
Our Agenda
Hilton London Bankside • 19 Nov 2026 • #WDCConf
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Kitty Wood
Head of Content and Community, Shard Financial Media
Kitty Wood
Head of Content and Community, Shard Financial Media
Jenna Abbot
Managing Director, Shard Financial Media
Jenna Abbot
Managing Director, Shard Financial Media
Keep an eye out for our next Keynote announcement!
Keep an eye out for our next Keynote announcement!
The most effective leaders don't succeed by doing more; they succeed by creating the right conditions for their teams to perform at their best.
As a senior leader you are expected to make high-level strategic decisions whilst pushing your teams to succeed. Yet often leaders find themselves overwhelmed by operational demands, becoming the bottleneck instead of driving the business forward.
Drawing on her experience as a Senior Director at Adobe and Virgin Media O2, alongside her work as a positive psychology coach and bestselling author of Stop Apologising, Tara Rule will explore the mindset shifts and leadership habits that enable executives to lead with greater impact.
You'll leave with five strategic and practical rules to lead with confidence, create accountability, and focus your time where it delivers the greatest value and commercial success.
Tara Rule
Business Coach and Speaker,
Tara Rule
Business Coach and Speaker,
Keep an eye out for our next Keynote announcement!
Time to grab a refreshment back in the networking zone.
Values are important drivers of diversity, however a business case is vital to showcase the commercial impact and ultimately implementation. This session reframes diversity from a compliance exercise into a commercial advantage. Hear from leaders within the industry on how inclusive cultures drive innovation, unlock underserved markets, and improve credit performance. Real case studies will demonstrate measurable ROI from diversity initiatives.
Faye Byrne
Head of Customer Resolution, HSBC
Jessica Bateman
Chief Commercial Officer, Oodle Finance
Mike Deans
Managing Director, Borderway Finance
Faye Byrne
Head of Customer Resolution, HSBC
Jessica Bateman
Chief Commercial Officer, Oodle Finance
Mike Deans
Managing Director, Borderway Finance
A practical guide for rising professionals on how to build influence, navigate career pathways, and advocate for themselves in the credit and financial services industry.
Leave with a career strategy and actionable next steps.
Katie Orme
Head of Service Social Worker, Octopus
Katie Orme
Head of Service Social Worker, Octopus
Victoria Loosmore
Head of Product Proposition & Marketing, Advantage Finance
Victoria Loosmore
Head of Product Proposition & Marketing, Advantage Finance
How to challenge bias, contribute ideas, and influence senior stakeholders - even without the leadership or board title. Includes real workplace scenarios and communication frameworks.
Practical tools to confidently contribute in high-stakes environments.
An honest look at how bias enters credit models, policies, and human decision-making. The session explores AI bias, legacy systems, and cultural blind spots. Providing business leaders with practical steps to reduce unintended discrimination while maintaining strong risk controls.
How to stand out, build credibility, and position yourself as a future leader. Covers internal visibility, networking, and thought leadership. Gain clear steps to increase visibility and accelerate career growth.
Isobel Crosse
Head of Financial Care, Santander
Isobel Crosse
Head of Financial Care, Santander
The leadership playbook is evolving. This session explores how inclusive leadership drives resilience, engagement, and performance in fast-changing environments. It will focus on decision-making, psychological safety, and leading diverse teams effectively.
Gain insights into how to improve team performance and culture that you can implement straight away.
Jon Betts
Chief Operating Officer, BNP Paribas
Victoria Loosmore
Head of Product Proposition & Marketing, Advantage Finance
Zara Woods
Chief Operating Officer, Jaja Finance
Julie Twynholm
Chief Risk Officer, TogetherMoney
Jon Betts
Chief Operating Officer, BNP Paribas
Victoria Loosmore
Head of Product Proposition & Marketing, Advantage Finance
Zara Woods
Chief Operating Officer, Jaja Finance
Julie Twynholm
Chief Risk Officer, TogetherMoney
Want to know how your business can design products that serve diverse populations while remaining commercially viable? This session explores alternative data, flexible underwriting, AI and inclusive product innovation that expands access responsibly.
Gain practical ideas for product innovation that drives both inclusion and profitability - providing both new market and growth opportunities.
George Badejo-Adegbenga
Chief Executive Officer, Money in Minutes
George Badejo-Adegbenga
Chief Executive Officer, Money in Minutes
Many organisations have strong diversity policies, but translating them into consistent, measurable action remains a challenge. This session explores why initiatives stall after launch and what separates organisations that make real progress from those that don’t. Through practical examples, leaders will examine governance, accountability, leadership behaviours, and how to embed inclusion into everyday business decisions, not just HR frameworks.
