Igniting Inspiration 2023 – Speakers
Join us for an afternoon of inspiration and connection with fellow changemakers and celebrate this year’s Igniting Inspiration award winner.
Since 2017, we’ve celebrated the achievements of women changemakers through our Igniting Inspiration campaign and awards. The format changed from a large-scale event pre-pandemic to a more intimate but no less powerful affair.
We will celebrate this year’s winner of the Mary Bernadette Speight Memorial Award, Heidi Mavir, who will receive her award from last year’s winner, Erene Hadjiioannou.
We will also hear from speakers drawn from our membership: – Bid writer extraordinaire Josie Armitage, top notch leadership and wellbeing speaker and trainer Emma Langton, social enterprise Founder and young person’s champion Karen Cruise, deaf awareness specialist Rachel Barber, and of course, our Founder Anj Handa.
In line with our values, we have booked a charity partner venue. All profits from our booking go to the Leeds Age UK, helping them to support more lonely, vulnerable and isolated older people across the city.
Our Speakers
Heidi Mavir
Heidi Mavir is a late-identified, Neurodiverent adult. She is a public speaker, advocate, Sunday Times Bestselling author of ‘Your Child Is Not Broken: Parent Your Neurodivergent Child Without Losing Your Marbles.’ She’s also a podcaster, and parent to an Autistic/ADHD teenager. Heidi describes herself as a chronic oversharer and a bit of a badass.
Erene Hadjiioannou
Erene Hadjiioannou is a Psychotherapist, speaker, trainer, and activist based in Leeds and the author of textbook ‘Psychotherapy with Survivors of Sexual Violence: Inside and Outside the Room.’ Her specialist skills are: working with survivors of abuse of any gender, pre-trial therapy, and matters specific to LGBT+ people.
Rachel Barber
Rachel has an overarching ambition to help others live life to their fullest potential. She delivers bespoke inclusive training solutions, with a focus on accessibility and deaf awareness. Her experiences and studies have amalgamated into extensive research into ways that would help others to access employment and services that meet their aspirations and needs.
Josie Armitage
Grant funding is one part of a not for profit’s income and sits alongside other income including fundraising, providing services, selling goods and donations/sponsorship. Josie supports clients with advice, sourcing opportunities and application writing services as part of their growth and journey.
Karen Cruise
Karen Cruise, Founder of Flourished Minds. is an accredited coach with many years of employment in the corporate world, the last 10 at a very senior level.
She has ‘lived experience’ of how hopelessness and a lack of confidence can negatively impact young people; as well as how hope and self belief intermingled with the right support, can positively change lives.
Emma Langton
Emma is a leadership coach and wellbeing trainer for organisations across the UK. Often referred to as the boundary queen and the resilience goddess, she shares her passion for progress with practical tips and advice so that her clients improve leadership skills, reduce stress and pressure and elevate boundaries and wellbeing.
Anj Handa
Anj is the Founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers and is a multilingual speaker, consultant, trainer and coach. Her work has been featured in national and global media and she was recently described by Forbes as one of ‘10 Diversity Trailblazers to Get Familiar With.’ She’s also an experienced charity trustee.
Join Inspiring Women Changemakers
Inspiring Women Changemakers is a dynamic community of changemakers of all genders who want to make the world a fairer place for women: at work, at home, and in wider society. We equip changemakers with the skills, the connections and the launchpad to make social change.
