A full day of bold ideas, honest conversations and powerful connections.
Across the UK, LGBTQ+ professionals are achieving incredible things. And yet, so many are still navigating their careers without visible role models, without safe spaces to reflect, and without networks that truly understand the nuances of being both ambitious and authentically themselves.
The Pride in Leadership Annual Conference was created to change that.
This is a day designed intentionally for LGBTQ+ professionals at every stage. Whether you already hold a formal leadership role, are growing your influence without the title, are exploring what leadership might look like for you, or simply want to build confidence and connection, this space is for you.
It’s somewhere you can think bigger, speak openly and connect meaningfully. A space where conversations about leadership, progression and impact go beyond theory and into lived experience.
We bring together senior leaders, emerging talent, founders, board members, allies and changemakers for one powerful day of insight, practical development and genuine connection.
Whether you’re stepping into your first management role, building influence at director level, leading from within your team, or still working out what your next move is, this conference will leave you clearer, braver and better connected.
This is not just another conference – it is a space for ambition. For visibility. For influence. For community.
BOOK NOW & USE THE PROMO CODE EARLY26 BEFORE SEPTEMBER TO GET OVER 20% OFF YOUR TICKET
Why attend?
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Inspiring keynote speakers and TED-style talks
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Practical masterclasses you can apply immediately
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Cross-sector networking with people who get it
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Honest discussions about leadership, power and progression
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A vibrant end-of-day networking celebration with music, food and drinks
If you’ve ever felt like you were navigating leadership alone, this room will remind you that you’re not.
Venue
Halle St Peters
Right in the heart of the city, with huge (and gorgeous) space for meaningful conversations and big ideas.
Outline Agenda
08.30 – Registration and networking
09.00 – Introduction and opening
09.25 – Discussion
10.25 – TED-style talk
10.45 – Break and networking
11.15 – Masterclass A & Masterclass B
12.15 – Lunch and networking
13.15 – Talk
14.05 – Break – return to masterclasses
14.25 – Masterclass C & Masterclass D
15.25 – Break
15.50 – In Conversation with Michael Cashman
16.50 – Closing remarks
17.00 – Networking drinks, food and music
19.00 – Close
Speaker Biographies
Lord Cashman CBE
Actor, activist, politician and author, Michael Cashman is one of the most influential figures in the history of the UK LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Born in London’s East End in 1950, he first came to national prominence as Colin Russell in EastEnders. In 1987, he was part of the first same sex kiss broadcast on British television, a moment of profound cultural significance at the height of the AIDS crisis and during the era of Section 28. At a time of widespread hostility, his visibility helped humanise gay lives and shift public attitudes across the UK.
In 1989, alongside Sir Ian McKellen and fellow campaigners, he co founded Stonewall. As founding Chair, he helped establish what would become the UK’s leading LGBT equality organisation, transforming workplace practice, influencing legislation and challenging discrimination at every level of society.
In 1999, Cashman was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands. Over 15 years in Brussels and Strasbourg, he became a formidable voice for human rights, civil liberties and LGBTQ+ equality across the European Union. As co President of the European Parliament’s LGBTQ+ Intergroup, he built cross party alliances to combat homophobia and discrimination at a time when protections varied widely between member states.
In 2014, he drew global attention to Russia’s anti LGBTQ+ laws during the Sochi Winter Olympics by publicly cutting up his Visa card in the European Parliament in protest at corporate sponsorship that ignored human rights abuses. The act underlined his lifelong belief that equality must be defended both politically and publicly.
Appointed CBE for public and political service and elevated to the House of Lords in 2014 as Baron Cashman of Limehouse, he continues to champion equality and global LGBT rights. His many honours include Stonewall Politician of the Year, the European Diversity Lifetime Achievement Award and the Honorary Freedom of the City of London.
His memoir, One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square, published in 2020, interweaves his working class upbringing, acting career, political life and the deeply personal story of his 31 year partnership with Paul Cottingham.
Aderonke Apata
Aderonke Apata is the founder and CEO of African Rainbow Family, a charity campaigning for racial justice and the human rights of LGBTIQ+ refugees and people seeking asylum.
Born in Nigeria, Aderonke faced persecution after her sexuality was discovered. She was arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to death by stoning under Sharia law for being a lesbian. After escaping that sentence, and following further violence against people close to her, she fled Nigeria and sought asylum in the UK in 2004.
What followed was a 13-year struggle for safety. Her asylum applications were repeatedly refused, with her sexuality questioned partly because she had previously been married to a man and had children. During those years, Aderonke experienced homelessness, immigration detention and solitary confinement, and came close to being deported. Frustrated by poor legal representation, she began studying immigration law and helped to build the case that eventually secured her refugee status in 2017.
