"Women" is not a monolithic category; and organisations that simply count women rather than truly seeing them are leaving most women behind. The barriers facing a Black woman in a leadership role look nothing like those facing a white woman in a junior one; a young disabled woman navigating flexible working has a completely different experience to someone navigating menopause alongside caring responsibilities. Through real organisational examples and frank conversation, our panellists explore what it actually takes to move beyond surface-level inclusion, understanding where policies create blind spots, where cultures quietly exclude, and how leaders can begin to see and respond to the layered, overlapping realities their people live every day, across race, class, disability, age, sexuality, and caring responsibilities.

Rhuanedd Richards is the BBC’s Interim Director of Nations and sits on the BBC’s Executive Committee.

Appointed to the role in June 2025, Rhuanedd leads the BBC’s work serving nations and local audiences across the UK.

The BBC Nations division is one of the largest in the BBC and produces a range of content across TV, radio and online for audiences in the devolved nations and, locally and regionally, in England. Rhuanedd leads the teams responsible for the portrayal of the nations and regions across iPlayer and BBC Sounds, as well as the news and sport coverage on the BBC’s local online services in England and the nations’ services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These teams also produce the UK’s biggest news show - the nations and regional BBC One 6.30 programmes – as well as a network of 45 radio stations reaching millions of listeners across the UK each week.

Previously, Rhuanedd was Director, BBC Wales with overall responsibility for the content strategy and editorial priorities for the Nation across all media platforms and services in both the English and Welsh languages.

Rhuanedd started her career with BBC Wales as a journalist before presenting some of its flagship news and political programmes on radio and television.

She subsequently worked in government and politics in Wales before returning to the BBC as Editor of Welsh Language services in 2018.

Originally from the Cynon Valley, Rhuanedd attended Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen. She then studied at Aberystwyth University and was awarded a BBC scholarship to study a post-graduate diploma in Cardiff University’s School of Journalism. Rhuanedd is Deputy Chair of Aberystwyth University Council, an Honorary Fellow of the university, and lives in Pontypridd with her family.

Dinah Williams founded Avenir Pathways CIC after being selected for the Big Issue Invest Social Impact Accelerator, launching Future Reset® - a career transition programme for professionals navigating redundancy. In its founding pilot in July 2026, participants' confidence in their next career direction rose from 4.0 to 7.4 out of 10 in three days, 100% rated their overall satisfaction 9 or 10 out of 10, and 51% of the cohort came from underrepresented communities without a targeted push.

She is also Founder of Avenir Network, where she partners with organisations to redesign leadership, culture, and talent systems for a rapidly changing world of work, and Project Director of BRiM (Black Representation in Marketing), the UK's first industry-wide sponsorship programme for Black talent in marketing and advertising - connecting over 200 c-suite sponsors and Black sponsees across major agency groups, including WPP Media, Publicis, and OMG.

Dinah is a Campaign 40 Over 40 Winner (2025) and an Advertising Week Europe Future is Female Award winner (2025). She also mentors emerging women leaders through Google's Power Up programme.

With a background spanning behavioural science, leadership development, and AI readiness, Dinah is recognised for translating complex change into practical, commercially grounded action.

Bio coming soon.

Lisa Pinfield is Group Talent Director, responsible for talent acquisition, learning, skills, leadership development and workforce transformation. With over 20 years’ experience, she is focused on creating pathways for career growth, building leadership capability and helping individuals thrive at every stage of their careers. A passionate advocate for inclusion, equity and social mobility, Lisa is committed to increasing representation, broadening access to opportunity and creating workplaces where everyone can belong, grow and succeed.

Catrina Farnell is CEO of People First Keighley & Craven, a charity supporting adults with learning disabilities, those who are neurodivergent and those with physical disabilities. The organisation works to develop self-advocacy skills and creates meaningful work with their members.

As a disabled woman, wheelchair user and leader, Catrina brings lived experience into her professional practice. She is passionate about creating workplaces where disabled people are not simply accommodated, but valued and given opportunities to contribute, progress and shine.

At the heart of Catrina’s work is the belief that none of us should be expected to fit neatly into one box. Before becoming disabled, she trained and worked as a dancer. Today, alongside leading a charity, writing, speaking and advocating for disability inclusion, she co-leads In Motion, a wheelchair-based dance workshop at Northern Ballet. Her own journey has taught her that disability may change how we do something, but it does not diminish our creativity, ambition, skills or value.

Catrina began her journey at People First Keighley and Craven by volunteering for just one hour a week before progressing through the organisation and ultimately becoming CEO. After experiencing a world that she describes as full of “no” for far too long, she became determined to play a part in turning those “nos” into “yes” — for herself and for others.

One example is People First’s member-led podcast, The People First Podcast created and hosted by adults with learning disabilities. It deliberately breaks convention, bringing disabled people into conversations and spaces where they have historically been underrepresented. Catrina is proud to see members becoming interviewers, researchers, presenters, editors and professionals in their own right, while also creating a platform for others to tell their stories. She often describes part of their role as being “professional cheerleaders” — recognising and celebrating work that contributes to progress across the disability community.

That reflects a principle running throughout Catrina’s work: when a door opens for you, hold it open for others.

Through self-advocacy, employment pathways, training, creativity, media and leadership opportunities, Catrina and the people she works alongside are not simply asking for inclusion. They are actively building it and demonstrating what becomes possible when barriers are removed, expectations are raised and people are trusted with real responsibility.

Catrina is also a writer, speaker and advocate whose work spans national media, disability and inclusion events, healthcare education and collaboration with organisations seeking to make their work more accessible.

Her message is simple: disabled people should not have to change who they are in order to contribute to society. Society must become more accessible, equitable and supportive so that the skills, knowledge and lived experience disabled people already possess can be recognised, valued, and utilised to help shape a better world.