Lorna Fitzsimon

Lorna is a serial entrepreneur and accomplished businesswoman, and an acknowledged expert in the D&I space. She is a co-founder of The Pipeline, a leading gender and diversity consultancy that specialises in helping women of all ethnicities reach senior positions within the public and private sectors.

Now in its tenth year, The Pipeline’s alumni include some of the most dynamic female leaders across all industry groups. Lorna is a trusted advisor to Big Cap companies and to Whitehall and is also a member of the Women in Finance Advisory Board, chaired by Amanda Blanc, which seeks to implement HM Government’s Women in Finance Charter.

A board member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and a trustee of the education charity SHINE, Lorna is also deeply committed to realising growth in the Northern Powerhouse. Lorna previously founded and was the Director of The Alliance Project, a £150m public-private partnership focused on reinvigorating the UK textile manufacturing industry, as well as sitting on the Board of the UK Fashion Textiles Association, UKFT.

In her time as the CEO of the Britain-Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), Lorna turned BICOM into an internationally renowned centre of excellence. She has served as a visiting Fellow at the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group, and is a former Member of Parliament for Rochdale, as well as a previous President of the National Union of Students. Lorna continues to be an active supporter of Hopwood Hall College where she studied Art and just this year presented an inspiring keynote speech to Hopwood’s star students at the annual Student Awards ceremony.