Dame Sharon White became the sixth Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership in February 2020. Sharon moved from Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, where she served as Chief Executive. Before joining Ofcom, Sharon was Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, responsible for overseeing the public finances. She also held Board level positions at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for International Development – working as an adviser at the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit and in Washington DC as a senior economist at the World Bank. Sharon is also a trained economist and studied at Cambridge University and University College London.
John Studzinski CBE is Managing Director and Vice Chairman of global investment management firm PIMCO, and his 35 years in investment banking have also embraced senior roles at Blackstone, HSBC Group and Morgan Stanley. Born in the US and long resident in Britain, he holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College.
John is the founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation. Since 2001, the Foundation has supported programmes that nurture the careers of outstanding young artists in the UK, enabling them to develop their professional skills and experience and gain access to mentors and valuable networks.
As a hands-on philanthropist and thought leader, John Studzinski focuses primarily on the arts, human rights, homelessness and volunteering. He is the Founding President of Arise, which was established in 2015 to support frontline work against modern slavery. This role complements his activities to promote transparency in business supply chains, which have included a period as co-chair of the Home Office’s Business Against Slavery Forum.
Awarded a CBE in 2008 for his services to the Arts and Charity, John has also received the Papal honours of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory and Knight Commander of St. Sylvester, the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, the Beacon Prize for Philanthropy, the Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy and, for his work with the homeless, the Prince of Wales Ambassador Award. In 2017 the Catholic Herald named him Catholic of the Year.
Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is the co-founder of the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, and Chairman of Green Park Interim and Executive Search. He is a Times columnist, shortlisted for Comment Writer of the Year in 2020.
Trevor is the Chairman of the global freedom of expression campaign charity Index on Censorship; a Senior Fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank; and a Vice-President of the Royal Television Society.
Trevor is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed behavioural science consultancy Mind Gym; he was the President of the John Lewis Partnership Council until 2018, and founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Roisin Currie grew up in Glasgow and graduated from Strathclyde University having read Business Law and Business Management. She embarked on a career with Asda, joining its Graduate Programme during the era of Archie Norman and Allan Leighton.
She spent 20 years in various roles and locations across the UK, including Head of Reward, Retail People Director and then latterly as Distribution People Director based in Leeds.
Roisin left to join Greggs in 2010 as Group People Director, becoming Retail Operations and People Director in 2017, and then Retail and Property Director in 2021, before being appointed to Chief Executive in May 2022.
Roisin is Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending – a voluntary role working with the Ministry for Justice and New Futures Network encouraging employers to give people a second chance to change their lives having been through the Criminal Justice System. Roisin was instrumental in the conception of Greggs’ ‘Fresh Start’ employability programme, designed to help encourage and support people leaving prison into paid employment within Greggs.
Roisin is also a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
Claire Watkins is a highly experienced professional with 19 years of experience in managing multiple IT projects. She is currently the Head of Projects and Programmes at Amey, a leading infrastructure services and engineering company. Her expertise ranges from mobilisation and infrastructure to software and hardware.
Originally based in Oxford, Claire moved back to her home country of Wales 12 years ago. In her personal life, she is an active member of her community, serving as a school governor in her hometown. She also enjoys spending time with her two children, balancing her professional and personal responsibilities.
Vicky Davies is Chief Executive at Danske Bank UK. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Danske Bank Group is one of the leading financial enterprises in Northern Europe. Danske Bank UK is Northern Ireland’s largest bank and a growing bank in targeted sectors in Great Britain.
Vicky started her career as a management consultant at Accenture in London. After joining Ulster Bank in 2005, she moved on to become part of Danske Bank’s senior management team in 2012, initially as Head of Business Development and then as Managing Director of Strategy & Corporate Development. Vicky joined the Board of Danske Bank UK in 2016 and was appointed Deputy CEO in 2019. In September 2021, Vicky became the first female Chief Executive in the bank’s 200-year history.
Vicky is also a Board member of both UK Finance and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Vicky joined the Business in the community (BITC) Board as a Trustee in November 2023 and chairs BITC’s Advisory Board in Northern Ireland.
Zahra Bahrololoumi CBE is the Chief Executive Officer of Salesforce UK and Ireland, the world’s number one CRM platform. She was appointed to this position in 2021 to lead the company’s activities across two key growth markets.
Zahra has over 25 years’ experience in technology and consulting, and previously held a number of senior executive roles at Accenture, where she latterly led the Technology business for the UK and Ireland. This entailed a particular focus on transformation in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and platforms underpinning new applications.
Zahra has been widely recognised throughout her career as an industry leader. In 2023, she was awarded the CBE in the King’s Honours list for services to the Information Technology Sector. Other awards include: The Business Anecdote’s Top 20 Women In Tech 2023; Computer Weekly’s Most Influential People in UK Tech in 2022 & 2023; The Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report ‘100 Women to Watch 2022’ list; Woman of the Year for MENA Women In Tech Awards 2022; and Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2021.
Zahra is a strong advocate for equality for all and has held many diversity and inclusion roles across the world. She currently serves on the Board of TSB as a Non-Executive Director, and also sits on the Board of techUK, the Steering Group of Movement to Work, and the Cancer Research UK Corporate Partnerships Board. She is a former Vice Chair of the Prince’s Trust’s Technology Leadership board.
Zahra joined the Business in the Community (BITC) Board as a Trustee in November 2023 and is a member of BITC’s Seeing is Believing Council.
