Women in the City: The Ripple Effect - how important firsts and individual action drives systemic change

Join us for the second event in the inspiring Women in the City series, exploring how groundbreaking firsts and individual actions create waves of systemic change.

Led by Ironmongers' Liveryman Isla Cooper, our panel features pioneering women who have shattered centuries-old traditions to carve new paths in and around the City. These trailblazers will share their journeys, the obstacles they’ve overcome, and the preconceptions they’ve challenged, offering insights into how their actions have reshaped their fields and inspired broader transformation.

Whether you’re a member of the Livery movement with an interest in fostering wider participation, somebody with a passion for inclusion, or are simply curious about what membership of a livery company entails, this event is for you. Come and hear how women are shaping the future of these historic institutions.

The evening will begin with a panel discussion with time for questions and discussion, followed by drinks and nibbles in the Drawing Room.

Panellists:

• Henrietta Brailsford, Search and Selection Consultant, Court Member and Chair of the Ironmongers’ EDI Committee, who developed the Company’s first EDI Policy and Roadmap.
• Laura Miller, Clerk of the Chamberlain’s Court, City of London Corporation; the first female to hold this position.
• Veronica Heaven, Founder of The Heaven Company, Speaker, Facilitator, and Author; Junior Warden/Middle Warden Elect at the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs.
• Annisha Taylor, Founder of The Annisha Taylor Consultancy, Culture & Performance Architect, Ofcom Group Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and former BBC Group Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging.

The evening will feature a thought-provoking discussion, giving guests the opportunity to ask questions, share their own experiences, and participate in informal networking afterward.

Speaker biographies

Henrietta Brailsford is a highly experienced Search Consultant with over 20 years of expertise in identifying and assessing top talent in payment technology, security, and fraud for leading brands in financial services. Her forensic approach ensures enduring and optimal matches for both clients and candidates.

A committed member of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, Henrietta contributes her time and energy to this historic City-based charitable organisation, serving as a member of the Court and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion. She has applied her professional skills to recruitment projects for the Company and has been actively involved in committees, including the Homes Committee where she wrote the Safeguarding Policy..

Henrietta’s journey with the Ironmongers’ Company began through an introduction by Past Master Richard Poulton, with whom she shared a passion for history and choral singing. She values the camaraderie of fellow members and the Company’s evolution toward greater inclusivity while preserving its heritage. Her past role as a Court Deputy reflects her commitment to understanding and shaping the Company’s future.

Beyond her professional and civic contributions, Henrietta has a lesser-known background in aviation. As an undergraduate, she flew over 100 hours with the RAF through the University of London Air Squadron, where she particularly enjoyed solo aerobatics. Her story exemplifies how individual initiative and first experiences can create lasting impact, aligning with the event’s theme of the ripple effect driving systemic change.

Laura Dobbie Miller grew up in Brixton and is a Londoner whose family have lived in the city since the 1600s.

Educated at Cambridge University and City University, her professional career began in the Home Office; this was followed by some years working for various government departments here and abroad, including a prolonged period of residence in Japan. Upon her return she has been a university librarian at King’s College London and at Guy’s and St George’s medical schools. Laura joined the Chamberlain’s Court in 2015, moving from Deputy Clerk to Clerk on April Fools’ Day 2022.

Laura lives with Ulcerative Colitis, an autoimmune disease and is interested in helping others thrive despite suffering from invisible disabilities. A lifelong feminist, she is also particularly interested in the history of women in London and has a fascination with the visual culture of the 1920s, writing on the topic for various magazines and blogs.

A Liveryman of the Stationers, a member of the Broad Street Ward Club, a member of the Art Deco Society and a Green Badge City of London Guide she lives in Blackheath with her husband Andrew, a Liveryman of the Educators Company. One day she hopes to have a dog.

Veronica Heaven FRSA is a sustainability strategist, corporate responsibility leader and author, with more than 20 years of experience helping organisations and leaders build purpose-driven strategies that create lasting change.

The daughter of Jamaican parents, Veronica knows something about ripple effects. When she received the Freedom of the City of London, it was the moment the beadle presented the paper for her to sign – carefully articulated and transcribed, recording not just her own name but her parents’ names and details – that moved her most. In signing that paper, entered into the City’s great record books, she was committing her parents into history as well as becoming part of that history herself. A single act of recognition, reaching back across generations and across the Atlantic. That is the kind of systemic change she has spent her career creating.

As founder of The Heaven Company, she helps organisations connect ESG strategy to real commercial and social outcomes – turning responsible business from a compliance obligation into a competitive advantage. Through Brief Cases, her Business × Education initiative founded in 2012, she has spent more than a decade building bridges between industry and academia, bringing sustainability challenges, entrepreneurial thinking and social good directly into university and school curricula.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and holder of the Freedom of the City of London, Veronica is currently Middle Warden-Elect of the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs – progressing through the elected offices toward Master Entrepreneur. In May 2026 she was jointly awarded the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award for London Livery Companies 2026 by the Worshipful Company of HR Professionals, presented by Peter Cheese, Master of the Worshipful Company of HR Professionals and CEO of the CIPD, for her sustained work promoting inclusion and belonging across the City and its Livery Companies.

Her forthcoming book, The Sustainability Blueprint, will be published by Bristol University Press in January 2027.

Annisha Taylor (she/her) is a nationally recognised culture and organisational effectiveness leader. She has spent more than 15 years championing equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging across the public, private and voluntary sectors. Annisha designs enterprise-wide strategies that turn inclusion into measurable performance.

She has led organisation-defining change, including achieving gender parity in senior leadership at the BBC, driving record levels of workforce data engagement and transparency at Ofcom, and setting new cross-industry standards for accessibility, demographic representation and accountability.

A trusted adviser to boards and regulators, Annisha embeds inclusion and equity into policy, leadership and regulation, aligning culture with strategy, risk and outcomes. Her work spans governance frameworks, inclusive leadership capability, data-led decision-making and supplier standards, consistently strengthening trust, talent pipelines and audience impact.

A Fellow of the Institute for Equity University Centre, a BRIT School Careers Trustee and a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator, Annisha is shaping the future of inclusive leadership and building an enduring legacy through people, policy and purpose.