Meet the Speakers

French national born in 1967, Magali Anderson became a member of the Group Executive Committee in October 2019.She graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from INSA Lyon, France, and started her career as a field engineer on offshore rigs in Nigeria.

She spent 27 years in the oil and gas industry, mainly with Schlumberger, holding operational line management positions including Angola CEO and Region Head Europe.

During her career she also held several functional roles, including Vice President Marketing & Sales, Vice President Shared Services Organisation for the Europe and Africa region and Global Head of Maintenance.

Magali joined LafargeHolcim as Group Head of Health and Safety in October 2016.

Lisa Kelvey is a KPMG Partner and leads on Project, Programme and Portfolio management across the Infrastructure and Government sector. She has over 20 years’ experience of delivering major programmes using a practical, people-focussed approach to deliver sustainable change in complex and time-pressured environments. She specialises in supporting programme leaders with strategy, planning, decision-making and assurance for major programmes and portfolios.

A Chartered Civil Engineer, Lisa started her career with a major contractor before moving into design, project management and advisory roles. She has worked on a large number of major programmes in locations as diverse as Singapore, Dubai, Kazakhstan, Mexico and the Caribbean. Lisa is a passionate champion of inclusion and diversity, particularly improving gender balance in the leadership of major projects.

Bill is Chief Executive of Galliford Try, one of the UK’s leading Construction and Investments groups. The business employs c3,100 people and generates a turnover of £1.3bn operating in the public, regulated and private sectors.

Prior to joining Galliford Try, Bill - a civil engineer by training - spent 25 years with Skanska UK culminating in the position of Executive Vice President. He also served as a non-executive director on the boards of Skanska in Finland, Latin America and USA Civil.

Bill is a strong advocate for increasing inclusivity and diversity in the company and has enabled people at all levels of Galliford Try to achieve a more flexible work-life balance, through its Smart and Agile Working programmes.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Bill lives with his wife and two children in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Sara Angus is the director of Construction & Design Services and Director of Development, Licensed stores for Global store development at Starbucks.  She has over 20 years of industry experience.  She has worked on retail, commercial, educational, hospitality, institutional, non-profit and residential projects at all levels of design and construction.

Prior to joining Starbucks in 2019, she worked for large regional general contractor as a project executive on a wide range of project types and sizes.  She is a board member for Women Leaders in Construction (Seattle) and has lectured in the University of Washington’s Construction Management program from 2003-2016 and continues to guest lecture in the CM and Commercial Real Estate programs.

Farah Naz, CEng FCIBSE, WELL & LEED AP, has over 15 years’ experience in the construction sector across four continents. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of CIBSE (Chartered institute of building services engineer)

She has worked in the UK, USA, Asia and now in Middle East. Naz heads up Innovation for BuroHappold in the Middle East region. Her innovating role encompasses client advisory and strategic planning of resource-efficient master planning, innovation strategy, data driven liveability strategy. Her work focuses on Circular Economy and City resilience strategies for smart cities and future communities.

Farah was a prime mover in creating the energy strategy for the first zero-energy building in the UK, which subsequently won the 2015 RIBA Sustainable Buildings Award. In the Middle East her name has become a synonym for implementable sustainability among others, linked to projects including Museum of the Future, the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, the Bee’ah Headquarters in Sharjah, Masdar Eco Villa and Masdar City wide Master planning and the Sustainability pavilion for EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

Paul Robinson is the Founder and CEO of ConstructReach, a workforce development company and consultancy which works to diversify the construction industry.
Previously to starting ConstructReach, Paul was a construction project manager for a major retailer, managing both new construction, remodels and international expansion projects.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science Management from Kansas State University and holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary.
Most recently, Paul is a 2020 St. Louis Business Journal Diverse Business Leader honoree, which is an award to salute those who promote diversity and demonstrate the important role diversity plays in the workplace and community.
Paul is passionate about building up the next generation of leaders and being a tangible example in his community to ensure a future of which we can all be proud.
Paul is married with 3 sons and he’s a huge basketball fan.

Kelley Cowan is a Project Executive with XL Construction, a commercial general contractor based in northern California, where We Build to Improve Lives. She graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles and has over twenty-five years of construction operations and preconstruction experience in the education, healthcare, biopharmaceutical, and corporate campus markets.

A third-generation construction professional, Kelley is the Immediate Past President of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange Board of Directors, was a founding board member of the ACE (now CREATE) Mentor Program of Greater Sacramento, and was recognized as a leading professional in the Sacramento Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” List for her focus on leadership, community service, and workforce development.

A Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Alison Cox joined Sir Robert McAlpine after graduating from the University of Oxford in Engineering Science. With 20 years’ experience in the industry, Alison has led large teams on major, complex projects, such as Bloomberg London and Battersea Phase 3a. Through her many career achievements in construction, Alison has established a reputation as a leader and a driver of technical excellence, now serving as the Executive Director of Engineering & Technical Services.

