The team at Convergent is committed to building inclusion.
Through our various lived experiences and allyship for those who we don’t share experiences with, we are here to raise awareness in your organisation and create the conditions needed for your people to belong and thrive, and for your leaders to learn how to do this.
Heeral Gudka
FOUNDER DIRECTOR, PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP & INCLUSION CONSULTANT
Heeral is passionate about inclusion and is ready to help you navigate difficult conversations.
Since 2014 her work has spanned private, public and third-sector organisations, delivering stand-alone workshops and also curating 6 to 12 month learning journeys. The support she provides to senior leadership teams is an essential part of the success they have created internally in building inclusive cultures – everyone needs a safe space to talk about difficult subjects.
Heeral is trained to coach from a trauma-informed perspective and has a diploma in counselling skills – the ideal blend of skills for providing this support. She is also the creative force behind the majority of our workshops.
Heeral believes the work she does is important because it makes organisations better, and delivers exponential benefit through the ripple effect it has outside of them. But progress often requires real and difficult conversations. She’s here to help you have them so you can change your world.
Yasmin Sheikh
INCLUSION CONSULTANT
Yasmin helps organisations empower their workforce to be diversity-confident, specialising in disability inclusion through her consultancy expertise, workshops, coaching and diversity focused events. She worked as a lawyer in the City for 12 years before becoming a consultant.
Yasmin is also a multi-award-winning international speaker, TEDx speaker, the 2018 winner of the Asian Women of Achievement Awards for her work in tackling pre-conceptions about disability, LGBT and ethnic minorities, and is Vice-Chair of Lawyers with Disabilities at the Law Society. She was also recently named Changemaker of the Year by the Professional Speakers’ Academy for her work in changing cultures in organisations.
Kevin Charles
INDEPENDENT WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS
We are proud to have Kevin Charles, founder of Lincolnfields ‘Independent Workplace Investigations’, as part of our extended team. For those occasions when our clients need independent workplace investigations, he is our go-to person.
As well as employment law and tribunal litigation experience, Kevin has extensive experience in management, HR, employee relations and training, including diversity and inclusion. Lincolnfields firmly believes in making work a better place and helping to do so by carrying out completely independent workplace investigations which maintain the trust and confidence of both employer and employee.
Kevin founded Lincolnfields after a legal career spanning 25 years.
His specialism in employment law began at Abbey Legal Protection Ltd, as Head of Employment Litigation where he managed a team of lawyers and a challenging litigation caseload. Kevin then spent several years at Doyle Clayton solicitors representing a diverse corporate client base as well as individuals across a full spectrum of employment law. Kevin then became Director of Crossland Employment Solicitors, helping to build the firm into a thriving legal practice over 10 years.
Simon Hawtrey-Woore
LEADERSHIP & INCLUSION CONSULTANT
Simon Hawtrey-Woore is an outdoor leadership coach and leads his life with a deep curiosity for people and experiences, a passion for open collaboration, a desire to keep things simple, and a love of the outdoors. He has a strong belief in the combination of powerful questioning and inspiring natural spaces to open up fresh perspectives and help create insights and clarity. Simon has 25 years of marketing experience and 16 years as a coach.
Simon is also a skilled group coach and facilitator, working with senior leaders and their management teams to create a more meaningful impact on their people and the business.
Simon finds his inspiration from his daughter Scarlett. Through her disabilities and pure spirit of adventure, Scarlett brings the power of presence to every situation. Simon brings his lived and professional experience to his work in creating inclusion in the organisations he works with.
Hannah Chadwick
LEADERSHIP & INCLUSION CONSULTANT
Hannah has been working as a workplace culture change and inclusion consultant since 2019, with a special focus on non-visible disability. Prior to this she worked in the legal and financial sector for 15 years. In 2017 Hannah took a leap of faith and made a career change into the training world, working as a Legal Trainer. The joy of teaching people new skills, coupled with the insight gained from visiting students in a wide variety of organisations sparked Hannah’s desire to become a corporate training consultant.
Hannah is deeply passionate about helping businesses to create better working environments, because she believes that everybody deserves to work in a happy, healthy environment. She is a firm believer in keeping your people at the very heart of your organisation, because they are by far the most valuable part of any organisation.