Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme

Before joining Cambridge Judge Business School, Patrizia pursued a PhD in Organisational Behaviour at the Olin Business School of Washington University in St Louis, which complements her background in economics and business administration.

The primary focus of her research is interpersonal relationships in organisations: how people can establish meaningful and productive relationships with their colleagues and the psychology of social relations in the workplace. She examines the role of biases and perceptions in the way people interact with one another at work. Her research integrates theory from social psychology, evolutionary psychology, social networks, and decision making to understand the nuances of how our perceptions affect our behaviour, interactions, work relationships and, ultimately, work outcomes.

Patrizia has taught professionals and executives around the world in topics such as negotiation, power and politics, social networks, and leading change. At Cambridge Judge Business School, Patrizia has taken over the academic directorship of the highly successful Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme, established by Professor Sucheta Nadkarni, which is centred around the unique challenges that women face as they rise as leaders in organisations and the factors that enhance their credibility and effectiveness as leaders. Besides teaching on the Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme, Patrizia teaches Negotiation in the Executive MBA Programme, Power and Politics in the Cambridge Senior Management Programme, and various sessions designed to help leaders to have an impact in their organisations in other flagship Executive Education programmes.

For more than 15 years, she has been advising and coaching senior professionals with a combination of deep psychological expertise as well as business and consulting experience. Before joining McKinsey, Smaranda worked in consumer/retail and as a specialised consultant for change management and coaching, advising senior executives on leadership issues.

She is a caring and passionate driver of initiatives and programs to help advance women leaders, e.g. as a Finalist Coach for the Cartier’s Women’s Initiative. Smaranda is a Fellow of Cambridge Judge Business School, where she is helping to drive the Women’s Leadership Initiative. She is a psychologist and holds an Exec.MA in Coaching and Consulting for Change (CCC) from INSEAD.

As much as she cares about women leadership, she is also a passionate mother of three small children and enjoys spending her free time with her son and twin daughters.

Leandra is an actress, writer, director and communication workshop facilitator. She founded Flying Cloud Theatre in 2009, bringing the communication and storytelling skills refined in theatre to business, government and education.

Professor Dame Sandra Dawson was Director of the School from 1995 to 2006, Master of Sidney Sussex College from 1999 to 2009 and one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors of the University from 2008 to 2012. She writes and consults on organisational behaviour, leadership and innovation.

In 2004 Dame Sandra was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire as part of the UK national honours system in recognition of her contribution to higher education and management research. In 2006 she was inducted into the International Women’s Forum’s International Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements in business education and leadership development including being an outstanding role model for women who aspire to lead in the commercial, educational and not-for-profit sectors.

Dame Sandra has wide experience in the commercial, public and charitable sectors, both in leading executive development and through serving on Boards. She is a Non-Executive Director of DRS (Data Research Services), TSB bank and Winton Capital Management and a Trustee and Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Government, the Social Science Research Council in the USA and the American University of Sharjah. She is a member of the UK India Round Table and has previously been a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology, an ICAEW Regulatory Governance review and an Advisory Board for the Aga Khan University on building a business School to meet the needs of emerging economies. Previously she has been Chairman of Riverside Mental Health NHS Trust; Vice Chair of Oxfam and served as a Non-Executive Director of Barclays plc, JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust, the Financial Services Authority, the Public Health Laboratory Service and Cambridge Econometrics and a member of the UK’s Senior Salaries Review Body and the DTI Task Force ‘Accounting for People’.

Watch an interview with Dame Sandra on the importance of celebrating women across the world.

Gillian is the Chief Executive at Peterborough and Cambridgeshire County Council and is the principal policy adviser to the 69 County Councillors and the statutory Head of Paid Service.

She is accountable for the Council’s half-a-billion pound budget as well as the work of around 10,000 employees across the Council and Cambridgeshire schools who deliver a wide range of services to the community.

Gillian is a solicitor by profession and quickly moved from the private to the public sector after qualifying in 1983 and beginning her career in local government as a trainee lawyer with Leeds City Council. It is for services to local government that Gillian was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours, 2008.

Khayala is responsible for developing and driving insurance and investment management, consulting propositions, services and opportunities, working closely with industry leadership team and senior clients across all line of services. Khayala is also leading the firm’s ‘Women in InsuranceTech’ initiative, which aims to empower the next generation of female leadership, bring more women into insurance and technology, inspire, advance and provide mentorship, support in their career progression.

