TEDxHultAshridge

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Chris Samsa

  Chris is a Positive Psychologist specialising in Applied Neuroscience and runs his own boutique consultancy helping organizations to be happier places to work and where people thrive. As well as a Faculty member at Hult International Business School, Chris is an Associate faculty member at Cranfield University, Chris is also an Associate Director with the NeuroLeadership Institute, and previously a visiting lecturer on the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program at UEL, guest lecturer at UCL and Goldsmiths and a visiting lecturer in NeuroLeadership at Witten Herdecke University in Germany. Chris is engaged with research into the impact of Organisational Growth Mindset with Professor Carol Dweck at Stanford. An experienced consultant, facilitator and coach, Chris works with organizations in the area of behavioural change, combining the latest findings from neuroscience and positive psychology to help improve thinking so as to be able to achieve sustainable results in record time. Chris has partnered with organizations around the world for over 20 years in various learning and development capacities and has also trained 1000’s of individuals on International Coach Federation (ICF) Accredited coaching programs.

• Debbie Wayth

  Debbie has worked with individuals and executive teams from organizations including the UK Civil Service, BP, J&J, NHS, Swarovski. She coaches senior teams and individuals through periods of significant change, ambiguity or transition. She works with executive teams to improve their effectiveness, as well as with individuals. Debbie comes from the world of business having worked primarily in the energy sector in commercial, strategy and leadership roles for BP in the UK, Middle East and the US for over thirteen years. She ran BP's gas business in Sharjah, UAE through a period of significant safety and operational change, and was also head of strategy for BP Solar & Wind based in San Francisco, US.

• Dr Christopher McCormick

  Dr Christopher McCormick is an international education specialist with over 30 years of experience in developing global competence. He helps professionals build trust, cultural sensitivity, and skills for intercultural communication. Christopher has designed and delivered training solutions with a global dimension for clients across a range of sectors. As a lifelong explorer and the spouse of a diplomat, Christopher shares his passion for discovery as a facilitator and coach to encourage curiosity. Christopher grew up in Texas, then later studied and worked in New Orleans, Paris, Monterrey, Austin, Boston, Shanghai, London, Zug, Lucerne, Colombo, Phnom Penh, Beijing, and Bangkok. He obtained a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin, and he has served over 25 years in executive roles for EF Education First and as an adjunct faculty member of Hult Ashridge Executive Education. He is currently Chief Academic Officer of the Efekta Education group, focusing on innovation in learning design and technology for large scale language instruction. He also holds a Certificate and Diploma in Coaching from the University of Cambridge, where he taught on the coaching qualifications. Christopher is based in Bangkok and London.

• Dr David Briggs

  David specialises in the field of collaboration between individuals, teams and organisations - coaching boards, developing leaders and facilitating change. His work is informed by over 20 years of consulting with organisations undertaking large scale change and integrations where collaboration has been critical to success. He is the inventor of The Collaboration Game®, a simulation designed to reflect the competing priorities typically found in matrix organisations, helping to develop the skills and behaviours necessary to collaborate effectively. David is a Programme Director and contributor at both London and Ashridge Business Schools and was one of the founding partners in CCL’s organisational leadership practice. His recent and current clients include Nestle, Dyson, Adidas, Clariant, BDO, CMS Law, Merck, ST Microelectronics amongst many others. David travels extensively, working in the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, speaking at and facilitating both internal and external conferences, as well as leading large group interventions. He is currently undertaking a PhD exploring how organisations can become role models of collaboration in our increasingly fragmented societies. He completed his Masters in Organisational Change in 2007 and relies on his first degree in engineering to keep him grounded!

• Dr Eve Poole

  Dr. Eve Poole OBE, author of Robot Souls and Leadersmithing, is an AI educator and thought leader with popular TEDx talks. She has taught AI in China, the US, and the UK, while conducting workshops for professional firms, universities, and the L&D community. A speaker at the AI Summit London and Scottish AI Summit, she was the cover story of the IOD Direction Magazine’s AI issue. Eve holds degrees from Durham (BA), Edinburgh (MBA), and Cambridge (PhD). Her career includes 15 years teaching Leadership at Ashridge Business School, change management at Deloitte, and leadership roles such as Interim CEO of the Carnegie Trust (2023–2024), Third Church Estates Commissioner (2018–2021), and Chair of Gordonstoun (2015–2021). Awarded an OBE in 2023 for education and gender equality, she chairs the Woodard Corporation and serves as Visiting Fellow at the Hult Leadership Lab.

