Page 5 – Business in the Community

Mike Harvey

An image of Mike Harvey smiling at the camera.

Mike Harvey

Head of Responsible Business,

Pinsent Masons
Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Board

Mike Harvey leads the award-winning Global Responsible Business Team at Pinsent Masons, a purpose-led professional services business with law at the core. He is an experienced Responsible Business professional with over 16 years’ experience working in the sector, including 12 years at Business in the Community (BITC). Mike’s team supports Community Investment, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), Mental Health and Wellbeing, Pro Bono and colleague engagement on Climate Change and Sustainability. All the work is underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals. Mike sits on Pinsent Masons’ ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Board Committee advising firm’s leadership on risk and opportunities related to ESG and supporting the implementation of its ESG commitments globally. Mike joined the Leadership Board because “Meaningful change is simply not possible without collaboration between businesses. Our alignment and influence can lead to the progress we all want to see. We must work together to tackle the seemingly ever-rising issues within our communities and on our planet”.  

Sasha Pauley

An image of Sasha Pauley smiling at the camera.

Sasha Pauley

Lead Community Manager,

Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Board

Sasha Pauley leads Yorkshire Building Society’s community investment programme, which is integral to delivering YBS’s purpose-led strategy. The community programme aims to support people with their financial wellbeing. The programme includes strategic charity partnerships, Citizens Advice programme, the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation and a Financial Education programme, Money Minds. Sasha was also involved in developing YBS’s first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, with purpose at its core. Sasha was keen to join Business in the Community’s (BITC) Yorkshire & Humber Regional Leadership Board, to support YBS’s aims to work collaboratively in the region. In her spare time, Sasha is a Trustee of Leeds homeless charity, Turning Lives Around.

Rachel McVeigh

An image of Rachel McVeigh smiling at the camera.

Rachel McVeigh

Director of Finance,

Anchor
Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Board

Rachel McVeigh is the Director of Finance at Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life. Anchor serves more than 65,000 residents in 54,000 homes across almost 1,700 locations. Its residential care services employ the majority of the 9,000-strong workforce, providing services to residents at over 120 care homes.

As Director of Finance, Rachel leads the finance function, ensuring that the financial health and stability of the organisation remains in line to meet its strategic objectives, oversees the accounting operation, and provides financial information on which to make decisions and meet regulatory obligations. Rachel joined Anchor in 2005 and is proud to work for an organisation knowing that every penny of the surplus made is reinvested into the services it provides for customers and colleagues to ensure people have homes where they love living in later life. She started her career as an auditor before taking on roles across various sectors including manufacturing and financial services for organisations including Dearnleys Limited and HBOS plc.

Rachel has chosen to join the Yorkshire & Humber regional leadership board as she is passionate about making a difference; it offers the perfect opportunity to collaborate with other businesses to drive positive change across a community facing some difficult challenges. When Rachel is not out walking her dog you will find her at the gym, clocking up the miles for her next charity walk, fell challenge, or mud run!

Ainslie Wilson-Shearer

An image of Ainslie Wilson-Shearer smiling at the camera

Ainslie Wilson-Shearer

Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager,

Mills & Reeve
Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Board

Ainslie Wilson-Shearer is the Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager at Mills & Reeve, a law firm with seven offices across the UK including Leeds. Ainslie’s career began in fundraising, working in teams looking after high net worth individuals as well as trusts and foundations. Following a stint in executive search working with clients in the global and UK not-for-profit and health sectors, she moved into diversity and inclusion to marry her passion for social justice with her love of culture change, employee engagement and equity. She is dedicated to ensuring that businesses both include and have a positive impact on the communities they are a part of, and recently has been increasing her focus on the importance of psychological safety to enhancing inclusion. Ainslie leads on the delivery of the firm’s diversity, inclusion & wellbeing strategy nationally, working with a dedicated team of practitioners as well as active and passionate volunteers via the firm’s employee networks. She has worked at Mills & Reeve since 2021.

After leaving her native Australia in 2000, Ainslie lived in Scotland and the South East before falling in love with all that Yorkshire has to offer and finally settling in Leeds. She enjoys spending time with her young family, collecting recipe books and trying new recipes (though hates ‘boring’ cooking after work on a weeknight), and exploring new places both on her doorstep and abroad. She also has an avid love of reading and believes that reading books and buying books are actually two separate hobbies.

Sue Husband OBE

Sue Husband OBE

Community Impact Director

Business in the Community Management Team

Sue Husband is the Community Impact Director for Business in the Community (BITC), with a mission to put responsible business at the heart of every business. She first joined BITC in 2020. Sue is also the Executive Sponsor for the Gender Equality Network within BITC.

Sue was previously a senior civil servant, leading the National Apprenticeship Service, the National Careers Service and was the Official Delegate for WorldSkills UK. In her early career, Sue worked for McDonald’s UK and held many roles, including leading McDonald’s education and apprenticeship programmes, and helping support employees to gain over 50,000 qualifications.

