International Women’s Day with Smart Works GM

Join Smart Works Greater Manchester for a special International Women’s Day celebration as we come together to reflect, inspire, and drive change. This year, we’ll showcase our ongoing efforts to tackle women’s unemployment and share key highlights from 2024, including our latest award-winning unemployment index research. Discover the critical areas we will focus on in 2025 to continue making impactful strides toward women’s unemployment.

The event will feature an inspiring panel discussion, where advocates will share their journeys, insights, and actionable steps for creating more opportunities. Learn how initiatives such as Male Allies UK and MACHO are fostering collaboration and driving change.

Whether you’re passionate about Smart Works Greater Manchester, or eager to learn about the latest research, or seeking practical ways to support women in your community, this event is for you. Together, let’s step forward in solidarity and help #AccelerateAction for a brighter future.

Panel includes:

Host – Louise Minchin, a well-known and respected broadcaster, journalist, and TV presenter. Louise presented the UK’s most watched Breakfast programme BBC Breakfast on BBC One for 20 years. She was chair of the 2023 judging panel for the prestigious literary award, the Women’s Prize for Fiction and is a successful author and podcaster.

Before joining BBC Breakfast, Louise was one of BBC News 24’s main anchors and one of BBC Radio 5 Live’s main presenters. She also guest presented The One Show and presented the BBC One daytime series Real Rescues, Missing Live and Crime and Punishment. Louise competed in Celebrity MasterChef, finishing as runner-up. She also took part in the Channel 4 series Time Crashers.

Louise’s passion is endurance sport. Having given up competitive sport as a teenager, after a BBC Breakfast Christmas cycling challenge she was inspired to attempt her first triathlon in 2013 and went on to qualify for the GB age-group team to race in Chicago in 2015. Since then, she has raced in five World and European Championships and has gone on to compete in extreme triathlons including one of the toughest triathlons in the world, Norseman in 2019.

In 2022 she hosted the top-rated podcast, Push Your Peak. In this podcast series, Louise interviews first class athletes who have done extraordinary things, to learn what it takes mentally and physically to get to the top of their game.

Rebecca Rennison

Rebecca is a partner at EY focused on Corporate Finance M&A. She has over 20 years’ experience helping shareholders unlock value by completing transformational transactions with Private Equity and global strategic trade. Born in Manchester, she spent 15 years with a North American investment bank whilst living in Vancouver, Canada. Rebecca is very passionate about DE&I and actively shares her experiences including her “Work Life Harmony Handguide” and “Confidence Boosting Alphabet” on how to SMASH Imposter Syndrome. She chairs EY’s Corporate Finance Women’s Network and created the Redefining “MACHO” programme to help encourage male allyship and support a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Rebecca was recognised as a “Changemaker” at the 2022 Yorkshire Rainmakers Awards and was added to the exclusive Northern Power Women POWER list in 2023. She is CPA, CFA charterholder and former Trustee of Big Sisters and Broughton House care home charities.

Lee Chambers

Lee Chambers is the Founder and CEO of Male Allies UK. After a diverse career, from corporate finance to building an exciting tech company, he is now focused on supporting organisations to engage men in inclusion and promote effective allyship. He has been featured on the Startups 100 Index, has received a Great British Entrepreneur Award, and sits on the board of CMI Women, Regenerage UK and the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. In 2024, he received the Freedom of the City of London for services to equality in business.

He is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA, the first Black British scientist to be awarded in its 33-year history, received for his work on health inequalities. He is the 2023 UN Women Changemaker of the Year, and is an ambassador for the UK Governments Lilac Review for Disabled Entrepreneurship. He speaks globally on allyship and intersectionality, having taken the stage at One Young World, ChangeNOW and the Bloomberg Global Equality Summit, and is the author of the upcoming book, Momentum: Reboot Your Career, Unlock Your Potential.

Personally, he shares his experiences as a Black autistic man, a stay-at-home dad, and his journey to learn to walk again after acquiring a chronic illness. He lives near Preston with his three children.

Tickets include a light breakfast. All proceeds go to Smart Works Greater Manchester, supporting women into employment – thank you for your incredible support.