Prior to joining PwC Financial services, Khayala worked at Microsoft EMEA, APAC and CEE HQs for almost 10 years,  holding various senior roles within consulting, global business development and channel sales covering different sectors and segments. She led teams comprising business development, sales, marketing and geographical expansion. She was awarded ”Best Start-Up” at one of the Venture Creation Weekends at Cambridge Judge Business School in 2016 in proposing a bracelet for epilepsy sufferers.

She holds an Executive MBA from Cambridge Judge Business School and an MSc in International Management from BI Norwegian Business School.

Susan sits on the Boards of Uber UK, the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), The Rank Group, Affinity Water and Wizz Air.

Janet Legrand is an experienced international dispute resolution lawyer and former Senior Partner at DLA Piper, which is one of the world’s largest law firms.

Janet served as Senior Partner and Chairman of the Board of DLA Piper from 2009 to 2012 and again in 2017-2018 and was a member of the firm’s Partnership Board for 20 years. Before being elected as Senior Partner, she was head of the firm’s Specialist Litigation team and won Legal Business’ prestigious Dispute Resolution Team of the Year Award. She was appointed as an honorary Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 2018 in recognition of her achievements within her legal practice and beyond. She was described by the Ministry of Justice as “a pioneer in enhancing the role of women in law, and in promoting social mobility, diversity and inclusion within DLA Piper and the wider profession.” In 2018, she was awarded Woman Solicitor of the Year at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards and presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Legal Awards.

Highlights of her client work include the Republic of Zambia’s successful anti-corruption proceedings against the Country’s former President and the successful resolution of the maritime boundary dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia.

Beyond the law, Janet is Chair of the Trustee Board of The Children’s Society, Deputy Chair of Council of City, University of London and a Trustee of its Students’ Union. She is also member of the Audit Committee of the University of Cambridge, where she studied law in the first year of women to be admitted to Trinity Hall.

Amanda is a Non-Executive Director of National Grid and a fintech CEO.

Emma began her career as a lawyer. After graduating from Oxford, she qualified at Linklaters international law firm and then accepted a position as Investment Banking Counsel at Merrill Lynch.

Uzma is a Senior Director at Motorola Solutions based in London, specialising in delivering mission critical technology and communications to the emergency services.

Uzma has worked in the field of technology for 20 years, leading large multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex, innovative transformation programmes into wide ranging industries, including finance, pharma, government, transport, engineering, construction and health. During her career she has worked at  Computacenter, EY, PWC and Microsoft.

Alongside her career in tech she has developed numerous programmes and strategies on diversity, gender balance, and building inclusive teams, highlighting their value at all levels of a corporation. The core focus of which is always on coaching leaders to embed diversity programme within business strategies owned by the executive, with objectives driven with the same momentum as revenue and growth. Whilst ensuring the programmes are both tactical, making a visible and demonstrable difference now, as well strategic, creating longer term investments in developing and harnessing future female talent.

Uzma also coaches individuals and groups to be stronger when facing their own challenges or supporting friends and colleagues through difficulty. Empowering individuals to have the confidence to deal with bias or discrimination through having open conversations that will lead to creating safe environments in business to allow everyone to be the best they can be.

Martha (Marty) S. Wikstrom is a seasoned brand and retail executive with over 30 years’ experience in global executive roles. She is a founding partner of Atelier Fund, specialising in the acquisition and development of luxury brands.

Ms Wikstrom currently sits as a Board Director of Fortnum & Mason, the 300-year-old quintessential English purveyor of food, drinks and gifts, Johnstons of Elgin, which has been making Scottish cashmere, tweed and woollens since 1797 and Farrow & Ball, a global leader in high quality paint and wallpaper. She is also a Board Director of The Rug Company, purveyors of handmade, designer rugs and Cath Kidston, the home of modern vintage. She was formerly a Non-Executive Director of Bally International and Space.NK.

As Chief Executive Officer, Ms Wikstrom led the Fashion and Accessories brands of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. She also served as both a Non-Executive and then Executive Director of the Board, sitting on the Nominations Committee, the Group’s Management Committee, the Chairman’s Committee and the Strategic Product and Communications Committee.

Ms Wikstrom served as the Deputy Managing Director and then Managing Director of Harrods. She was a Board Director of Harrods Holdings, Harrods Estates and Kurt Geiger where she was also the interim Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to joining Harrods, Ms Wikstrom spent 19 years at Nordstrom where she rose from a part-time sales assistant to President of the Full Line Stores Group.

In 2017, Ms Wikstrom was inducted into the World Retail Congress Hall of Fame.