As Community Impact Director at BITC, Sue leads the organisation’s ambition to deliver long-term, transformative change and impact in 50 places, over the next decade, transforming millions of lives across the UK.  

Sue was awarded an OBE for her services to Education and Skills, in the Queen’s New Year Honours list 2021.

Councillor Gary Ridley

Councillor Gary Ridley

Councillor,

Coventry City Council
Place Taskforce

Councillor Gary Ridley represents the Local Government Association on the Business in the Community (BITC) Place Taskforce. He has been a member of the policy board for Culture, Tourism and Sport at the LGA since 2021. He is a councillor for Coventry City Council, representing Woodlands Ward and has served as Leader of the Opposition since 2017. He has held a number of Cabinet positions within local government, several non-executive appointments on a range of organisations and previously worked for the European Parliament. In addition to his political responsibilities, he currently works for national walking and cycling charity Sustrans where he is helping to create more liveable communities.

Business in the Communty’s place programme

Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.

Our mission

To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.

Councillor Satvir Kaur

Councillor Satvir Kaur

Leader,

Southampton City Council
Place Taskforce

Satvir Kaur is Leader of Southampton City Council. Born and raised in Southampton, Satvir graduated from both the University of Southampton and Solent University. She has a professional background in various sectors, from managing a small family business to working in the B2B publishing sector with international experience. Satvir is passionate about social mobility, housing and culture. She has had several cabinet portfolios in her 13 years as a local councillor. She has led on the city’s largest council home building programme, started community initiatives to tackle poverty and build resilience. Satvir is responsible for launching and leading Southampton’s bid to become City of Culture in 2025 in which the city were finalists.

Business in the Communty’s place programme

Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.

Our mission

To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.

David Schofield

David Schofield

Sustainability Director,

Aviva
Place Taskforce

David Schofield has a background in the third sector, e-commerce and financial services. He leads on Social Action and Sustainable Business working on strategy, governance and implementation to support Aviva’s Sustainability Ambition. This includes it’s Net Zero by 2040 goal. David also sits on the board of trustees of the United Nations Global Compact UK Network and International Consortium for Street Children. He is a regular speaker at CR & Sustainability conferences.

Business in the Communty’s place programme

Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.

Our mission

To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.

Julie Hillman

A picture of Julie Hillman smiling at the camera

Julie Hillman

Transformation Director,

Worldline UK&I
East Midlands Leadership Board

Julie Hillman has worked across multiple disciplines and roles throughout her career based in the IT Industry. A key part of her role as Transformation Director at Worldline UK&I is to champion and lead the Apprenticeship Programme. Worldline UK&I have recently been awarded ‘East Midlands Region National Apprenticeship Award for Large Employer of the year 2023′, a personal passion for Julie, the organisation also holds Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality and Great Place to Work 2022 recognition.

Julie began her career through the then Youth Training Scheme (YTS) going on to gain her MBA from Loughborough University in 2003 whilst maintaining a demanding career alongside the birth of her eldest daughter. Julie has a wealth of experience across the many facets of corporate life which she draws on in her Transformation Director role, always with a lens on the people and the culture of the organisation.

In her spare time Julie enjoys spending time with her two daughters – Rhea & Jodie, is an avid reader and loves a long walk in the forest or along a quiet beach with her Rough Collie Azlan.

Justin Onuekwusi

Justin Onuekwusi looking at the camera

Justin Onuekwusi

Chief Investment Officer,

St. James’s Place (SJP)
Race Equality Leadership Team

Justin Onuekwusi is the Chief Investment Officer at St. James’s Place (SJP). His role sees him lead the development of SJP’s investment proposition, asset allocation approach and selection of external fund managers. A CFA charter holder, Justin holds more than two decades’ experience across investment management as Head of Retail Investments, EMEA and Head of Retail Multi-Asset Funds at LGIM in a team managing over £60bn. Justin has also held previous roles with Aviva Investors, Merrill Lynch and Aon Consulting.

Externally, Justin is a panel member of the Premier League’s Equity Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS). Justin is a judge of the Investment Week Women in Investments Awards, and was listed on LGBT Great’s Project 1000 Role Models. Justin has won several awards for his work within driving societal change including the 2020 Portfolio Adviser Wealth Management award for Outstanding Contribution to Inclusivity and the 2021 Investment Week Fund Manager of the Year award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion. Justin founded EnCircle which is a monthly mentoring circle initiative and the Black Leaders Programme in conjunction with the Investment Association and Diversity Project. In addition, Justin featured on the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 EMpower Senior Executive Leaders List, he was a winner of the Invest in Ethnicity Awards Future Leaders Award in 2018, Justin was also a finalist in the 2019 Black British Business Awards and in 2020 he was awarded the honour of the Freedom of the City of London.

About Business in the Community’s Race 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 Race Equality Leadership Team is to support employers to help break down the barriers that prevent the progression of ethnic minorities in their workplaces and show how an inclusive organisation better serves its customers, clients and communities.

Find out more about BITC’s work on race equality.