The Judges
Entries submitted ABP Annual Awards will be judged by a panel of business psychologists, industry experts and senior professionals from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
Once again, we have a highly distinguished and experienced judging panel:
Anton Fishman – Convening Judge
Director, Fishman & Partners Ltd
Anton has been a Board member of The ABP twice in the last 20 years and for the last three years has been the convening judge for its Excellence Awards.
Originally an educational psychologist he joined Hay Group in 1985 after his MBA where he co-founded their management competencies practice and later led their performance management practice. He subsequently established and ran the change management consultancy Regenesis in the ‘90s and its business psychology and coaching offshoot Corporate Insights in the early 2000s. Buying into the firm he joined the Board of Boyden Interim Management in 2006, now Alium Partners. In 2010 he co-founded Crowne Finch the HR Transformation consultancy. Now euphemistically ‘semi-retired’ he is an executive coach, mentor to new entrants into HR and business psychology, board advisor to tech start-ups and small consultancies as well as trustee of a number of small charities.
Clodagh O’Reilly
Clodagh is a Talent Specialist, applying strategic thinking and behavioural science to deliver results in challenging situations, with a track record of performance turnaround, practical innovation, and talent development.
Clodagh is a former Chair of the Association for Business Psychology and the Founder of the ABP Workforce Experience Awards. She has published four books showcasing the practice of Business Psychology in the UK and was awarded Honorary Lifetime membership of the ABP in 2020. She has been a guest speaker for various universities’ business psychology and management strategy degree courses, and has addressed conferences in the UK, US, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Dr Nicola Millard
Principal Innovation Partner, BT
Once described as “human caffeine” on Twitter, Dr Nicola Millard injects a positive, people-centred expresso shot to innovation and future strategy. Half social scientist, half technologist, all academic, she uses techniques from disciplines such as design thinking, psychology, anthropology, computing, and business consulting to generate data, provocations and stories which can engage and create conversations from the board room, to the front line. No frothy coffee; just solid research.
In her long and varied career at BT – mostly based at Adastral Park in Ipswich – Nicola has done many jobs, including futurology, research, usability, customer service, marketing, and business consulting. She was involved with some BT firsts, including the first application of artificial intelligence into BT’s call centres, BT’s initial experiments with home working, and helping to develop BT’s “net easy” score, a new way of measuring customer experience. She currently looks at innovation in both employee and customer experience.
Nicola got her PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from Lancaster University in 2005 and has authored over 50 publications – including 1 book and numerous book chapters.
Nicola is an award-winning presenter, with 2 TED talks and hundreds of conference panel, chair and keynote sessions under her belt. She occasionally pops up on radio and TV around the world, including appearances on ‘Woman’s Hour’, ‘Tech Tent’, ‘The Media Show’, ‘The Genius of Invention’ and ‘Back in Time for the Weekend’ for the BBC.
In both 2019 and 2020 she was listed as one of the top 20 UK CX Influencers by Customer Experience Magazine.
Dave Millner
Founder and Consulting Partner, HR Curator Ltd
Dave has a business background working in financial services in the area of retail and corporate lending and risk for some 8 years, followed by 30 years of internal and external HR consulting experience in NatWest/RBS, PSL, Kenexa and IBM as an occupational psychologist. Dave worked directly with different global and multi-national based organizations offering organizational effectiveness-based solutions focusing on future proofing their businesses.
He is a regular presenter at global HR conferences promoting the role of technology, people analytics and the need for HR to be more commercial in its’ approach so that it can demonstrate tangible business value. His first book ‘Introduction to People Analytics’ on the changing role of HR and the increasing demand for data insights was published in April 2020.
He’s referenced as being a key influencer on Twitter via @HRCurator in a number of HR subject areas (c29,500 followers). He’s an Associate with Corporate Research Forum (CRF), GPS Asia, Hult Ashridge Business School, the Centre for Effective Organizations (CEO) at the University of Southern California (USC) and is an Adviser to iPsychTec, a cultural analytics provider and Meetr.ai, a communications intelligence platform. He is one of Engage Employee’s Forward Thinkers for 2021 and HR Magazine’s #16 HR Most Influential Thinker 2021.
Dr Rachel Lewis
Registered Occupational Psychologist, Director at Affinity Health at Work and Reader at Birkbeck, University of London
Dr Rachel Lewis is a multi-award winning registered occupational psychologist, working alongside Dr Jo Yarker, across academia (together they lead the Professional Doctorate in Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London) and practice (as Directors of Affinity Health at Work). With a particular research interest in mental health at work, Rachel works and advises across the field of work psychology. Having authored more than 150 papers, research reports and evidence-based guides, her work has contributed to both governmental and organisational strategy and policy globally. She is passionate about research that enables organisations, managers, teams and individuals to realise their potential and thrive.
