On Tuesday 27th February 2024, on behalf of the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Hailes convened a Coffee Colloquy at Mansion House on the topic of Achieving Gender Equality. Moderated by Laura Sjoberg Global Professor of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway University of London, speakers included:
Bushra Burge, Founder Bushra Burge Studio
Vanessa Dal Busco, Founder Ad Lumin Content Marketing
Dr Kat Gupta, Lecturer in Political Communication at Royal Holloway, University of London
Elizabeth (Betty) Hailes, Retired Headteacher and Committee member of the Bedford Society
Rie Hamaguchi, Special Advisor to the Osaka Governor, Leader of the Japan Business Group of the IoD
Ingrid Hobbs, Partner, Kennedys Law LLP
Mei Sim Lai OBE, DL, Non Executive Director of IWE (International Women of Excellence), a founder Charter member of PAWA (Pan Asian Women’s Association)
Lopa Patel MBE, Chair, Diversity UK
Giuliana Pieri, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International), Executive Dean for Humanities at Royal Holloway University of London
Don Randal MBE, Chairman of City of London Crime Prevention Association
Speakers shared their personal experiences of gender equality challenges and outlined positive steps that could be taken to achieve gender parity more quickly.
About Alderman Hailes
Alderman Hailes is General Counsel and Executive Director of Five Islands Capital, a leading FinTech innovator in the payments and trading arenas. From 1999-2019 he was a Managing Director & Associate General Counsel in the Investment Banking Legal Department of JPMorgan Chase & Company based in London rising through the ranks to become Global Head of Practice for the Equities business and Global Head of Practice for Regulatory Reform following the 2007/08 credit crisis. Prior to joining JPMorgan in 1999 he was a Solicitor in private practice for 7 years specialising in derivatives, structured products and financial markets law.
He graduated from King’s College London with a BA (Hons) degree in History in 1990 having served as President of the Students Union from 1988-89. He is now a Fellow of King’s College (FKC) and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws (Hon LLD) from UWE.
Alderman Hailes has acted as a technical expert to the UK FCA and has represented the financial services industry in front of numerous regulatory authorities including IOSCO, the EC, the Chinese BRC, the HKMA, MAS and Australian SIC. He was appointed to the magistracy by the Lord Chancellor in March 2013 prior to his election to civic office as an Alderman in the following May. He served as Sheriff in 2017-18.
About Laura Sjoberg
Laura Sjoberg is British Academy Global Professor of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway University of London and Head of the Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy. Her research addresses issues of gender and security, with foci on politically violent women, feminist war theorising, sexuality in global politics, and political methodology. She teaches, consults, and lectures on gender in global politics, and on international security. Her work has been published in more than 50 books and journals in political science, law, gender studies, international relations, and geography.