Jo Cameron first entered the public consciousness in the hit TV show The Apprentice. She now runs URhired.co.uk, specialising in placing women into organisations where they are underrepresented. Jo has held several senior management professions in the motor industry; something of which only a handful of women achieve.

I’m the Events and Communications Manager at Women Into the Network (WIN) – a networking initiative based in the North East. I’ve been with WIN for six years, relocating from Durham to Hampton in Middlesex five years ago, where I continue to work remotely for WIN from my home office. I manage a membership of over 2,500 and deal with all the marketing and communications, events management and website development for the network.

Foluke Akinlose, a journalist and editor started Precious Online as an interactive magazine and network aimed at Women of Colour in the UK.

Naomi is an avid networker and is keen to be the positive change she wants to see in the world. She is the founder and director of 4WD (said ‘forward’), a creative youth advocacy and empowerment social enterprise for the young people of London. Naomi is the Team Leader of SIFE RHUL and the President of the combining Management and Entrepreneurship societies at Royal Holloway. She is presently working with the Make Your Mark campaign and is in the process of setting up a network for aspiring female entrepreneurs (students and recent graduates) based in London. She is also a part time model and holds the current ‘Miss Commonwealth Euro-Atlantic’ title with which she has met Ndaba Mandela, visited number 10 Downing Street and campaigned for various quality of life initiatives.

Yolande always aspired to be a journalist and Artist from a very early age. Due to having a mother with a strong business and entrepreneur background her interest in business grew which led to her starting her own retail fashion jewellery business at the young age of 18 which she ran successfully for two years. Her passion for writing led to her working for an online magazine whilst completing her last year at university. After graduating in Journalism (BA) in 2004, Yolande went on to work for a national paper, however due to her love and passion for fashion and business she gave her journalistic career a break and went on to work in the fashion fabrics buying department for John Lewis Head Office. In the summer of 2006 she left her full-time job at Somethin-Else Sound Directions Ltd and with the help of her mother Genevieve, an Interior designer and strong business woman, launched “La Geneve North magazine” a magazine “Reflecting Real Everyday Women” (www.lagenevenorth.co.uk) .In late 2006 she launched “Love Genevieve” (www.lovegenevieve.co.uk) her fashion art collection which captures her French heritage and is managed by her French agent Michel Betito. Since launching La Geneve North magazine, Yolande has …

My name is Sue Stockdale and I run Mission Possible - a company that provides inspiration and information for women who are starting up or growing their business. My background as a polar adventurer serves me well in business because running a business can be a bit like going on a polar expedition - you need to have courage, determination and focus to be successful.

Jackie Brennan is the founder of FreshIdeas Events (www.freshideasevents.com), an event company that runs conferences, seminars and networking events for entrepreneurs and corporate women in business. Jackie enjoys running events that inspire people, create connections and provide access to excellent resources and new ideas.

I’ve been actively encouraging women to network since starting a lunchtime networking event in Nottingham in March 2006. Being a volunteer mentor for start-up businesses and for students on the Entrepreneurship course at Nottingham University, I’m always keen to encourage young women to make the most of every networking opportunity. My online community for East Midlands business women set up I 2007 and the Smart Women site, www.womegetsmart.co.uk, has been going from strength to strength ever since. The site encourages inter-network networking and for women to post their own events to cross-fertilise contacts and opportunities.

Kath Tatlock, founding director of Business Support Network (SW) Ltd. Women in Business Working with women’s networks over the past 10 years, including a national and international network, I was delighted when asked by Business Link Devon & Cornwall to set-up a ‘women’ network’ in the South West of England. My professional background started as a Management Accountant with a small business in South Wales which grew from acquisitions’ of companies throughout South Wales and the South West. Finally, the company was brought out by a corporate ‘blue-chip’ company and I became the South of England Regional Management Accountant for the Motor Factoring Division which included the Midlands, South West, South Wales and South East of England. Being brought up on a farm in the rolling hills of Devon, I never considered myself ambitious to become a ‘corporate person’, but with a dynamic growing company, climbing the ‘career ladder’ was exciting for me, mostly because I had the opportunity to work with people who wanted to make things happen…it never ceased to amaze me all that we were able to achieve simply by ‘working together as one’. Then I had the opportunity to move to the USA with my husband’s …

Sonia Brown is the founder and director of the National Black Women’s Network (NBWN). In 1999, the National Black Women’s Network (NBWN) was launched to promote networking opportunities on behalf of ethnic minority women within the wider professional and business environment. She has worked with ITN, BBC, Lloyds TSB Bank, Business Links, London and American Express to name a few. Sonia has broad experience in business communication and event management as well as developing the business case of more innovative and forward thinking programmes for organisational transformation in diversity issues. She is currently working with a number of private, public and statutory sector organisations to support and develop initiatives, which promote career and business opportunities for black women. Sonia Brown has over 15 years experience of event and project management. She designed, implemented and facilitated a number of very successful meetings under the “Let’s Talk Business” banner on behalf of the National Black Women’s Network since 2002, which has provided the business community with an opportunity to discuss a diverse range of issues on how to successfully run and manage their businesses. Sonia has worked with the Women’s Equality Unit to deliver the Single Equalities Consultation and the launch of …