2026 Speakers

The Hazels Special Guest, the first British astronaut

Helen joined us as our special guest at the inaugural gala in 2026. We were delighted to award Helen with a unique gold Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire Dr Diane Hill OBE.

Helen didn’t think she would be selected from the 13,000 applicants but she was exactly the right choice - calm, practical, friendly, professional, a team player. She flew into space in May 1991, aged 27, when she spent 8 days orbiting the Earth, living and working on board the Mir Space Station.

Her tasks included medical, agricultural and chemical experiments, materials testing, and Earth observation work.

Helen is now a leading inspirational speaker and science communicator, sharing her insights with audiences of all ages, bringing her material up to date for today and looking forward to the future of space exploration.

Written exclusively for The Hazels by Diana Boulter, Helen Sharman’s manager.

Social researcher and author

Matilda Gosling is a social scientist and independent researcher with more than 25 years’ experience. Her work covers social psychology and analysis of belief systems, as well as education, skills and adolescent development. She is the author of two non-fiction books, both published with Swift Press; her third will be published by Head of Zeus (Bloomsbury) in early 2027.

Before moving into independent research and writing, Matilda co-founded and ran an international research consultancy. She has worked for governments, charities, foundations and private-sector organisations internationally, and has overseen field research in more than 60 countries across Europe, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Matilda has degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

An experienced speaker, she has delivered talks at the House of Commons, Royal Society of Arts and Battle of Ideas, and for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Harvard University and Brookings Institution among many others.

Co-Founder, Black Leadership Group

Stella Ngozi Mbubaegbu CBE is Co-Founder of the Black Leadership Group (BLG) UK, where she convenes senior leaders across education, public service and policy sectors to examine leadership responsibility, organisational design and equity within complex institutional systems.

Her work explores how governance, leadership culture and organisational structures shape opportunity, dignity and human capability, particularly in environments experiencing rapid technological and social change.

Stella is the Founder of the Ethical AI & Leadership Studio, where she has developed Structural Intelligence for Human Flourishing: Diagnosing constraint. Designing conditions. Enforcing thresholds - a leadership lens supporting organisations to recognise where systems unintentionally create constraint, silence or diminish opportunity, and how leaders can redesign those systems responsibly within AI-enabled and high-stakes environments.

She speaks internationally on ethical leadership, governance, anti-racist upstander leadership and the human consequences of emerging technologies. Stella’s work bridges leadership psychology, organisational ethics and responsible technology development, with a particular focus on how institutions can remain morally present and human-centred in the age of intelligent systems.

CEO, Space Solar

Dr Sam Adlen is co-CEO of Space Solar, delivering an era defining new solar energy source from space.  Following a PhD working on a NASA Mars mission, Sam held senior space sector strategy roles in Leonardo, was Lead Technologist for Space at the UK’s Innovation Agency and was Chief Strategy Officer at the Satellite Applications Catapult. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Satellite Finance Network, Co-founder of the UK Space In Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing working group and Spatial Finance Initiative and co-chair of the Space Energy Initiative.  

Co-CEO, Tech She Can

Dr Claire Thorne is the Co-CEO of Tech She Can, a charity with a mission - for women to play an equal role in creating and developing the technology businesses, products, and services that will ultimately shape our world, and make sure that technology works for all. Claire jointly leads the charity alongside co-ceo Sheridan Ash MBE. Claire believes that there’s a real, pressing need and economic case for investing in tech skills in the UK. At the same time, one half of our talent pool - women and girls - don’t think technology is for them, excluding them from co-designing our future. Claire is passionate about innovation, parity and equality in the workplace, and STEM education and research. As a woman in tech, a returner and a mum, Claire has seen first-hand the urgent need to inspire our next generation when they ask ‘what can I be when I grow up?’, to equip their schools and parents with the technology literacy they need to be able to make those routes a reality, and to value and retain our female talent, against the odds. Claire’s background is in innovation in research-intensive environments, with a PhD in Physics. As well as working to increase the number of women in technology roles, She also supports the creation of deep-tech science ventures at Deep Science Ventures. Claire has also been named in Computer Weekly’s list of the most influential women in UK Tech.

The Hazels 2026 Awards Gala MC

Donna Herdsman is a highly decorated executive and DEI leader who has received several prestigious accolades for her work in business transformation and mentoring. Donna’s career includes senior leadership roles at major firms like IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and most recently Korn Ferry , supporting clients in the public and private sectors. She has a long-standing history of judging major industry awards, including serving over 13 years as a judge for The Black British Business Awards and 5 years at #Tech100womenawards. Donna has received many awards herself including:

The Top 10 Inspirational Leader (2024)

The Lifetime Achievement Award (2024)

Honoured at The Baton Awards for her nearly 40 years of dedication to excellence and community impact.

Recognised by the Ethnicity Awards for her leadership and support of others. Top 50 Trailblazer for Gender and Race Equality (2021)

Named by WeAreTheCity for her work with the TechUP Women program (retraining over 100 women for roles in technology)

The First Woman Mentor of the Year (2017): A CBI-sponsored award recognising her significant contributions to professional mentoring.

Empower/FT/Yahoo Senior BAME 100: Included twice (2016 and 2019) on this list of leading ethnic minority executives in the UK, US, and Ireland.