key theme which threads itself right through the agenda and is brought out with clear calls to action for attendees at the end of every session.
Learn from the leaders
The Summit is shaping up to be 2021’s great meeting of minds. It’s exciting to see so many fresh voices joining the conversation, along with more familiar faces. Input is already confirmed from (in no particular order):
- Julie Page, CEO, Aon UK
- Amanda Mackenzie OBE, Chief Executive, Business in the Community – The Prince’s Responsible Business Network
- Dame Carol Black, Expert Adviser on Health and Work to NHS Improvement and Public Health England and Chair, Ageing Better
- Gregor Henderson, Independent Strategic Advisor in mental health and former Director for Mental Health at Public Health England.
- Peter Cheese, Chief Executive, CIPD & Chair, What Works Wellbeing
- Paul Devoy, Chief Executive, Investors in People
- Professor Jonathan Passmore, Chartered Psychologist, Henley Business School
- Dr Brendon Stubbs PhD, Global Leader & World’s Highest Cited Researcher Investigating Physical Activity and Mental Health, King’s College London
- John Godfrey, Corporate Affairs Director, Legal & General
- Peter Kelly, Senior Psychologist, Health & Safety Executive
- Estelle Hollingsworth, Chief People Officer, Virgin Atlantic
- Dr Richard Heron, Vice-President Health and Chief Medical Officer, BP
- Elisha London, Founder & Advisor to the Board, United for Global Mental Health
- Geoff McDonald, Global Advocate, Campaigner & Consultant, Mental Health@Work
- Gary Raucher, Executive Vice President, ASICS
- Dr Shaun Davis, Global Director, Compliance & Sustainability, Royal Mail Group
- Nick Tzitzon, Chief Strategy Officer, ServiceNow
- Ian Charlesworth, Regional Managing Director, Awin
- Jilly Calder, VP HR, UK & Europe, SNC-Lavalin, Atkins and Faithful & Gould
- Dhavani Bishop, Head of Colleague Health, Wellbeing & Experience, Tesco
- Debbie Bullock, Head of Employee Wellbeing, Aviva
- Lee McNamara, Group Head of Internal Communications & Culture, DFS Group
- Lee Rogers, Founder, Talk Talk’s Wellbeing Community
- Jonathan Kini, Managing Director, Direct Consumer & B2B, Talk Talk
- Ruth Denyer, Director, Production Safety, Netflix
- Emma Murphy, Director, Production HR EMEA, Netflix
- Sophie Smith, HR Director, Aldi UK
- Jo-Anne Illman, CHRO, Infinity
- Mark Byard, Health, Safety & Wellbeing Director, Highways England
- Tara Mansfield, People Experience Director, Monzo Bank
- Abigail Tan, CEO, St Giles Hotels UK, Europe & North America
- Rondette Amoy Smith, Head of Diversity & Inclusion EMEA, Nomura
- Tom Foster-Carter, CEO, Co-founder, Lollipop (and former COO, Monzo)
- Arti Kashyap-Aynsley, Global Head of Health & Wellbeing, Ocado Group
- Hannah Reid, People Director EMEA, Apple
- James Damico, CFO Europe, Cereal & Snacks, Kellogg Company
- Martin Short, Head of Wellbeing, Inclusion & Diversity, Ministry of Defence
- Sarah-Jane Littleford, Head of Responsible Business, Fujitsu Global Recovery
- Marie Helson, People Director, HelloFresh UK
- Yu-Lin Gardner, Head of Reward, Deliveroo
- Tina Woods, Co-founder & CEO, Business for Health, Co-founder & Director, All Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity
- Andrew Wells, Senior Associate & Chair of Mental Health Champions SteerCom West, Herbert Smith Freehills
- Christine Howarth, Client Services & Mental Health Ally, Allen & Overy
- Zabetta Camilleri, Chair, Togetherall
- Henry Jones, CEO, Togetherall
- Gareth Fryer, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Fika: Mental Fitness
- Dr Amanda McNamee, Senior Mental Fitness Scientist, Fika: Mental Fitness
- Dr Nick Taylor, Co-founder & CEO, Unmind
- Juliane Sterzl, Vice President UK & Ireland, CoachHub
- Simon Arnold, CEO, Optima Health
- Nick Pahl, CEO, Society of Occupational Medicine
- Petra Velzeboer, Mental Health Consultant, Therapist, Coach, Podcast Host
- Katie Neeves, Trans Ambassador, Cool2BTrans
- Andrea Woodside, Wellbeing at Work Training & Strategy Consultant, Retail Trust
- Dr Stephen Pereira, Founder-CEO, Happence
- Dr Nick Earley, Head of Psychology, Happence
- Leon Outar, Neuropsychology Practitioner, Happence
- Thomas Duncan Bell, Founder, My Whole Self
- Marilise de Villiers, Co-founder & High Performance Coach, My Whole Self
- Amy McKeown, Award Winning Strategist & Consultant
- Catherine de la Poer, Founder, Halcyon
There are still a few more speakers to come on board too.
Work that’s fit for the future
Whether you’re just getting started or you’re moving to the next level of implementation and wondering how to navigate wellbeing in the new hybrid world of work, the Summit offers plenty of opportunities to learn from and chat with employers that are setting a new benchmark for company culture.
As the Father of workplace wellbeing, Professor Sir Cary Cooper, pointed out in his thought provoking and practical article for this week’s edition of Make A Difference news:
“Times of rapid change require a heroic spirit, and a willingness to move confidently into unchartered territory, constantly reinventing our tactics as we go”.
It does feel like we’re at a pivotal point. If you care about the mental health and wellbeing of your people and you care about the future of your business, the Summit is one not to be missed.
Early bird rates are available until 31st August. You can view the updated agenda and register here.
About the author
Claire Farrow is the Global Director of Content and Programming for www.makeadifference.media and the MAD World Summit. She’s on a mission to help every employer – large, medium and small – get the insight, inspiration and contacts they need to make real impact on workplace culture, mental health and wellbeing in their organisation. She has been freelance for more than 15 years. During that time, she has had the honour of working with many leading publishers, including the New York Times.
