Project UpLIFT

Last night our Project UpLift committee got together to celebrate the huge achievement of our launch this year (here our Chair Martin Stone, Vice Chair Phoebe W. and one of our original founders Adam Greaves). Thank you so much to our supporters for your continued warmth, enthusiasm, and sponsorship - and the often challenging collective push towards further equality. We hope you all have an incredible festive period and we are excited to start telling you about our 2025 events soon!

A huge thank you to those who attended Project UpLIFT’s first educational event last night at Red Lion Chambers. Simon Blake OBE CCMI, new CEO of Stonewall was an excellent speaker and we are grateful for his insights into anti-conversion. Thank you Simon, and thank you to RLC especially one of our committee members Rebecca Chalkley KC for chairing. Just look at our excellent committee team of 11 with our new banner below (well done Becky James!). Martin Stone Phoebe W. Dipti Hunter Adam Greaves Cedric Saliba Melinka Berridge Nicholas Damski Piers Rake Tim Allen

Tomorrow is Project UpLIFT's first ever education event and we are hugely excited to be collaborating with Red Lion Chambers who have sponsored the evening for our friends, old and new. We are privileged to be able to be joined by Simon Blake, the incoming CEO of Stonewall. If you would like to secure your place (not long left!) please DM Becky James or email us on prj.uplift@gmail.com! Location details to be confirmed to attendees! Martin Stone Phoebe W. Piers Rake Adam Greaves Dipti Hunter Tim Allen Cedric Saliba Nicholas Damski Rebecca Chalkley KC Melinka Berridge Stonewall #Equality #Equity

There is still time to secure your spot for our event next Tuesday! We are really looking forward to welcoming our friends, contacts and colleagues for what promises to be a fascinating evening. More details below! 🗓️

Join us on 1 October for an educational event, followed by drinks and nibbles, generously sponsored by Red Lion Chambers! If you would like to secure your limited spot, please email prj.uplift@gmail.com or DM our committee member Becky James with your interest. The location of the event will only be disclosed to confirmed attendees. We are thrilled to be able to host Simon Blake, incoming CEO of Stonewall. Simon will be talking about the long-awaited forthcoming Bill banning LGBTQ+ Conversion Practices. The Bill, promised for years under the previous government was announced in the King's Speech in July. Simon will give us some background to the process and discuss the issues we expect to arise in the legislative journey. We look forward to welcoming you on the night! Martin Stone (Chair of UpLIFT) Phoebe W. (Vice Chair of UpLIFT) Committee members: Adam Greaves Dipti Hunter Nicholas Damski Tim Allen Becky James Piers Rake Cedric Saliba Rebecca Chalkley KC Melinka Berridge #ProjectUpLIFT #Equity #Equality #Stonewall #Education

📢 A major hurdle that we need to overcome as a global society (on all micro, meso and macro levels) in order to achieve gender equality, according to UN Women, is the "lack of women in leadership" (2023). 📣 Leadership has long been associated with masculinity, with men being perceived as more effective leaders, even by women (Biddle, 2018). More resilient and effective workplaces and societies necessitate a better balance between traditionally masculine and feminine leadership traits. So, what are those feminine leadership traits? And what is 'feminist leadership'? What are other relevant leadership theories that need to be considered? And what tools can woman use to become the very best leaders they can be, with organisations adapting to facilitate such? Join Charlotte Hill (夏 洛特), Maria Mulla and me at an A Mindful Lawyer event on 16 October, kindly hosted at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP - 'The Impact of Female Leadership: Theories, Traits & Tools'. Secure your exclusive spot at the seminar here: https://lnkd.in/e9KpXKSa Some further reasons why you ought to attend..?! The 2024 World Economic Forum 'Global Gender Gap Report' has confirmed: 😱 The global gender gap in 2024 is 68.5% meaning 31.5% of the gap remains unaddressed. At the current rate, it will take 134 years to reach gender parity globally. Women account for less than a quarter of C-suite roles globally - and this has dropped to 36.4% of 'leadership' roles globally, from 37.5% in 2023. According to LinkedIn data - men have not only larger, but stronger networks than women online. There is a gender gap in perceived opportunities to acquire the skills of the future. ♀ Let's support breaking down systemic inequalities together. #FemaleLeadership #GenderEquality #GenderEquity #OptimisingPotential #AMindfulLawyer #PMC

We’re delighted to welcome Phoebe W., Former Female Fraud Forum Chair, Project UpLIFT Vice Chair, and Founder and Director Optimising Potential, to the WDLA 2025 jury. Phoebe joins our diverse panel of judges, who are recognised experts, campaigners, and leaders. You can view the complete list of judges here https://lnkd.in/egPe3zNm Nominate yourself, your team, or your organisation and recognise their outstanding contributions and achievements in helping make the legal sector more diverse and inclusive in the past year. The deadline for nominations is 12 September. Find out how to nominate here https://lnkd.in/eJA8Zk47 #womeninlaw #diversity #mentalhealth #LGBT+ #diversityequityinclusion 

Raring to go after the bank holiday weekend!? Apply or nominate! 🏆 The judges (including me!) are excited to announce that we are now accepting nominations for the 2025 Women and Diversity in Law Awards - Open for Nominations, the ceremony of which will take place at Hilton Bankside on Tuesday 18 March. Some 350 finalists, awards judges and other representatives of the UK legal profession attended this year’s ceremony in March, which was hosted by award-winning actress, Natalie Gumede - who I can be seen on stage with about to present an award. 🔥 I am particularly proud to be representing my own company Optimising Potential, a specialist in consulting on female leadership, but also The Female Fraud Forum, the not for profit of which I was Chair of the board for two years, and Project UpLIFT, of which I am a founding board member and Vice Chair (all organisations which focus on closing equity and equality gaps across all sectors and industries). This is your chance to participate in a truly memorable awards ceremony, hosted by an inspirational celebrity and DE&I campaigner, when we will celebrate the achievements of the people helping to make the UK legal sector more diverse and inclusive. I am looking forward to collaborate again with some of the judges for the second year running including Alexandra Marks CBE, Dana Denis-Smith, Elizabeth Rimmer, Jane Livesey, Lesley Wan, John McElroy and so many more phenomenal individuals. We are also delighted to confirm that the official charity for the awards will be the legal mental health charity LawCare. To cast our net as widely as possible, we are encouraging individuals and teams to nominate themselves and others across the range of categories. Making a nomination could not be easier. Great work as always John Malpas! Read more here - https://lnkd.in/gKXwMiZz

SAVE THE DATE! Project UpLIFT is hosting its second event on 1 October, after the phenomenal success of our launch party in June during Pride Month. More details soon to follow.. but get it in your diaries! The committee can't wait to welcome you again soon. Martin Stone, Phoebe W., Becky James, Adam Greaves, Cedric Saliba, Rebecca Chalkley KC, Dipti Hunter, Melinka Berridge, Nicholas Damski, Piers Rake, Tim Allen.

Extraordinary collaborations coming your way. 👏 Oscar Davies won 'LGBTQ+: Champion of the Year’ at the Legal 500 ESG Awards 2024. Oscar was also nominated for 'DE&I: Rising Star of the Year' at the Legal 500 ESG Awards 2024, and is ranked as a Tier 1 ‘Rising Star’ in the Legal 500. Big energy, big ideas and big goals between us, with a shared purpose of equity and equality for all. A cliché expression.. watch this space. 👀