This interactive session is designed to turn insight into action, giving you the chance to practise meaningful networking and career conversations in a supportive environment.
Through a series of facilitated roundtable discussions, connect with peers and industry leaders while exploring topics including confidence, visibility, sponsorship, leadership, and career growth.
Ross Chambers
Chief Commercial Officer, Finclusion
Helen Wilson
Chief People Officer, Atom Bank
Ross Chambers
Chief Commercial Officer, Finclusion
Helen Wilson
Chief People Officer, Atom Bank
Many don’t realise that sponsorship, not just mentorship, is what drives advancement. It directly supports talent development and retention.
This session breaks down the critical difference between mentorship and sponsorship, and why both play distinct roles in career progression. Learn how to identify, build, and leverage these relationships effectively, whether formally or informally. The session will also explore how to proactively seek sponsors and how leaders can step into that role for others.
Maria Vidler
Customer Operations Director, Capital on Tap
Maria Vidler is Customer Operations Director at Capital on Tap, the business credit card provider for small businesses across the UK and US. She brings over 25 years of experience in financial services, including senior executive roles, most notably as Chief Customer Officer at Starling Bank, where she led through a period of significant growth until her departure in September 2025. Maria has built her career around driving operational excellence and improving customer outcomes, leading high-performing teams through major change initiatives.
Elizabeth Blakelock
Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Monzo
Dr Elizabeth Blakelock is an award-winning leader who helps organisations create better outcomes for customers and colleagues. She connects evidence, inclusive design to show how organisations can build experiences that work for everyone. A disabled parent, Dr Elizabeth brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, regulatory expertise and lived experience. She is recognised for translating complex challenges into practical change. Today, Dr Elizabeth leads Accessibility and Inclusion at Monzo, where she is helping make money work for everyone while championing more inclusive financial services across the industry.
Chris Adams
Commercial Director, MotoNovo
Lindsay Gustafsson
Head of Risk, Novuna
Lindsay is Head of Risk at Novuna Consumer Finance, part of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK plc. She has extensive risk experience in both consumer credit and retail banking, working for a wide range of organisations including HSBC, National Australia Group and Non-Standard Finance. In her current role with Novuna, Lindsay leads a team of circa. 100 risk professionals responsible for Risk Analytics, Financial Modelling, Collections, Financial Crime, Risk Operations, Corporate Risk and Enterprise Risk. Outside of work Lindsay is a member of Credit Strategy’s Credit500 club, Special Advisor for The National Emergencies Trust and Non-Exec Director of Leeds Credit Union.
Maria Vidler
Customer Operations Director, Capital on Tap
Maria Vidler is Customer Operations Director at Capital on Tap, the business credit card provider for small businesses across the UK and US. She brings over 25 years of experience in financial services, including senior executive roles, most notably as Chief Customer Officer at Starling Bank, where she led through a period of significant growth until her departure in September 2025. Maria has built her career around driving operational excellence and improving customer outcomes, leading high-performing teams through major change initiatives.
Elizabeth Blakelock
Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Monzo
Dr Elizabeth Blakelock is an award-winning leader who helps organisations create better outcomes for customers and colleagues. She connects evidence, inclusive design to show how organisations can build experiences that work for everyone. A disabled parent, Dr Elizabeth brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, regulatory expertise and lived experience. She is recognised for translating complex challenges into practical change. Today, Dr Elizabeth leads Accessibility and Inclusion at Monzo, where she is helping make money work for everyone while championing more inclusive financial services across the industry.
Chris Adams
Commercial Director, MotoNovo
Lindsay Gustafsson
Head of Risk, Novuna
Lindsay is Head of Risk at Novuna Consumer Finance, part of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK plc. She has extensive risk experience in both consumer credit and retail banking, working for a wide range of organisations including HSBC, National Australia Group and Non-Standard Finance. In her current role with Novuna, Lindsay leads a team of circa. 100 risk professionals responsible for Risk Analytics, Financial Modelling, Collections, Financial Crime, Risk Operations, Corporate Risk and Enterprise Risk. Outside of work Lindsay is a member of Credit Strategy’s Credit500 club, Special Advisor for The National Emergencies Trust and Non-Exec Director of Leeds Credit Union.
The FCA’s increasing focus on non-financial misconduct is redefining leadership accountability across financial services. Behaviour once viewed as a people issue, including bullying, discrimination, exclusion, and abuse of power, is now firmly part of the regulatory and conduct agenda.
This session will explore what the FCA’s expectations mean in practice for leaders, how workplace culture impacts governance and performance, and why psychological safety is critical to creating high-performing, accountable teams. Leaders will discuss how to build environments where employees feel confident raising concerns early, without fear of reputational or career consequences.