• Dr Feena May

  Dr. Feena May is an associate faculty member at Hult Ashridge Executive Education specializing in leadership and learning. She draws on nearly 30 years of senior operational and leadership experience, having lived and worked in over 20 country contexts, often during crisis and conflict. Feena designs and delivers executive education programs across corporate, public, and non-profit sectors, particularly for senior leaders in the UN, Red Cross, and international NGOs, and also teaches at universities including Paris‑Sorbonne and Luzern. Previously, she spent 28 years at the ICRC, where she held roles in operations and humanitarian diplomacy and served as Chief Learning Officer, leading major transformations and building one of the world’s most advanced organizational learning ecosystems. She founded the award‑winning Humanitarian Leadership and Management School, now delivered globally. Feena holds a PhD from Paris‑Sorbonne and a DBA from Dauphine Paris, is certified in multiple leadership psychometrics, and is the author of The Power of a Lollipop (2025), a research‑based leadership book grounded in global frontline practice.

• Dr Stefan Cousquer

  Stefan works with leadership teams in the areas of strategic transformation, system change and top team effectiveness. He also works with executive education programs in the areas of strategic leadership, sustainability, organizational development and collaborative innovation. Previous senior leadership roles in strategy consulting and the energy sector have provided Stefan with the practical experience required to support clients lead change in leadership and business models. His current research focuses on the role of top management teams in enabling organizational transformation and humanizing leadership.

• John Neal

  John is a Professor of Practice at Hult International Business School and performance coach who works with leaders and their teams to achieve remarkable results under intense pressure. He is an exercise physiologist, performance psychologist and qualified executive and performance coach. He works across three industries: business, sport and the military. In business he consults with large global corporates including Coke, Swarovski, Munich Re, Sage, Erste Bank. In the sports world, John has crafted an extensive and successful career working globally as a performance coach preparing international and national leaders, coaches and their teams for 13 World Cups, 9 Olympic games, 3 European Rugby Championships, The Football Premier league, Lacrosse, British Horseracing, F1, the BOA and UKSport. In the military he works for the Defence Leadership Academy at Shrivenham, NATO and with the RAF, British Army and Navy, the British and Scottish Police services, GCHQ and the Abu Dhabi Police. John is also MD of Neal Training – Corporate Health Management. He was Wellbeing Advisor to the Royal Household for seven years.

• Michael Gambs

  Michael is an executive education leader and consultant specializing in business transformation and leadership in complex, authority-light environments. With over 10 years of experience, he designs and delivers customized programs for global organizations across NGOs, luxury, industry, and pharma/beauty sectors. Previously, he was Global Director of Leadership at Swarovski, where he co-founded an award‑winning Leadership Academy, and earlier worked as a management consultant leading large-scale telecom transformations in France and the UK. He is known for blending structure with adaptability to drive sustainable change. Michael holds a BBA from EDHEC, an MBA from Notre Dame focused on change, and is a certified coach with extensive psychometric expertise.

• Sharon Olivier

  As an organizational psychologist and with significant industry experience, Sharon researches, writes and facilitates experiential learning in topics around new leadership logics for the 21st century; leadership agility; polarity management; integrative thinking; engagement and motivation; cognitive diversity and psychological safety; and emotional resiliency. She has established a record of accomplishment as accredited individual and team coach, inspirational speaker, and author of publications including Agile Leadership for Turbulent Times; The Role of the Ego in Servant Leadership; and Mindful Leadership.

• Sona Sherratt

  Sona's interests are focused on the development of executive leadership and organizational culture, particularly focusing on underpinning high performance with psychological safety, inclusive leadership, and learning agility. She is interested in working to support long-term sustained culture change through individual learning and behavior change. She designs courses which balance classroom discussion and interactive theory building with practical examples and experiential simulations.

• Trudi West

  Trudi has a keen interest in what drives thinking, feeling and action at an individual, group and organizational level. She mostly works with leaders being pulled in many directions, with few ‘right’ answers. Underpinned by her research and with experience working globally across a range of industries, Trudi creates trusting yet challenging learning environments for leaders to experience, make sense and ultimately, do something different to enable change for themselves and others.