Louise Blanchett currently works as Europe’s Wellbeing Manager within the Mott MacDonald Human Resources Department. She has an MSc in Occupational and Organisational Psychology and has recently started her chartership. Louise is a strategic leader responsible for the development and delivery of the wellbeing strategy for more than 8,000 colleagues. Louise has a wealth of experience delivering high impact international transformation and culture change projects in large global matrix and FTSE100 organisations.
Her passions are holistic health and wellbeing, harnessing potential of herself and others, and creating positive and high performing cultures. She believes there is nothing more important than people feeling and being their best. This is fostered through a culture where people can be their true authentic self, where individualism and inclusion is embraced, and having the right ingredients to enable people to thrive.
Louise has joined the Business in the Community (BITC) Wellbeing Leadership Team at a time when wellbeing has become increasingly urgent and complex. Louise believes that at this pivotal time it is crucial for leaders to come together. She would like this group to collaborate and share knowledge to come up with solutions that have the greatest impact in addressing our wellbeing challenges across all industries and colleague needs.
Louise is an advocate for holistic health and wellbeing inside and outside of work. She enjoys being active such as partaking in CrossFit, triathlon training, and regular yoga, and is a qualified yoga instructor. She also loves to travel and learn so is often jet-setting, reading, listening to podcasts, or watching TED Talks.
About Business in the Community’s Wellbeing 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 Wellbeing Leadership Team is to build a movement that is committed to positioning health and wellbeing as strategic boardroom issues with a particular focus on mental health; driving collective action through evidence-based, practical solutions.
AXA and Business in the Community partner to deliver fully funded Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion training.
AXA and BITC partner to support youth mental health
AXA and Business in the Community are partnering to deliver fully funded Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion training. We know that the number of young people struggling with their mental health and wellbeing is higher now than ever before, with the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Cost of Living crisis having only exacerbated many of the triggers including poverty and inequality. This is why our partnership with AXA’s Head Coaches programme is so important.
AXA’s Head Coaches programme aims to support youth leaders working with small community-based voluntary sector organisations, with approx.50 employees or under to develop a greater knowledge of common mental health issues. This Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion course will be delivered over either two half-day sessions online, or one day face-to-face by an AXA Health expert. (For information on course formats currently available, please see the form below).
This is a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England course, provided for FREE to voluntary sector organisations, funded through our partnership with AXA. Typically, the course would cost approximately £135 per person. This MHFAE course is applicable for individuals in Scotland and Wales too.
The course will give you a wide range of skills that you can use with the young people you work with, including:
Developing an understanding of common mental health issues and how they affect young people
Learning to spot signs of mental ill-health in young people and guide them to a place of support
Gaining the knowledge and confidence to advocate for mental health awareness
Learning the skills to support positive wellbeing
How the course is structured
This training will be conducted online through presentations, group discussions and interactive activities.
Each online course includes two half-day (2hr 45mins) sessions via Zoom, or one whole-day session in-person (where available).
Both sessions must be attended to complete the course where the cohort is delivered online.
Sessions are not recorded
For courses delivered online, pre-work is required to be completed before each session (approx. 1hr 30mins per session).
What do I get from the training?
A certificate of attendance to confirm you have completed the Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion course
A Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion manual and workbook to refer to whenever you need it
Testimonials from recent participants:
“I have worked with young people with multiple and complex needs for a number of years, and this training gave me lots of info and strategies that I had not heard of or thought about”. Phil Pearce, Life Experience CIC
“This course has enabled me to feel I have the knowledge and understanding to one day change the impact of mental health in a young person’s life”. Hannah Bees, ACE Cardiff
“The course online and printed material were first-rate, and the exposition by the Trainer was very illuminating. Other folk on the course were very helpful in their honesty and directness. Best online of this type, of course, attended in two years”. Francis Drake, Action for Station Town
When are the sessions taking place?
Please check the registration form below for upcoming dates of both online and in-person funded training opportunities. If there are no dates available, please still express your interest in attending future sessions by completing the form. If additional funded cohorts become available, we will contact you.
Eligibility
A maximum of two people per organisation can register their interest for this funded training. We are unable to deliver this for whole teams, for example. Please DO NOT sign up on behalf of someone else.
Participants MUST be:
An employee/volunteer of a small, voluntary sector organisation (a not-for-profit ie, charity or otherwise registered) with approximately 50 employees or under, and mental health NOT being the primary focus of your services.
Had minimal or no Youth Mental Health training recently.
Working directly with young people (8-18 years) on the ground on a regular basis, ideally with at least 20% being from low-income backgrounds, across Wales, Scotland or England.
Committed to the course and
a. able to join both online sessions on at least one of the cohorts listed.
b. able to complete the online pre-course independent learning for online training OR able to attend the whole day in-person session (where applicable.)
We will assess eligibility and offer spaces on a case-by-case basis.
Places are limited, so please only sign up if you are committed to completing this course and meet all the essential criteria above.
Register your interest in the Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion Training
Please express your interest in attending future sessions by completing the form below. If additional funded cohorts become available, we will contact you.
Anil Gupta is Deloitte’s Office Senior Partner for the Yorkshire market and also runs Deloitte’s Performance Improvement business across the regional market, with a direct focus on Debt Capital and Treasury Advisory.
Anil has 18 years of corporate finance experience advising private companies and private equity investors providing solutions to their key liquidity requirements, including refinancing, raising growth finance and negotiations with incumbent financiers. Through his career, Anil has worked with some of the largest companies and sponsors in the region including a large portfolio of repeat clients.
Anil joined Business in the Community’s (BITC) Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Board as there is strong alignment in what BITC is trying to achieve locally with some of Deloitte’s national priorities around affecting climate change, inclusive growth and levelling up.
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