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Of Malaysian Chinese origin, Mei Sim Lai has lived in the UK since 1970. She is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the ICAEW and a Fellow of the ACCA.
In 2007 she set up her own firm LaiPeters & Co looking after SMEs and charities and organisations in the not for profit sector. She is also the Managing Director of LaiPeters Limited, which offers management and other consultancy services to clients.
Mei Sim has held and currently holds a number of public, city and charity appointments, currently including a non-executive directorship of International Women of Excellence. She was appointed OBE in 2004 for services to equal opportunities. She became a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in 2006 and in 2007 she was appointed the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Brent.
Lesley graduated in law from Birmingham University in 1977, winning the University’s Prize for Planning Law. She qualified as a solicitor in 1980, having been only the second woman to obtain a training contract at Freshfields in London, and remaining with them until 1984. Lesley has since held partnerships in law firms Masons (1984-1993); DLA (1993-1997); Beachcrofts (1997-2003); Reed Smith (2003-2008) and am currently a partner in Field Fisher Waterhouse’s Property Litigation Group.
Throughout her career she has specialised in solving property problems particularly in relation to commercial lease disputes and planning matters. From 1997-2003, Lesley was a member of the Property Advisory Group to the UK Government and in 2002 she was awarded an OBE for services to the property industry and to the PAG. Lesley is currently an independent member of the Commercial Property group of DCLG. Lesley works with the surveying profession, particularly on commercial valuation and rent review disputes and is a member of the RICS training panel for surveyor decision-makers. In 2007, Lesley was given honorary membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for services to the property industry. Also an honorary member of Arbrix , the surveyor-arbitrators’ body and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. In 2004, Lesley was elected as a District Councillor for Epping Forest District Council where she is Chairman of the Standing Planning Panel.
Elizabeth Coffey founded Spark Leadership in 2005 to advise Board Executives on developing their organisations by leading change. She works with CEOs and Boards across a broad range of blue chip global businesses to develop individual leaders, top teams and the companies themselves.
For 5 years, she was the Non-Executive Director of Green Bay Media, a Bafta-winning independent film company. Elizabeth lectures internationally on change, leadership and organisation development on academic and professional platforms. She won the accolade of Mentor of the Year at the Women of the Future Awards 2007. In early 2008, she was part of an exclusive UK trade delegation to Mumbai hosted by the British High Commission. In 2008, she spoke about leadership at the Women’s Economic Empowerment Summit (London), for the Women United Conference, for 100 Women in Hedge Funds and at an international conference in Bangalore and at London Business School in 2009.
In 2002, Elizabeth joined Mercer Delta Consulting Ltd. to head the UK Leadership Capabilities practice. She delivered long term projects covering organization redesign, senior leadership development, corporate governance and culture change. Previously, Elizabeth spent five years as a Partner with The Change Partnership Ltd., developing a portfolio of leaders and senior teams from top FTSE 250 companies and public sector organisations. Her latest book on leadership was published by McGraw Hill in 2002, entitled 10 Things That Keep CEOs Awake – and How to Put Them to Bed. This went into its second print after 2 months and has been translated into Chinese.
The End of Tolerance?, published in 2002, outlined Elizabeth’s practical approach to business diversity issues in one of its chapters. In 1999, Elizabeth co-authored The Changing Culture of Leadership – Women Leaders’ Voices – a research-based book about women leaders across 20 industries in the UK.
Angela’s background is in psychology, specialist education and therapeutic work with hearing-impaired children and their families, in schools, hospitals and independent practice.
In 1995 she founded the Speech, Language and Hearing Centre for children with communication difficulties. This was the first of its kind in the UK, established in a stunning building, which won a RIBA award and providing an interdisciplinary model of teaching and therapy. As Director, Angela was responsible for managing the funds of the Charity, in overseeing the budgets of the organisation and reporting to a Board of Trustees. She brings these skills and expertise to Forum UK as Treasurer.
