Aim of session:

On International Women’s Day, the panel will discuss the role of diversity across the UK’s emergency services and share real-life approaches, learnings and best practice for the UK’s critical communications.

5 things the attendees will learn from this session

● The critical role of diversity within the UK’s emergency services
● How emergency service organisations are attracting and retaining more diverse talent
● Common diversity challenges and real-life examples of how they have been overcome
● Real-life examples of building diverse teams
● Insight from recent research into evolving citizen expectations for public safety
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    Teressa Latimer
    Head of Business Relationship Management, Motorola Solutions
    Teressa leads the Business Relationship Management team across all of the emergency and public safety lines of business within Airwave.

    Teressa has over 30 years of experience within the telecommunications industry, having started her career as a BT Operator managing 999 calls from members of the public and onward liaison with the emergency services. Fast forward to her role within Airwave, and Teressa’s support of the emergency services for over 20 years, coupled with a host of family members working across all the services, she fully appreciates the importance of resilient critical communications when it matters most.

    Teressa feels strongly about supporting female leadership and encouraging diversity across all organisations to support the communities they serve.
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    Sarah Roberts
    Programmes & Core Operations Director, Motorola Solutions
    Sarah leads the programmes and core operations functions in the UK for Motorola Solutions. This includes delivering the upgrades on the Airwave network to ensure the service is available as long as it is needed. Prior to this, Sarah spent almost a decade at Vodafone driving strategic programmes including the 5G launch in the UK. She started her career in consulting at Deloitte and BAE Systems.

    Sarah is passionate about delivering for our emergency services and enabling a more inclusive world. At Motorola Solutions, she co-leads the Women’s Business Council in the UK and is part of the CBI’s Women in Tech group.
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    Suzette Davenport
    Police Officer & Former Chief Constable Gloucestershire Constabulary
    Suzette served as a police officer for over 31 years in five different forces, the last being Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary.

    Suzette was the ACPO then National Police Council’s lead for Roads Policing between 2011 and 2017 leading a group of chief officers to set strategy and lever national resources to deliver operational activity. She was a member of the ACPO Race & Diversity Committee and Vice-President of the British Association of Women in Policing for eight years. She is a keen advocate of equality, diversity and inclusion.

    Since leaving policing she continues to chair the UKROEd Board (company responsible for the national delivery of speed awareness courses). She is heavily involved with PracticetoProgress which supports those that want to join policing, through to aspiring chief officers. Additionally, she supervises Masters students at the University of Cambridge.

    Suzette volunteers for the Cinnamon Trust and for the last four years has chaired the Gloucestershire FA Inclusion Advisory Group; and has recently been appointed to their Board. She is an avid Tottenham Hotspur supporter.
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    Jagtar Singh
    National Officer AFSA - Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire mental Health NHS Trust
    Jagtar is currently the chair of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust . Jagtar started his public service life in the West Midlands Fire Service in 1977 and retired as deputy chief fire officer in 2005. With over 28 years’ strategic leadership experience in senior public service and national roles, Jagtar brings a wealth of expertise to roles he now fills in the NHS he is currently the Chairman of Community and Mental Health Trust in Coventry .

    Jagtar was the first BME to be appointed as Acting Chief Fire Officer and rose from Fire Fighter to Divisional Commander in the West Midlands Service before completing his service as DCFO in Bedfordshire. In the NHS Jagtar is one of very few BAME board chairs

    In 2003 Jagtar received both the Public Servant of the Year Award at the Asian Achievement Awards ceremony in Birmingham, and was awarded an OBE for his work on equality and diversity in the Fire Service. Since joining the NHS Jagtar as received a number of awards for his leadership in 2015 was named by the HSJ as one of the top BME influencers in the NHS.

    In 2004, he was seconded to the role of Lead Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services working for the Department for Communities and Local Government as the first national leader for Equality , and led on embedding and restructuring Equality and Diversity in the Fire Service. After taking his retirement in 2006, Jagtar was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in the East of England Ambulance Service. Jagtar Singh was appointed Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trusts in September 2014. Chairman of Audit and finance in Bedfordshire Police in 2013 and reappointed for four year in December 2016. In 2016 was appointed by the Privy council as independent member of the Architects Registration Board.

    Jagtar is a keen golfer and supports Birmingham city FC.
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    Claudia Cox
    Principal Lecturer, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice - University of Portsmouth
    Claudia Cox is a Principal Lecturer in Policing in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth. As the Programme Area Lead for Policing Programmes, Claudia oversees the delivery of programmes delivered to student police officers in Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex under the Police Education Qualifications Framework. She is currently studying for a PhD which explores the policing of ethnic minority communities in Hampshire, focusing particularly on the application of policy in frontline uniformed policing and her experiences of conducting research in male spaces as a female researcher. Claudia has previously advised a number of policing organisations on recruitment, progression and retention processes for officers from under represented groups and is a member of the Force Strategic Independent Advisory Group for Hampshire Constabulary. She is currently working as part of the Police Education Consortium to research student officer experiences of learning about diversity and inclusion, and how this aligns to their early experiences of frontline policing.
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    Becca Jones
    Director of Asylum and Protection Transformation, Home Office