Developing an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy Wales Conference

Kate Carr is Policy and Governance Ambassador for IOD Cymru. She is a former BBC journalist who’s delivered in senior policy, strategy and leadership roles across the public, private and third sector. She helped establish the first Office of the Future Generations Commissioner as Director of Partnership, Engagement and Communication. She served South Wales as Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner and is currently a County Councillor. She is passionate about supporting others to create stronger, more resilient organisations that make a real difference to people’s lives. 

Kate runs Arc: Making the Difference, supporting organisations and individuals towards sustainable growth.  

Rhys is Adra’s Director of Resources and he also deputises for the Chief Executive.

Adra manages 7,300 homes across north Wales and will develop a further 1,000 homes over the next 5 years. Adra has also established the “Ty Gwyrddfai” decarbonisation hub – an innovative partnership with further and higher education providers, which provides a dedicated facility for low carbon technology training, upskilling for retrofitting, and green technology research.

Rhys is an ACCA qualified accountant with over 30 years’ experience in senior finance roles across various sectors, including higher education, local government, and the private sector. Rhys has arranged over £250m of loan funding for Adra (including sustainability linked loans) and he ensured that Adra was an early adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard – the ESG standard for the housing sector.

Rhys is also the Treasurer of a local theatre and is the Finance Committee Chair of Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2026.

Stephen Broadhurst is the Managing Director of Star Linen UK, a B Corp based in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales. With a diverse background that encompasses military service, sales and textile management. Following his military service, Stephen embarked on a diverse career in the commercial sector, holding several leadership positions. He began as Regional Manager at Wicksteed Leisure in Northampton. Stephen then progressed to Sales Director at Jewson and Head of Commercial at Frigoscandia, further honing his business acumen. His career took a pivotal turn when he entered the textile industry, joining Sunlight (now Ellis). During his twenty years in textiles, he spent five years as Managing Director of Mitre Linen, based in Merthyr Tydfil. Under his leadership, Mitre Linen achieved significant growth, culminating in its successful sale to Nisbets. Building on from these successes, Stephen’s expertise led him to Star Linen in Philadelphia, USA. His international experience proved invaluable when he returned to the UK to establish Star Linen’s operations here in late 2016, marking the beginning of his current role as Managing Director of Star Linen UK.

Inga has 25 years international experience, as both an in-house adviser and external consultant, working with various organisations from SME’s to multinational corporations. She has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Finland and Australia, and completed short term assignments in the pacific island countries of Tuvalu, Samoa and Vanuatu. Inga is a Chartered Environmentalist, and an alumni of the Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership. She joined The Royal Mint in August 2021 and is responsible for driving an ambitious sustainability programme, integrating key Environment, Social and Governance topics into the wider business strategy.  

Phil moved to Wales over thirty years ago to take up his first role as a management trainee with a logistics firm. In the mid-’90s he moved into HR, and he has been engaged in senior HR, Corporate Services and project roles for the past 25 years. He has worked as HR and Estates Director for both Companies House and the DVLA. Before joining Amgueddfa Cymru, Phil was the People and OD Director for Public Health Wales, leading national work on the health and well-being of employees in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Director of Priority Programme, Phil has a broad remit for Amgueddfa Cymru and leads some of the key capital investment projects across the eight sites and specifically at National Museum Cardiff and the National Slate Museum in Llanberis. He also leads various functions such as the buildings and estates teams as well as health and safety, security and museum’s work on sustainability and decarbonisation.

Outside work he is a member of Highfields Church and a Trustee of a Thyroid Cancer Charity, as well as a season ticket holder at Cardiff City.

Simon has worked in regional sustainable economic development in the UK and across the world as an environmental advisor with royalty, charities, government, councils, and business.

This has included creating a Board member for Future Generations for a Regional Development Agency 10 years before the Welsh Act and working with Mayor Andy Street and Youth Climate Strikers to set a West Midlands carbon reduction target.

More recently he has been running sustainability or community regeneration charities such as Sustainability West Midlands, the Springfield Project, and ecobirmingham.

He joined Cynnal Cymru in 2024 and is looking forward to continue to be part of the country’s sustainability story. “Wales changed me, now I want to be part of a charity that is helping Wales to change”

Dr. Fantini, Lecturer in Finance and Accounting at Swansea University since 2015, holds the Fellow designation from the Higher Education Academy. She serves as Chair of the Exam Scrutiny Committee and University Integrity Academic Integrity Case Officer. Dr. Fantini earned her European PhD in Economics from the University of Ferrara in collaboration with Bayes, London. Her research on executive compensation, corporate governance, SMEs, climate change, and ESG is published in peer-reviewed journals. Recipient of a British Academy Leverhulme Small Research Grant, she explores corporate leadership and ESG using big data and AI/ML. With over five years as a Chartered Accountant and Auditor in Italy and Luxembourg, Dr. Fantini combines practical experience with academic expertise.

Sumina leads programmes of work that support the development of, and advocate for policies to improve health and well-being and reduce inequity in Wales and globally through developing, collecting and sharing evidence on how better to invest in health, reduce inequity and build stronger and more resilient communities in Wales and worldwide.

Prior to her current role, Sumina was the Policy Lead and Deputy Director in the Policy and International Health Directorate, Public Health Wales. Previously, she has worked as a Consultant in Public Health and Interim Director of Public Health in the Powys Local Public Health Team, Specialist Registrar in Public Health in the East Midlands and has trained in general medicine.

Sumina’s areas of interest are tackling health inequity through policy levers, sustainable development, and the determinants of health such as housing and working in partnership across sectors. She is currently a Board member and Vice-President of EuroHealthNet.

Carl has a wealth of public procurement experience, having previously led the award-winning procurement team at one of Wales’ largest housing associations.  Before joining Welsh Government, Carl worked for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), where he taught procurement and contract management best practice to public and private sector organisations across the globe.

In his current role, Carl is responsible for developing Welsh Government’s wider Procurement Reform policy and engagement activity, working closely with stakeholders across the Welsh public sector to ensure that they are ready to maximise the opportunities arising from procurement reform.

Elly is a key member of both the Corporate Communications and Impact teams at Principality Building Society, the largest building society in Wales and the sixth largest in the UK.

A creative strategist, Elly has held numerous senior brand communications positions within organisations who lead with purpose and are committed to tackling profound systemic challenges. Former employers include PA Consulting Group where she was Creative Director for the Advertising and Communications Division; the University of Birmingham (Business School) helping to establish The Lloyds Banking Group funded Centre for Responsible Business and she has worked in consulting for fifteen years with a wide range of national clients. She’s also been instrumental in developing start-ups and social enterprises focused on creating social value and equitable access to opportunity, working specifically with underrepresented young people beyond mainstream education.

Elly currently works with Principality SMEs in environmental sustainability, social impact and D&I (Governance) to drive communications that bring the Society’s impact strategy to life.

Kate Carr is Policy and Governance Ambassador for IOD Cymru. She is a former BBC journalist who’s delivered in senior policy, strategy and leadership roles across the public, private and third sector. She helped establish the first Office of the Future Generations Commissioner as Director of Partnership, Engagement and Communication. She served South Wales as Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner and is currently a County Councillor. She is passionate about supporting others to create stronger, more resilient organisations that make a real difference to people’s lives. 

Kate runs Arc: Making the Difference, supporting organisations and individuals towards sustainable growth.