Angela is committed to the values of Forum UK. In her new role as an Executive Coach, she has a particular interest in the Leadership Foundation and in programmes that support International collaboration.
Liz McMahon is Managing Director of Madison-Muir, a strategic brand and marketing consultancy working with companies in the Financial Services sector and those considering involvement with and sponsoring the Olympic Games. Clients include J.P. Morgan, BT, Portas Consulting, Centre for Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), and the International Olympic Committee.
Liz was Head of International Marketing for the successful London 2012 Olympic Games Bid, on a leave-of-absence from Citigroup, where she was a Director in the Global Consumer Investments group. Prior to joining Citigroup, she was Director of Marketing Services for the IOC in Lausanne Switzerland. Before moving to Europe, she managed Global Corporate Marketing Communications at 3M. Liz has also held executive positions in New York with Nabisco Brands and Chase Bank.
A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University with an honours degree in Political Science/International Relations, she did her graduate work at New York University Stern School of Business.
Jan Morgan is the founding Chairman of Grosvenor International – a boutique London based Property Consultancy. Grosvenor provides a discreet bespoke service handling both acquisitions and disposals of ‘top end’ residential sales and lettings, and is also represented in New York, Geneva, Tuscany and the South of France.
An entrepreneur by nature and motivated “by opportunity and optimism”, Jan spends much of her spare time on charity work ranging from The Alzheimer’s Research Trust (Patron and former Chairman); The Royal Free Hospital (Trustee of the Charitable Trust); the International Women’s Forum (former UK President) and Lithuanian Orphans (Founder of ‘LOST’ - Lithuanian Orphans Support Trust), as well as being an award winning gardener and loving entertaining, music, and France!
Liz is Executive Chairman, Q Research Ltd
Anne has recently been appointed to the General Medical Council and chairs two Programme Development Groups in the National Institute of Clinical Excellence’s public health programme. She is Vice Chair of the Government’s Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of the Islington Primary Care Trust, President of the Sex Education Forum and a trustee of FPI (the Family and Parenting Institute). In 2001 she was awarded on OBE and in 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bristol for her contribution to human rights, and especially women’s rights.
For thirty years, Anne’s career was in the charity and voluntary sector. She was Chief Executive of fpa (the Family Planning Association) for twelve years. Previously, she was Director of Information & Public Affairs and Company Secretary at the National Children’s Bureau and Head of Finance and Administration in the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. She has served on numerous committees including the Women’s National Commission, the Board of the Children’s Rights Office and the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy. She has also been the non-executive chair of two commercial companies. Anne has degrees in Physics and Sociology and is a Chartered Accountant.
Susan is an international executive who has worked in organizations such as General Electric, Black & Decker. She has also been MD in a number of ’start up’ companies. Recently, she completed an MSc in Organizational Psychology. She plans to develop a consultancy practice around the subject of her dissertation, leadership styles and innovation. Since she has had much experience in new product development, she has the ability to “get things done”. As Forum UK is an organization she deeply values, she will use her skills to support its continued development.
Susan has a BA and MBA from the University of Massachusetts and an MSc in Organizational Psychology from Birkbeck College, University of London. She has just completed a 2-year renovation project of a house in Italy and plans to spend as much time as possible there.
Liz comes to Forum with 18 years experience from the Royal Society of Arts, where she ran their extensive public events programme. She managed over 100 events a year, ranging from film screenings and academic conferences to lectures and presentations by some of the world’s leading thinkers.
Liz is a highly experienced administrator and is really looking forward to developing Forum’s events programme. She would love to hear from Members about their ideas for events, interesting new venues and good speakers.
Liz’s interests lie mainly in the arts and current affairs. She also enjoys travel, cooking, visiting new restaurants and gardening, and is currently attempting to grow her own fruit and vegetables.
Tel: 020 8248 2371
Fax: TBA
Email: admin@forumuk.org