Join us for a panel conversation hosted by Anjali Chorlton – Barclays, exploring how allyship and intersectionality can shape the future of technology.
The panel consists of Lauren Aspden from Barclays, Alex Jonas from Accenture & Lee Chambers from Male Allies UK. This cross-industry conversation will showcase advocates and allies who are driving meaningful change.
Through personal stories and candid discussion, we will unpack what Allyship really looks like in practice, dive deeper into the intersections that power innovation and explore how can ensure everyone has a seat and voice at the table.
Agenda
- 12.00 – 13.00 Panel
- 13.00 – 14.00 Networking
Speakers
Anjali Chorlton
Anjali is an Assistant Vice President Technology Operations Lead within the Strategy and Performance team across Group Technology Infrastructure Services and the Chief Technology Office at Barclays.
Anjali joined the financial services industry in 2019, and has navigated a dynamic career path from Personal Banking to Private Banking while earning a First Class Honours Degree in BSc Accountancy from Edge Hill University.
Her Journey at Barclays began through the Graduate Technology Programme where she worked as a Project Manager across three core teams contributing to governing the Enterprise Architecture Roadmaps, working on strategies across Cloud, Salesforce and the Technology Learning Curriculum, and driving the deployment of Rubrik in Non-Production environments on the Regulatory Barclays UK Resilience Programme.
Anjali’s dedication and hard work have been recognised with a Rising Star Award in 2023, and a Tech Women 100 Award, and place on the Northern Power Future List in 2024. Beyond Anjali’s professional achievements, she holds a position as the co-lead of the Women in Technology EMEA Grow Pillar and leads multiple strategic partnerships to attract and grow diverse talent in Technology. Anjali is an avid speaker and mentor, actively sharing her experiences and insights on Empowerment, Leadership and Inclusion. Anjali brings a fresh perspective through her experience, fuelled by curiosity and commitment to creating meaningful societal impact.
Lauren Aspden
Currently serving as Head of Private Cloud, Lauren is passionate about empowering individuals and championing diversity in technology. As a female leader who does not follow a traditional engineering path, her journey has reinforced her belief that different backgrounds and perspectives are a real source of strength. Lauren’s leadership is shaped by vision, empathy, and the drive to bring people together, rather than technical credentials alone.
After graduating with a BA Hons in Business and Marketing, Lauren spent a year in New York in event management, gaining invaluable experience about herself and the world. Lauren’s career has spanned various roles across both the private and public sectors before she found her home at Barclays 13 years ago. Since then, she has embraced a range of positions, always with a focus on supporting others to achieve their goals.
Outside of work, she is married and a proud mum to a lively four-year-old son who keeps life full of fun and energy.
Alex Jonas
Born in Salford, grew up in Bury, after challenging times throughout school Alex managed to gain access to the University of Warwick and complete an undergraduate in Maths and Economics before starting the path of Industry in Financial Services with Royal Bank of Scotland. Starting out a Retail Graduate and Branch Manager; he realise quickly that working with people and technology is the heart of what he likes to do. He completed his charter banker professional qualification and pivoted to Accenture and Technology Consulting, building over 15 years of experience in Financial Services, specializing in Platforms, Mergers and Acquisitions, Cloud & Security.
Today he operating as a highly commendable leader at Accenture Strategy & Consulting Financial Services, leading high-performing teams in delivering solutions like Cloud Transformations, Programme Management, and Security Platform Control Management across multiple clients, He has also set up and lead teams internally both regionally and global level to drive advocate for inclusion and diversity and encourage STEM careers, aiming to improve customer and colleague experiences using positivise of technology and ingenuity while safeguarding against potential job threats like the use of AI.
Lee Chambers
Lee Chambers is the Founder and CEO of Male Allies UK. After a diverse career, from corporate finance to building and exiting tech company, he is now focused on supporting organisations to engage men in inclusion and promote effective allyship. He has been featured on the Startups 100 Index, has received a Great British Entrepreneur Award, and sits on the board of CMI Women, Regenerage UK and the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. In 2024, he received the Freedom of the City of London for services to equality in business.
He is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA, the first Black British scientist to be awarded in its 33-year history, received for his work on health inequalities. He is the 2023 UN Women Changemaker of the Year, and is an ambassador for the UK Governments Lilac Review for Disabled Entrepreneurship. He speaks globally on allyship and intersectionality, having taken the stage at One Young World, ChangeNOW and the Bloomberg Global Equality Summit, and is the author of the upcoming book, Momentum: 13 Ways To Unlock Your Potential.
Personally, he shares his experiences as a Black autistic man, a stay-at-home dad, and his journey to learn to walk again after acquiring a chronic illness. He lives near Preston with his three children.