Ben Johnson advises the Mayor of London on matters relating to business, economic development, and technology. As well as providing support in the development of Mayoral strategies and policy, he works extensively with business organisations across London to support stronger partnerships between the private and public sector. He chairs the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) steering group on economic fairness, and works with the Mayor, Deputy Mayors and senior GLA officials to support and promote the positive impacts that business can have within the wider community. He hopes through the Business in the Community (BITC) London Leadership Board to play a useful role in joining up the work of BITC and London government in this area. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Living Wage Foundation.
Before joining the Mayor’s team at City Hall, Ben worked on Sadiq Khan’s campaign to become Mayor of London, and prior to that as Head of Policy Development at The Labour Party. He has previously served as a local councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Alexandra Beidas is a Partner at the global law firm Linklaters LLP. She heads up the Incentives team whose clients include around one third of the FTSE 100, two thirds of the top 20 global banks and half the top 20 global asset managers. She specialises in advising global corporations, including their boards, on corporate governance, accountability and remuneration, often in the context of significant corporate transactions, crisis management and regulatory investigations.
She also has extensive experience of working with lawmakers, regulators and industry bodies on the development of new legislation and regulation.
Alongside her legal career Alex is on the Board of Trustees at St Mungo’s, the UK homelessness charity, chair of its People and Governance Committee and chair of two of its subsidiaries delivering social impact bonds in London and Brighton. She also chairs Linklaters’ London Social Impact Committee. She has joined the London Leadership Board because she believes strongly that to have the maximum impact on the communities in which we work it’s vital that businesses coordinate their efforts.
Alex is married to Martin, a renewable energy lawyer by day, and amateur boxing coach by night, and they have three boys, Henry, William and Frankie, aged 12, 10 and 4.
Dame Vivian joined UnitedHealth in January 2023 as Chief Innovation Officer. She was previously a senior partner of McKinsey & Company where she served from 2013-2020.
She previously led McKinsey’s Pharmaceuticals & Medical Products Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and continues to advise a diverse range of corporate, public, and third-sector clients on performance improvement, productivity growth, and leadership. She has served on the firm’s global board of directors, its Values Committee, and several personnel committees.
She was previously named as one of the top ten ‘most influential black people in Britain’ by the Powerlist Foundation, and The Financial Times identified her both as one of the ‘European Women to Watch’ and ‘one of the 30 most influential people in the City of London’.
She is active in a variety of business settings, including the CBI, UK’s Industrial Strategy Council, Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Council, the Trilateral Commission and is the former chair of British American Business. She is a trustee of The British Museum and sits on the boards of the Southbank Centre, as well as Business in the Community, where she is a National Ambassador.
Dame Vivian is an alumna of Harvard College and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Warwick, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York and an Honorary Fellowship from University College London (UCL).
In 2018, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the economy and women in business.
Dame Vivian holds both British and American citizenship, and is married with two children.
Charlotte Kirby is Vice President of Global Strategic Relations.
Charlotte is responsible for building formal strategic partnerships, international collaborations and strong strategic relations to holistically support Salesforce values and that the business of business is improving the state of the world.
Charlotte is passionate about driving learning-based programming, employee volunteerism, and grant management in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, youth workforce development, and technology innovation.
Prior to this role, Charlotte worked in senior management roles in the telecommunications industry, holding senior management positions within Verizon and WorldCom and focusing on business transformation and customer success.
Charlotte holds a BA (Hons) in Business from Anglia Ruskin and a MSc in Corporate Governance from London South Bank.
About Business in the Community’s Global Goals Leadership Team
Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.
The purpose of BITC’s Global Goals Leadership Team is to accelerate business progress towards being purpose-driven and deliver on the Global Goals also known as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Abida Lalani is the Change Programme Director for the smart infrastructure solutions firm Costain Group PLC, helping to drive and deliver its leading edge strategy. Costain provides engineering and technology solutions to energy, water and transportation industry clients across the UK.
Abida is also the Senior Sponsor for the Religious Ethnic and Cultural Heritage (Reach) Network at Costain. She is passionate to ensure Reach forms a key part of Costain’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy to create a work culture that promotes, values, celebrates diversity and allows Costain employees to perform at their best.
Prior to Costain, Abida worked for HSBC, KPMG and Lloyds Banking Group where she formed a niche in large-scale transformation programmes, in particular integration or separation activity as a result of mergers, acquisitions, divestments or carve-outs. She has lived and worked across the UK and continental Europe, the USA, Middle East and Asia.