Debbie Stevens-Gill
Senior Lecturer and Course Director MSc Occupational Psychology at University of Wolverhampton
Debbie is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and full member of the Division of Occupational Psychology and a registered Occupational Psychologist with the HCPC and a chartered Euro Psychologist.
Having graduated from Aston University with a distinction in Work Psychology and business, she has experience in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels including research supervision.
Mike Haffenden
Director at Strategic Dimensions
I run four Consultancy businesses in recruitment, HR research, learning and conferences. We focus on the business contribution, stressing the importance of evidence and evaluation. I have an extensive international network of consultants, politicians, academics and HR practitioners. I am interested in what really adds value in business rather than the platitudinous fads and fashions often pMy degree is in Psychology (Cardiff) followed by a post graduate qualification in HR (Cardiff). I have experience of working for 6 major multinationals and have run a successful consulting business for 25 years. I have an unusual distinction in HR of practical experience with a good theoretical underpin and a welldeveloped commercial perspective.
I am interested in business connecting with politics, education, technology and doing work which furthers the cause of real wealth creation.roliferating in the HR community.
Sakshi Bansal
Founder, Project LEAP.
Sakshi is the recipient of the Diana Award- the highest civilian award for humanitarian work across the globe. She is also the world’s first UNESCO Kindness Leader. As the founder of Project LEAP, a social service project- committed to SDG4 and an Occupational Psychologist- Sakshi spends her time consulting on a variety of topics including people & talent, sustainability and ESG. Currently living in the UK, she is originally from India and often uses concepts from Indian Psychology to facilitate change management sessions across the globe. She also advises multiple AI-Based start-ups after three years of her own start-up experience and is a passionate traveller.
Claire Lish
Claire is a Business Psychologist and HR practitioner, and is a Fellow of the ABP, and Chartered Fellow CIPD. Leveraging over 20 years of experience in people management and development, Claire has helped organisations achieve their goals through transformational change, specialising in organisational design, leadership development, and large-scale business transformation. Claire is currently studying for her Stage II qualification in Occupational Psychology with the BPS.
As a practicing business psychologist, Claire has helped firms navigate through complex challenges, develop leadership skills, and build high-performing teams. With a sound background in group and cross-country HR leadership, shared services, and board-level strategy, Claire leverages their expertise to provide transformational guidance to organisations. Claire has previously served as an INED of a Sports National Governing Body, Board member of People and Change Working Group, Chair of RemCom, Board Equality Champion, Director of a secondary school with a specialism in Computer Sciences, and Director of a Sports Charity, gaining significant experience across diverse areas. Currently, she serves as a Board Member and Head of Professional Development for the Association for Business Psychology and Board Member, Chair of the Remuneration Committee for 100 Houses Society, trustee of the Elstree Screen Arts Foundation, and runs a community judo club in her spare time.
Lee Chambers
Lee Chambers is the founder and chief business psychologist at Essentialise, an inclusive wellbeing consultancy. He has had a diverse career, with roles in corporate finance and local government, and scaling a tech business to exit before launching Essentialise, which has featured on this year’s Startups 100 Index and Small Business 100.
In 2023 Lee received the Kavli Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences, becoming the first Black British scientist to be awarded in its 33-year history for his work on health inequity within marginalised communities, and he was inducted into the Black Cultural Archives for services to health in 2022.
He is a board member of CMI Women, a trustee for Age Concern, has spoken at the Bloomberg Global Equality Summit and is the author of the Millennials Guide to Wellness.
Giles O’Halloran
Giles is an experienced HR professional who works as a freelance consultant, coach, speaker, and writer. He started his HR career working for IBM and his last role with IBM was as an HR Business Partner for the UK’s largest strategic business unit. He has since worked in other senior HR roles across Europe, advised at Board level, and worked internationally as a consultant. He is passionate about technology, the value of knowledge networks and the future of work. He has experience of working in multiple sectors and across the world. Giles calls himself the “HRGP – The HR General Practitioner” as he provides a wide and varied portfolio of consulting capabilities to his clients, but his real experience and expertise lies in business partnering. This has led to him leading business partnering development as a practice and faculty for the CIPD, designing and delivering programmes for a global audience.
The judging panel has been carefully selected to ensure the selection process is fair and objective. The judges are bound by a confidentiality agreement and are required to declare any conflict of interest in entries over which they deliberate, and to stand aside from deliberations concerning those entries..
Judges’ diversity statement:
Our panel of judges wholeheartedly embraces diversity in all its forms. We recognise that it extends beyond visible traits and encompasses the richness of individual experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. From race and gender to neurodiversity and socioeconomic status, we value the mosaic of identities that make our society vibrant and inclusive. By celebrating the multitude of cultural traditions, age groups, and intellectual pursuits, we foster an environment that promotes empathy, understanding, and collaboration. Our commitment to diversity is unwavering, as we believe it is the key to a brighter and more harmonious future for all.