Aderonke founded African Rainbow Family in 2014 while still fighting her own case. She has since transformed her lived experience into support, advocacy and safe spaces for thousands of LGBTIQ+ refugees and people seeking asylum. She completed her legal training and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2022.
A multi-award-winning activist and speaker, Aderonke brings together lived experience, legal knowledge and frontline leadership to challenge injustice and create change.
Laura Macleod CB CVO 
Laura spent 34 years in the Royal Navy, beginning as a weapon engineer and retiring as a Rear Admiral. Her career took her from operational deployments on warships around the world to Iraq with the US Army, leadership of Middle East military engagement policy during the Arab Spring, senior responsibility for talent and people policy across the Armed Forces, and oversight of major national military events including D-Day 75. She now works as an executive coach and facilitator, helping leaders make sense of themselves and the systems they inhabit. In this session, Laura shares some of the things she wishes she had known earlier about life, leadership and change.
Sharon Davies
Sharon Davies is the founder of Good Place Co, helping purpose-driven organisations build sustainable leadership systems that enable leaders to land, lead and leave well.
Drawing on 30 years of experience across the public and not-for-profit sectors, and nearly two decades spent leading teams, organisations and system-wide change, including five years as CEO of a national charity, Sharon brings a rare blend of strategic expertise and lived leadership experience.
She understands first-hand the realities of leadership: balancing competing priorities, making difficult decisions, leading through uncertainty and carrying responsibility for people, performance and purpose.
Sharon believes that sustainable organisations are built through sustainable leadership. Not by relying solely on extraordinary individuals to carry ever-increasing pressure, but by creating leadership systems that distribute responsibility, develop capability, support good decision-making and enable people to perform at their best without burning out themselves or the organisation.
Through coaching, consultancy and leadership development, Sharon works alongside boards, CEOs and senior leadership teams to strengthen culture, build leadership capacity and navigate critical moments of transition, growth and change.
Known for combining challenge with compassion, Sharon creates trusted spaces where leaders can think clearly, speak honestly and make meaningful progress on issues that matter to them most.
Jackie Handy
Jackie Handy is a speaker, author, and creator of the Matter Model, a simple but powerful framework for understanding how people experience connection and belonging.
With over 30 years in leadership, recruitment and organisational development, she has worked extensively in the space of engagement, inclusion, and human connection.
Her work focuses on the small, everyday moments that shape whether people feel seen, valued, and able to be themselves. Through combining lessons from her work and her long-distance hiking, Jackie helps leaders create environments where both people and performance can thrive.
Sam Malone
Sam is a voice practitioner, lecturer and author specialising in spoken voice, communication and embodied professional presence. His work explores the relationship between the nervous system, the body and the voice, helping people understand how they show up, connect with others and communicate with greater confidence and impact.
Drawing on somatic awareness, nervous system regulation and practical vocal technique, Sam supports individuals to develop a stronger sense of presence, communicate more effectively and stay grounded in high-pressure environments.
He holds an MFA with Distinction in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he now teaches, and also teaches on the RADA–NYU Tisch acting short course. Alongside his work in actor training, Sam works with organisations including Wagamama, Popeyes UK, Shoosmiths, the University of Manchester and Skadden LLP.
Sam is the author of Why They Can’t Hear You: A Practical Guide to Being Heard, which explores how the nervous system, connective tissue and spoken voice shape physical presence and impact.
Through his work with LGBTQ+ professionals, Sam creates space to explore voice, visibility and self-expression, supporting people to feel grounded, authentic and heard in professional environments.
Dr Harvey Kennedy-Pitt, DrPH, MPH
Harvey is a global public health consultant, health equity strategist, and scholar-advocate whose work focuses on advancing health equity for raciosexual and gender minorities. With expertise in research, policy, and practice, he has worked globally to develop inclusive health interventions that promote sustainable solutions and drive systemic change, dismantling barriers to better health for the most marginalised populations.
Tom Parson
Tom is an innovation partner who helps small businesses build their best ideas. Over the past 20 years he’s worked with leaders to reinvent their business despite a lack of time, skills or certainty – through training and workshops, rapid tech prototyping, and change management.
His work now centres on helping organisations embrace AI while driving human potential. Tom holds fractional CTO roles with Switchboard LGBT+ and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, teaches an AI in Leadership course at Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, and helps clients take AI-coded projects from prompt to live product.
Tom has always forged his own way. After freelancing as a teenage web developer, he started the digital agency Huddle Digital at 25 and ran this for a decade. Tom has reinvented himself more than once along the way, and credits his queerness as a key reason he has never been interested in living by someone else’s blueprint.
In other areas, Tom keeps busy as a Board Director at Place for Youth, a contract lecturer in business and innovation, and a founder of Circles MCR, a single website for all of Greater Manchester’s professional events. He’s also a musician, and released his debut album this year.