Outside of work, Abida is learning Spanish and enjoys the thrill of escape rooms. Most recently she became a Trustee for Volunteer Centre Camden alongside devising and launching a mentoring programme for youth within the Ismaili community.
With over 30 years of experience in the Telecoms and IT space, Dean has extensive knowledge and background in the development cycle of technology and its impact on business and society in general.
He has worked for, and held leadership positions in, many of the major players in the telecoms industry over this time including BT, Motorola, Energis, C&W and, most recently, Verizon. This experience gives Dean the opportunity to build a broad base of technical, sales and business experience across various functional areas.
Within Verizon, Dean has held a number of leadership roles as a Managing Director, encompassing pre-sales solution architecture, global integration architecture and complex deals, professional services, consulting and sales.
Dean is a passionate advocate of the use of technology and business to address some of society’s overarching issues such as social justice and equality, health equity, climate change and the environment and responsible business in general. He is also a keen advocate of diversity and inclusion within the corporate space acting as a mentor and coach to developing talent from diverse backgrounds.
A long-suffering Arsenal fan and season ticket holder, Dean also holds a UEFA B License and has coached and scouted extensively from grassroots to elite level. He is chairman of Dulwich Village FC. He also has a soft spot for Crystal Palace but is clear on where his allegiances lie.
Lisa Tremble is an exceptional communications and policy leader with a track record of success at the highest levels of government, the film industry, law and financial services.
As Group Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, Lisa is responsible for telling the Direct Line Group story by engaging the talent of its people to develop, protect and advance the group’s vision, purpose, reputation. This is to ensure that the long-term sustainability of the business is at the heart of its decision making. Lisa manages all financial and corporate communications, purpose and sustainability as well as regulatory reporting and public affairs.
Lisa also set up the Direct Line Group Community Fund to support communities during the COVID-19 lockdown. This fund has distributed more than £2m to just under 200 charities, helping more than 100,000 people in the UK.
Her career encompasses leading communications for London law firm Mishcon de Reya, representing the UK film industry, and working in Whitehall advising Cabinet ministers.
Lisa is passionate about purpose-led business and is excited to be joining Business in the Community’s London Leadership Board so that she can make a difference in the region she calls home.
Lisa is also a charity trustee and lives in Kingston with her husband and three children.
Karina O’Gorman has been with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) since 2018 as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility looking at global community strategy and ESG reporting, as well as business partnering IHG’s Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa (EMEAA) region.
Prior to joining IHG, Karina was Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Pentland Brands, where she led the team to ensure the family of brands in the outdoor, sports and footwear space operated sustainably. Other roles in this space have been with L’Oréal, Microsoft and BlackBerry. She has led fundraising efforts for the MS Society in the UK and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Middle East.
Through working across both the corporate and third sector, Karina is passionate about finding ways to work collaboratively to solve societal issues and to drive systemic change.
Karina is pleased to join Business in the Community’s London Leadership Board as it provides opportunities to connect with others and drive change within London.
Richard Eadie was appointed Head of Investor Relations at Severn Trent in 2018. Since 2020, his role expanded to include Head of Sustainability, ensuring Severn Trent’s environmental, social and corporate governance agenda continues to develop in line with its ambitions.
Prior to this he spent four years in divisional finance director roles at Severn Trent, taking responsibility for its operational business, where he successfully oversaw the transition from AMP 5 into AMP 6. Latterly he has been responsible for the business services division, where he led the disposal of the overseas interests in both the US and Italy as well as setting up the property development division.
Prior to joining Severn Trent in 2014, Richard held various senior finance positions across a number industries including media with Paramount Pictures, fast-moving consumer goods with Danone, and tech with Apple.
Rich is a qualified accountant with experience of working in large and complex organisations with UK, Europe and US experience.
Rory Stuart is an experienced senior leader with more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry.
Joining AXA straight from university, Rory has worked in leadership roles from operations, account management, through to risk and compliance. Within those roles it was a privilege to work in partnership with some of the biggest brands in the UK: Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Lloyds Bank and Sainsbury’s.
In his role as Head of Insurance Risk, Rory is a proud custodian of his customer’s best interests ensuring their needs continue to be met in an increasingly complex and challenging regulatory environment. Career highlights include leading the AXA Retail pandemic response, prioritising our staff’s health and wellbeing.
Rory’s passion is in the application of his career experience to the non-profit sector, helping to affect change for the better. As a member of Business in the Community’s East of England Leadership Board there is no better place to do exactly that.
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