Invited Keynote Speakers

This year the conference will feature a number of high profile invited speakers who will deliver keynote speeches over two days:

Stella Nkomo is Professor for Human Ressource Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Prior to her current position, she was Professor and Department Chair, Department of Management, Belk College of Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, (1995-June 2000), Interim HR/Operations Director, Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa June 2005 to December 2007, Bateman Distinguished Professor of Business Leadership, University of South Africa Graduate School of Business Leadership July 2000-July 2009, from 2007 to present Stella Nkomo is Director of Research, ASCENT: Leading Multicultural Women to the Top. Professor Nokomo's research focuses on race and gender in organisations; diversity management; change leadership, and strategic human resource management.

Lize Booysen is currently Professor for Organisational Behaviour and Leadership at Antioch University in USA. Professor Booysen is also adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), Greensboro, North Carolina. Prior to these positions, she was full professor at the School of Business Leadership (SBL) at University of South Africa. She participated on the GLOBE 65-nations research project on leadership, national culture and organisational practices from 1994-2003.

Ewart Wooldridge has been Chief Executive of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education since January 2004. He founded the organisation from scratch, to support and promote the development of leadership, governance and management skills across the UK Higher Education sector. The Leadership Foundation has secured a new strategic partnership with its funders through to 2012 following a very positive first evaluation by the HE sector funding bodies. It is now a leading provider in the UK, and increasingly internationally.

Previously Chief Executive of the National School of Government, Ewart Wooldridge was a director within the Cabinet Office and a past Vice President of the CIPD. He has Board-level experience in the private sector, local government and the South Bank Arts Centre. He was awarded the CBE in 2004 for his services to leadership development.