Mandy served in the RAF for 17 years as a pilot, flying the Tornado GR4. Since leaving the RAF, she continued her support for the services in the Volunteer Reserve (VR), through flying on the Air Experience Flight. She has also supported her local community as a School Governor, President of her local Tennis Club and as an Ambassador for the Sport and Physical Activity Alliance for Hampshire County Council. She is on the Board of Trustees at the Victory Services Club, London and on the Advisory Board for Positive Planet UK and the Women's Entrepreneurship & Venture Incubator Program, giving focus on encouraging entrepreneurship in non-traditional sectors. 

Now, as MD of Hickson-Experience from the Front Line she works as a business consultant focusing her sessions on overcoming the fear of failure; self belief; teamwork, leadership and the empowerment of your team; decision making under pressure; communication; and risk taking. She looks at the critical role of the human in the system to transfer these experience from the front line to the corporate boardroom. 

Mandy is also a highly demanded keynote speaker in the business and education sectors, where she talks with humour and great passion to inspire those around her. Her latest challenge was to climb Kilimanjaro in October 2019 on a fundraising expedition with 20 women from all walks of life.

Mairead is a values-based, award winning entrepreneur who owns and operates Tarasis Enterprises - a diverse suite of progressive businesses across several industries including care, support, housing solutions, renewables, and construction.

Celebrating 25 years in business in 2020, Homecare Independent Living (HCIL) is a leading domiciliary care, support services and housing business with a dynamic team of 1,200 operating across 14 regions in Ireland.  Dedicated to generating solutions for homelessness in Ireland, Mairead co-founded FABRACO, a design-led manufacturing company that creates Modular Building Solutions for comfortable temporary and permanent accommodation.  Mairead wants to collaborate and work with other key stakeholders in the housing and energy industries to create long-term, sustainable solutions for energy efficient homes. 

In 2010, Mairead co-founded iCare Charity, which is designed to improve the lives of others through simple acts of kindness called “iCare Wishes”.  Since inception it has raised over £350,000 and granted close to 400 iCare Wishes for individuals, families and groups across the island of Ireland. With passion, she also launched EVOLVE Women’s Network in 2018 to promote and encourage strong female leadership across society. 

A loving mother to seven children, Mairead is a strong supporter of equality, diversity, women in business & CSR and is on the board of WIBNI & FSB.

Colette Twomey is Managing Director and co-founder of what is known as Clonakilty Food Co.  The business has grown from a single butcher’s shop to be one of the best known brands in the Irish food business, supplying Clonakilty black and white pudding, sausages and rashers to multiples, restaurants and shops throughout Ireland, and  just recently, the launch of a vegetable pudding, ‘’ Clonakilty Veggie Pudding.’’

In recent years, the company has expanded into overseas markets including UK and Australia, enabling more and more people to enjoy a taste of Irelands favourite Blackpudding. A recipient of numerous business awards, including, finalist of the EY Entrepreneur of the year.  Colette is based in Clonakilty, West Cork, and remains the sole guardian of the Clonakilty Blackpudding secret recipe.

Johann Muldoon MBE is the managing director of Manor Architects. She is a multi award winning architect who has made history at every single stage of her career including, but not limited to, the recent accolade from Queen's University as QUB Graduate Of The Year as well as Best Woman Architect in Europe, Stem Rising Star Regional Winner (Ireland, Wales and N.England). 

Sinead Murphy founded Shnuggle in 2009 by with her husband, Adam. The company and it’s products was inspired by the couple's own experiences with their first child Rose, who was born with Down Syndrome and leukaemia and spent her early months fighting for her life. The couple found traditional baby products were not suited to all babies, especially those suffering from allergies or weakened immune systems. In 2019, Shnuggle was awarded a Queen's Award in the category International Trade for Outstanding Short Term and exports to over 40 countries. 

Sarah McAnallen is the CEO of McAnallen, a design-focused business that creates products with the purpose of making life easier for individuals with mobility issues. When Sarah was six-years-old her mum had a stroke which caused her to lose the use of her left hand — making everyday tasks difficult. It was out of this personal experience that McAnallen was born. While studying Product Design at Ulster University, Sarah worked closely with her mum to design a range of products including the Sock-Aid. After winning countless awards and pitches, Sarah has now graduated and is taking her business forward. Sarah won the Yes You Can Pitching Competition at last years Female Enterpreneurs Conference.

Grainne Kelly is the Inventor, Founder and CEO of BubbleBum UK Ltd, the manufacturer of the world’s first inflatable car booster seat which has revolutionised the child travel industry. A multi-award winning entrepreneur, Grainne founded BubbleBum in December 2009 and the company now exports to 27 countries globally and the BubbleBum is stocked by major retailers such as Amazon, Halfords, Target, Migros and Boots. Grainne appeared on Dragons Den in 2014 and famously turned down an offer from the dragons. Grainne has won several awards including her most recent win in 2018 for British American Business – Woman in Business Award in the Transatlantic Growth Awards. In 2019 Grainne was invited to join the UK Prime Minister’s Business Counsel for Entrepreneurs.

Sarah is an experienced broadcast journalist and TV presenter, with a keen interest in stories and the people that shape them. Sarah is a familiar face to many in Northern Ireland, where she was news anchor in the BBC newsroom for 19 years.  Sarah started her career with BBC Radio Foyle, and has presented lifestyle programming for UTV, Northern Ireland’s commercial TV channel. As Director of Bespoke Communications, Sarah develops media and crisis communications training programmes for a range of different organisations in the public, private and third sectors. She continues to appear on-screen as a TV presenter on a range of programmes and documentaries.    Sarah holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University.