Returning to work after children is about far more than surviving a successful first week back. For many women, it's a defining moment; one that shapes whether they continue to progress, feel visible, rebuild confidence, and stay on a leadership track. This session moves beyond policy and into practice, using scenario-based discussion to examine what genuine support looks like: in conversations with managers, in promotion decisions, in the everyday moments that signal whether someone still belongs on the path they were on. A grounded look at return, retention and progression; and what employers must get right if they want women not just to come back, but to move forward.

The future of work is often discussed as something still to come. But across the world, organisations, governments and researchers are already testing new approaches to leadership, flexibility, technology, progression and workplace culture.

This session asks a more practical question: what is actually working?

Drawing on global data, behavioural science and the experience of businesses implementing change at scale, the panel will explore where meaningful progress is being made for women at work, why some interventions succeed while others stall, and what UK employers can learn from approaches being taken around the world.

From changing attitudes towards women in leadership to redesigning workplace systems and responding to the impact of AI, this conversation will move beyond ambition and good intentions to examine the evidence, action and results.

What can leaders take back to their own organisations? Where should businesses focus next? And how can we make progress happen faster?

Britain's young people are facing a perfect storm. Over a million are not in education, employment, or training: the highest figure in over a decade. AI is reshaping the jobs market faster than policy can respond. And beneath all the economic anxiety, something culturally troubling is simmering: a generation of young men increasingly drawn toward anti-feminist attitudes, while young women push back. In this urgent, frank panel John O’Brien, Founder of Anthropy, asks: what does a fair future of work look like in reality, and who gets to have one?

Graeme Burns questons how we harness AI as an equaliser, not an accelerant of inequality?

Lee Chambers asks what happens to boys when male identity gets tangled up in economic irrelevance..

Melanie Lane CEO of POd, brings a perspective on how employers, educators and policymakers can work together to ensure young people are equipped to thrive.

There are no easy answers. But there is one clear question: how do we make Britain better for generations to come?

If organisations are serious about more women reaching senior leadership, they have to look closely at the pipeline beneath it: at the points where talented women stall, step back, or are simply overlooked. This interactive session puts that pipeline under the microscope, using group discussion to surface where systems, habits and unconscious assumptions still get in the way, often without anyone noticing. Expect real examples from organisations already shifting their approach, and a practical, solutions-focused conversation about what it actually takes to build stronger, fairer routes into leadership.