Surrey 2023 Conference

Carol Fergus is an experienced Director of Global Travel, Events, and Ground Transportation, currently working for Fidelity International; with over 30 years in the Travel industry, in procurement/vendor management, and operationally, mainly in the financial services sector. 

Carol has led several key global travel-related initiatives and is highly conversed and skilled across various travel categories. In addition, she has held a few other Advisory roles, written and critiqued key topics in various travel magazines, sat on panels, and steering committees, and spoken at many industry events. 

As Head of Sustainability at Booking.com, Danielle D’Silva leads the development and execution of the company's holistic global sustainability strategy – covering sustainable operations, making it easier for travellers to book sustainable trips and collaborating with partners and peers to catalyze sustainable travel growth.

Danielle was instrumental in the creation of Booking Holdings' inaugural Climate Action Plan and will use her deep topic knowledge to oversee Booking.com's progress against the targets set out in the plan. A passionate advocate for all aspects of sustainability, Danielle is also leading the integration of sustainability into the company's culture and its products. 

Previously, Danielle led Booking.com's operational sustainability programme and was responsible for a number of important milestones – including Booking.com becoming carbon neutral in its operations in 2020, overseeing the removal of single-use products from the company's global office infrastructure and the sourcing of 100% renewable electricity for Booking Holdings' operations. 

Danielle has a BA in cultural anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a masters in international development from the University of Amsterdam. Born in the USA, she embodies the intrepid travel spirit, having lived in five countries across three continents. She currently resides in Amsterdam with her partner and their golden retriever, Lola.

Toju is a Responsible AI Programme Manager at Google, with over 16 years experience spanning across Advertising, Retail, Not-For Profits and Tech. She designs Responsible AI programmes focused on the development and implementation of Responsible AI frameworks, processes and tools amongst Google’s product and research teams, with a focus on Large Language Models, Natural Language Processing, and Generative models.

Toju is also the Ambassador for Women in AI UK, a not for profit organisation with a mission to build diverse and inclusive AI globally. Toju provides consultation and advice on Responsible AI practices to organisations worldwide. She is the founder of VIBE - a women's community focused on personal and professional development using the underlying principles of emotional intelligence.

Professor John Ravenscroft, PhD (Chair of Childhood Visual Impairment) is a Psychologist, Educationalist, and uses philosophy into his work. Prof Ravenscroft is Director of the Scottish Sensory Centre, which provides career Long Professional Development for Teachers of Children with Sensory Impairment. He is based at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh and he is also the current Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Visual Impairment. He is the President of the International Council for Educators of Children with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) Europe) and lectures on cerebral visual impairment, inclusive education as well as research methods. He is known for his work on cerebral visual impairment and his “Conversations about CVI” have been views thousands of times on Youtube. Professor Ravenscroft is often found on twitter and welcomes any discussion about the nature of representation.

Becki Morris is a respected EDI consultant and lead access auditor for EMBED and is passionate about a world where everyone feels seen, heard and valued. As an experienced museum professional specialising in intersectional inclusive practice, Becki has created outcome focused relationships across education, heritage, culture, arts and charity. With her innovative, practical and user led approach she has supported organisations around the world as they look to recruit, retain and develop diverse talent and ensure that their audiences, visitors and stakeholders feel included and accepted.

Professor Geoffrey Lipman is President SUNx Malta - Strong Universal Network, Envoy for Sustainable Tourism Global Centre and lead for TPCC – Tourism Panel on Climate Change.

Previously, Professor Lipman was Executive Director IATA, First President WTTC, and Assistant Secretary General UNWTO.

He has played a key role in emergence of Tourism as a serious socio-economic sector.

• As Executive Director at IATA in the 1970's helped drive a new liberalization agenda, responding to airline deregulation.
• As first President of WTTC throughout the 1990's, he worked to pioneer new systems of measuring the sector, creating CSR Certification and supporting China’s efforts to open Tourism markets.
• As Assistant Secretary General of UNWTO, in the first decade of this millennium, he spearheaded new development support systems, including the ST-EP Program, led the Davos Climate Summit and launched G20 Summit recognition program.
• As Co-founder of SUNx Strong Universal Network - a legacy project of Maurice Strong This is a global initiative to support Climate Resilience, related SDG’s and Emergency Response through Climate Friendly Travel ~ Measured: Green: 2050proof.

