BAM2025 Conference Keynote Speakers Announced

Wendy Bartlett is Founder of boutique contract caterer, BM Caterers (previously known as) Bartlett Mitchell. The philosophy is #fundamentally food (the fun is baked in) providing imaginative fabulous food and spot on service to create enduring relationships with customers, clients and the team.

Wendy and her business partner Ian Mitchell established bartlett mitchell in 2000 from the back bedroom of her house with just 2 phones and a desk. The formula worked, today the company operates at over 100 locations around the UK and has 1000+ staff and a turnover of nearly £65 million. Wendy is now semi-retired and in a more ambassadorial role in the business as there is an excellent team now running the company

In 2015 Wendy received an MBE for services to hospitality and was awarded a Foodservice Catey, the Oscars of the industry, for her dedication to food service.

Wendy loves eating, drinking and talking about food. And she is a complete aficionado on gin

Professor André Spicer is the Executive Dean of Bayes Business School. He is also Professor of Organisational Behaviour. He is an expert in the areas of Organisational Behaviour, Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Professor Spicer is originally from Aotearoa/New Zealand. He began his studies at the University of Otago and holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Prior to joining City, he was a Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Warwick. He has been a visiting professor at London Business School, the Kellogg School at Northwestern, McGill University, Lund University, University of St Gallen and the University of Sydney.

Professor Spicer is an award winning teacher. He has worked with students at all levels - from first year under-graduates to top level executives in large organisations. He recently co-developed an award winning course on critical thinking for business students.

Professor Spicer is known for his research on wellbeing, organizational politics, organisational culture, employee identity, new organizational forms, work space and leadership. His work looks at a wide range of settings including knowledge intensive firms, financial institutions, government departments, seaports, universities, libraries, media organizations, and social movements.

Yvonne Benschop is the Vice Dean of Research and Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Institute for Management Research at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

She is the director of the interdisciplinary research group Gender and Power in Politics and Management. She has received multiple grants from Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, FP7, ESF-EQUAL, NWO-STW, several Ministries in the Netherlands and Flanders, and private organizations for her work on the responsibility of organizations for gender equality, diversity and inclusion that is inspired by feminist organization theories and critical management studies.

She has published widely on formal and informal organization processes that produce organizational inequalities, and on interventions to sustain organizational change to intersectional equality. Recent research interests are at the crossroads of postfeminism, technofeminism and environmental feminism. Publications in English have appeared in journals such as Organization, Organzization Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Theory, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Gender, Work and Organization, and Human Relations.

She has served as co-editor in chief of Organization and sits on multiple editorial boards. She is the Chair of the Dutch Network of Female Professors, and received a royal distinction for her research performance (email: [email protected]

Daniel Rubin founded the fashion footwear and accessory brand Dune London in 1992.

With over three decades of experience in footwear; from shoe manufacturer to wholesaler and then retailer, he is a notable figurehead of the retail industry.

Daniel won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Drapers Footwear and Accessories Awards. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Kali Hamerton-Stove is co-founder of The Glasshouse project, a community interest company that harnesses horticulture and work to provide viable second chances for women in the justice system.

Established  in 2020 in the disused greenhouses of HMP East Sutton Park, The Glasshouse works with women in the last years of their prison sentence, providing training and employment, working with leading corporate  clients including C Hoare Bank, France’s Crick, Pearson and RenaissanceRe. With a 0% reoffending rate, compared to the national rate of 56%, The Glasshouse is an example of how productive and fulfilling employment can rebuild self belief and help women find a better way of life after custody.

Kali and The Glasshouss received the coveted RHS Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2024 for their exhibit conceived, designed and built by women in custody or recently released.  

Professor Chidiebere (Chidi) Ogbonnaya is a Professor of Human Resource Management at King’s College London. His research explores key areas such as job quality, employment relations, business ethics, responsible leadership, well-being, and performance.

Recently, his work has focused on the employment experiences of disadvantaged workers in emerging economies, analyzing strategies and policies for sustainable development. This research agenda has attracted substantial funding from multiple sources, amounting to approximately £8.2 million over his career. Chidi's work is widely published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Management, Human Relations, Journal of Management Studies, Human Resource Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and the Human Resource Management Journal.

Additionally, his research has been featured in prominent practitioner and media outlets such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Financial Times, and The Times. Chidi also brings extensive editorial expertise, having previously served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Business Research. He currently holds the same editorial role at Human Relations and the Journal of Management Studies.

Elina Meliou is a Professor of Work and Organisation Studies and Director of Research at Brunel Business School. She held previous appointments at Aston Business School and Newcastle University Business School and was a visiting scholar at Audencia Business School. She gained her MSc and PhD from the University of Montpellier and was a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of La Sapienza, Italy.

Elina's research lies at the intersection of organization studies and workplace equality and diversity. It has been funded by British and European funding bodies and appeared in leading academic journals in the area of management and organization, such as Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations,  Organization Studies, Work Employment and Society, Gender, Work and Organization, European Management Review, International Small Business Journal, Public Money and Management, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, among others.

She is currently an Associate Editor for Human Relations and has acted as a guest editor for various academic journals.

Elina is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Her work has influenced organizational practice and often appears in the media, including in the World Economic Forum, and The Conversation.