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Announcing our new Patron!

Patron - Jenny Garrett

We are delighted to announce Jenny Garrett OBE as Patron of the Staff Development Forum! The patronage honours Jenny Garrett’s desire of opening spaces for growth and development, and reflects her belief in coaching and leadership to help support both individuals from the global majority in progressing at work and whole organisations in making inclusion happen.

Jenny Garrett OBE

Jenny is an Award Winning Career Coach and Leadership Trainer, with nearly two decades of experience of running a Global Business.  Jenny empowers people to make the transformation that they are seeking actually happen, that could be: navigating their career, successfully finding work that is more on purpose for them or getting the best from their team.  Everything she does is aimed at either advancing gender balance, creating inclusive workplaces or equipping young people with the skills that leaders of the future need. Jenny is well known for delivering inspiring talks, books, career coaching, leadership training, speaking in media, facilitating retreats and running teen conferences.

In receipt of the patronage Jenny says:

I am delighted and honoured to become a patron for the SDF. It has been a privilege to support the SDF over recent years in various forms, including the annual Festival of Learning & Development and I look forward to continuing to work together to support & promote the SDF further over the coming years.

Jenny’s body of work

Empowering Women

She is well known for her work empowering working women, particularly female breadwinners, through her book Rocking Your Role. Fairness and empowerment are at the heart of her work, she believes that when women thrive, we all do.

Advancing Diversity and Inclusion

Designing and delivering leadership programmes to support the staff from ethnically diverse groups in organisations is a real passion. Providing talks on Inclusive Leadership, Race and Allyship, and the creation of the first-ever Diverse Executive Coach Directory, and shining a light on coaches from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage working at the most senior level in the UK are among her proud achievements. Jenny’s latest book is Equality vs Equity, tackling issues of race in the workplace.

Personal Development Expert

Jenny has coached individuals all over the globe from Australia, to Botswana, the US, Mexico, Spain and the UK, with over 4,000 coaching hours under her belt, so it’s no surprise that self improvement and personal development for leaders are among her strengths.

Giving Back

Jenny gives back work through her social enterprise Rocking Ur Teens, which equips teens with the skills that leaders of the future need.

Inspiring Speaker

Jenny has reached an audience of over 30,000 through her speaking engagements, including two TEDx Talks, and is listed as a speaker on the International Women’s Day website

Media Commentator

She is a regular commentator on Sky News and LBC radio, and has been featured on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio London & The Telegraph amongst many others.

Awards, Accolades & Achievements

Awarded OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2021 for services to Entrepreneurship and Women in Business.

Jenny is a Freeman of the Company of Entrepreneurs – City of London and was listed in Brummell Magazines Top 30 City Innovators 2016.

She was awarded the highest honorary award from the Institute of Leadership and Management ‘Companion’ for advancing the practice of leadership and management for public benefit.

She holds a Masters in Management Learning & Leadership, a Post Graduate Certificate in Coaching and a BA (Hons) in Business.

Her past and present clients include MasterCard, Lloyds Bank, Ernst & Young, the NHS and the National Union of Students (NUS).