He has served on public/private sector Boards in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Canada: Tourism Envoy to UNDP Administrator; Member EU Commissions on Airline Liberalization and on Tourism Employment: Environment Advisor to the Governor of Jeju Island, Korea: President ICTP (International Coalition of Tourism Partners). Worked closely with the World Economic Forum since the early 90's on its Competitiveness and Smart Travel activities.

He has written/lectured widely on tourism strategy, sustainability & liberalization; co-author/ editor of two books and numerous journal articles on Green Growth & Travelism as a visiting Professor, Victoria U. Australia and Hasselt U. Belgium. Co-author two major EIU studies on airline liberalization.

Debbie is an Associate Professor in Human Geography jointly appointed between the School of Geography and the Environment, and the Sustainable Urban Development programme in the Department for Continuing Education. She completed her master's degree (Geography, with distinction) at King's College London, and PhD at the University of Otago / Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou (Aotearoa New Zealand), and undertook postdoctoral training at the Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago, (2014-2016), and the Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford (2016-2017). Debbie is the Editor-in-Chief of the Association of American Geographers Review of Books and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Transport Geography, Applied Mobilities, Tourism Geographies, Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Global Networks. Her research centres on just decarbonisation, geographies of sustainability transitions, and mobile working lives. 

Debbie currently leads a three-year (2022-2025) ESRC-funded project, 'Trucking Lives', that seeks to uncover the complexities of logistical work, and works with colleagues in Norway and NZ on PATHWAYS, a Norwegian Research Council-funded project focused on sustainable tourism mobilities. 

Kathleen Richardson is Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University and Director of WERAID (Women, Ethics, Robots, AI and Data). 

Kathleen is author of An Anthropology of Robots and AI: Annihilation Anxiety and Machines (2015) and Challenging Sociality? An Anthropology of Autism, Attachment and Robots (2018). She has another book in the pipeline on ‘sex’ robots. 

In 2015 she launched the Campaign Against Porn Robots to draw attention to problematic effects of new technologies on human relations, and their potential impact to create new layers of inequalities between men and women and adults and children. She is co-editor of Man-Made Women: The Sexual Politics of Sex Dolls and Sex Robots (Springer 2022).

Dr Ansgar Koene is Global AI Ethics and Regulatory Leader at EY (Ernst & Young) where he leads the AI related public policy team and contributes to the work on AI governance and EY’s Trusted AI framework. As part of this work, he represents EY at the OECD Working Party on AI and Governance and the Business at OECD Committee on Digital Economic Policy (BIAC CDEP).

Ansgar chaired the IEEE P7003 Standard for Algorithmic Bias Considerations working group and is a co-convener for the CEN-CENELEC JTC21 “AI” committee’s work on AI conformity assessment. He is a trustee for the 5Rights foundation for the Rights of Young People Online and advises on AI and Data Ethics for the pan-African NGO AfroLeadership and the smart-mobility start-up Hayden AI.

Ansgar has a multi-disciplinary research background, having worked and published on topics ranging from Policy and Governance of Algorithmic Systems (AI), data-privacy, AI Ethics, AI Standards, bio-inspired Robotics, AI and Computational Neuroscience to experimental Human Behaviour/Perception studies. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Computational Neuroscience.

Naeema is a leading expert in future of work skills and transitions – including impact of AI, Diversity and Hybrid working. As Director of Future of Work, Diversity, and Careers in Henley Business School, University of Reading she set up the World of Work Institute where led The Equity Effect research project on Race Equity in UK businesses. Her wider research and consulting also include tech adoption and changing workplaces, GenZ and Four-Day Week.  Naeema has written and spoken extensively for publications such as BBC Worklife, Forbes and People Management Magazine on transformations in workplaces. She has co-authored the book Futureproof Your Career: How to Lead and Succeed in a Changing World addressing these key issues; diversity, technologies and societal impacts, including the impact of the pandemic.  She was named as one of the Ifpc-online Top 50 Worldwide Influencers on AI Ethics in and placed 11th in the Global Top Thinkers list by HR Magazine.  She is also Principal Practitioner with the Association of Business Psychologists. Naeema is now an independent consultant working also as Director of AI at MKAI – an AI Consulting firm, with leaders in meeting these challenges ahead more effectively.

Dr Mike Katell is an Ethics Fellow in The Alan Turing Institute’s Public Policy Programme and a Visiting Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. Dr Katell is an AI ethicist and technology policy expert who advises public sector organisations on their approach to data science and AI.