Sam Stacey is Challenge Director – Transforming Construction at UKRI. He is leading the Transforming Construction Challenge, a £170 million research and innovation investment, matched by £250 million from industry, to create high-performing, cost-effective buildings for the UK and beyond.  Linked to the Construction Sector Deal, the programme includes the Active Building Centre supporting the wide-scale roll-out of energy-positive buildings, the Construction Innovation Hub to propagate standardised building products and processes, plus a Construction Network and funding for piloting of new construction solutions.

Before joining UKRI, Sam was Director of Innovation, Industrialisation and Business Improvement at Skanska UK, a Trustee of the Building Research Establishment, and Chairman of the National Platform for Construction. Sam has also worked for Wates Construction and Buro Happold Engineering. He is a Chartered Structural Engineer with an MBA from Henley Business School and degrees in Civil Engineering, Architecture and Philosophy from Imperial College and Cambridge University.

Sam is married with two children and lives in London and Suffolk.

As Buildher’s CEO, Tatu drives the strategic growth and initiatives of the organization, ensuring constant innovation in all aspects of program implementation and development. With over 13 years’ experience in the built environment sector, Tatu has focused her career on exploring the intersection of culture and the built environment both locally and internationally, in a variety of socio-economic and cultural contexts linking her Architectural background to participatory design; community engagement & investment; built environment education; and place making to facilitate physical, social and economic development. Prior to Co-Founding BUILDHER, Tatu held the role of Kenyan Country Director at Kounkuey Design Initiative, an award-winning Design, and Community Development Non-Profit.

Sue is the Global Head of Channels and Brand enablement for Shell’s Retail business. She joined Shell in 2012, having previously worked for Vodafone and Argos in a variety of frontline Sales Leadership roles.

Sue’s career spans over 25 years. She joined Shell, in 2012 and was the UK National Sales Manager, prior to moving to her current role. For the last four years, Sue has been part of the Global Retail Operations Excellence team, responsible for the Brand Policies and Shell Trademark usage on the 45,000 Retail stations around the globe, as well as the product owner for the IT and Digital landscape.

Her focus on putting people and customers first, has resulted in exceptional performance. Sue has a natural interest in motivating people and driving behaviours, which she has extended by studying to become a Certified Neuro Linguistic Practioner. She also has a natural interest in giving back to the community and has led many charity events and is a Trustee on a Chartable board.

Sue lives in London, is married to Nick and has a 21-year-old son.

Both educated as structural engineer and architect, Chloé Clair is now Chief Technical Officer of VINCI Construction, one of the top main-contractor in the world. She leads the innovation, R&D and digital strategy for the Group, together with coordinating the VINCI Construction engineering teams towards more collaborative and network cooperation.

She is devoted to bringing more diversity in the French construction industry, pushing for more local staff and/or women talents in management and executive positions. She is a former founder and member of BOUYGUES Construction Welink Board (the Women’s network of BOUYGUES Construction) and now an active member of the #Open initiative at VINCI Construction, in favour of gender diversity.

Aimee Hallgrimson is a Vice President of Business Development at XL Construction, a commercial general contractor based in Northern California, where We Build to Improve Lives. A clear leader in building and sustaining meaningful relationships, she works to match the best people and solutions to serve client needs. As a trusted advisor within the industry, she has the challenging conversations up front, to ensure all project team members are aligned for success.

Aimee graduated with a BA from Purdue University and has been in the industry since 1993. Aimee’s background has been focused on client development in the architecture, interiors and construction industries and has served in multiple roles within Corenet Northern California, CREW Silicon Valley and various charitable organizations along with St. Christopher’s Parish. She is a devoted mother and wife, working to achieve the personal/professional balance. The Peloton helps.

Karen is a Lecturer in Digital Construction and Quantity Surveying and has previously worked as a quantity surveyor, project manager and an Information Technology and networking officer.

As a lecturer, Karen teaches at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the following areas: digital and Building Information Modelling (BIM) strategies in the AEC sector and quantification of building elements. She is currently supervising PhD students in the area of BIM, Blockchain and Social Value in a Digitalised Built Environment.

Her completed research activities include career progression and retention for women in construction, inclusion in the Built Environment, BIM for Africa and Information Resilience.

She is interested in research which seeks to assure information quality, maximize information value and ensure inclusion in digital environments.

Karen joined SRM in 2017 and is responsible for People, Property & Facilities Management, Business Systems and Compliance & Security.  She is the ELT sponsor for the Socio Economic Affinity Network and is passionate about the role organisations can play in supporting people who have disadvantages in life, such as homelessness, ex. offender rehabilitation and supporting ex. military personnel back in civilian life. Outside of work Karen is the co-owner of a football club Halesowen Town FC and is actively involved in the supporting the local community in London Soho e.g. serving hot meals to the homeless.

As head of learning, Frank is responsible for the successful delivery of NG Bailey’s industry leading development programmes.

Joining the business in 2012 he was instrumental in implementing changes to the company’s apprenticeship model and the subsequent increase in the number of programmes it runs.

Introducing LEAP in 2016, to help people leaders develop their own self-awareness, and MyJourney, a development programme with a rare self and peer nomination process, Frank believes that creating a fair organisation is vital to on-going, sustainable success.

With more than 15 years’ experience in L&D, Frank was awarded an MBE for his work in education in 2020.