TEDxSt Albans

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Andy McAleese

  Executive Coach

  Andy is an actuary and executive coach with over 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry, including senior leadership roles. He combines his professional background with lived experience of mental health challenges, to champion more open conversations about wellbeing at work. He was named "Most Inspiring Senior Leader" by This Can Happen, recognising his commitment to building healthier, more sustainable ways of working.

• Erica Stanford

  Advisor on Digital Assets, Crypto and AI

  Erica Stanford is a bestselling author and expert on crypto risk and fraud. Her book, "Crypto Wars; Faked Deaths, Missing Billions and Industry Disruption" was highly commended at the business books awards. Erica has worked extensively in cryptocurrency, advising on scams, misinformation, and digital threats. She is currently an advisor at an international law firm.

• Fredah Kamau

  Leadership and Wellbeing Coach

  Fredah Kamau has a background in mental health nursing and Leadership. She has been a mental health nurse and a care home manager and understands the intense pressures and hidden challenges of caregiving roles. She is now a Leadership and Wellbeing Coach who helps healthcare professionals and leaders excel in demanding environments.

• Joanna Montgomery

  Entrepreneur

  Joanna Montgomery is a technologist and entrepreneur. At University she created the first internet-connected product for human connection across distance, and subsequently built a business from that. Her work sits at the intersection of technology and human connection and explores how they can work together but recognise where the limits are.

• Katharine Wooller

  Chief Strategist and Fintech expert

  Katharine is a senior strategist in financial services where she has worked since 2000. She works with banks, hedge funds, asset managers, regulators and governments across the globe. She is obsessed with leading edge technology, and the benefits it can bring the economy and society to allow mankind to reach its full potential. She has co-authored published books, won awards, and regularly comments in the press and on TV on all matters related to innovation in financial services.

• Katherine Longhi

  DEI consultant

  Katherine Longhi is a former senior HR professional and the Founder and CEO of a DEI consultancy transforming workplaces into inclusive cultures. With a Masters in Human Resources Management from London Metropolitan University, she’s an expert in helping organisations turn resistance into opportunity. Her book, The Inclusion Illusion, is about moving beyond performative DEI and creating environments where everyone can belong and thrive.

• Laura Dannan

  Musician

  Laura is a singer-songwriter and music teacher from Hertfordshire, UK. Her quirky, engaging song writing style and relatable lyrics combine storytelling with the use of vivid imagery, producing light hearted songs that share her insightful narrative of life’s treats, trials and tribulations.

• Martin Purvis

  Business Coach

  Martin Purvis is a business coach guiding SME owners to build, scale, and exit their companies. Martin helps entrepreneurs create valuable, independent businesses. Featured in The Sunday Times, his coaching has transformed established businesses into acquisition targets and enabled successful exits.

• Sheridan Voysey

  Broadcaster

  Sheridan Voysey is an author, broadcaster, and founder of Friendship Lab, a pioneering organisation helping adults and workplaces unlock the power of friendship through evidence-based courses and training. A regular voice on BBC Radio 2, he was creative lead on Radio 2’s Friendship Season. Sheridan has shared his message across the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Europe, and has been featured on BBC News, Channel 5 News, CBC’s Tapestry, and the ABC.

• Sophia Alexandra Hall

  Journalist

  Sophia Alexandra Hall is Deputy Digital Editor at Big Issue. A proud care experienced journalist, she writes across social affairs and politics, while also investigating underreported issues prevalent in her community. Sophia is a regular commentator on various platforms including Sky News’ Morning Paper Review. She is a University of Oxford graduate and achieved a gold-standard NCTJ Multimedia Diploma from News Associates.

• Tigz Rice

  Photographer

  Tigz Rice is an empowerment photographer, videographer and content creator. She has an extensive background in burlesque and boudoir photography. She helps others reconnect with their bodies and feel empowered, confident and unapologetically present. Tigz was listed in the Top 40 Digital Women To Watch in 2021, shortlisted for Digital Creator of the Year in 2022, and was listed in Entrepreneur’s top 100 female entrepreneurs of 2023 and a finalist for Digital Woman Of The Year 2025. Her book STRIP/TEASE won bronze in the 2020 Independent Publishing Awards

• Ula Caroto

  Energy intelligence coach

  Ula, is known as the "Queen of Rest." She is an energy intelligence coach trained by experts in nervous system regulation. Her work is informed by polyvagal theory. She is a former wealth manager, working in the high energy, high stress City of London environment. She now helps high-performing leaders and business owners overcome burnout, reconnect with their bodies, and redefine rest.

• Will Castle

  Acquisitions Manager

  In 2010 Will Castle lost his father to suicide and never properly grieved or spoke about what happened. Ten years later, he has come to realise the value of talking, de-stigmatising suicide and has now become become a campaigner and advocate, speaking out about his experience, with the aim of helping others and raising awareness. Will is an acquisitions manager in a property business.