LGBT Parenting and the impact of Covid-19 on your household

Speakers:

• mentor

  

  Sue Sanders

  Chair
  SCHOOLS OUT UK

  I am Professor Emeritus of the Harvey Milk Institute, the founder of LGBT History Month UK and the website The Classroom which has over 100 lesson plans that usulaise LGBT people, issues and concepts across the curriculum, for all ages and adheres to the national curriculum. My passion is to educate OUT prejudice and enable LGBT+ people in all their diversity to be visible safe and proud. I am an out and proud lesbian activist who been around for over 40 years! I am the chair of Schools OUT UK a charity that organises LGBT+ History Month UK, The Classroom and the international LGBT History Festival OUTing the Past. I am also a member of the Independent Advisory Group to the Government on Hate Crime.

  CONNECT WITH ME

• mentor

  

  Kryss Shane, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW

  Leading LGBT Expert
  ThisIsKryss.com

  Named by The New York Times and many national and international platforms as America's go-to Leading LGBT Expert, Kryss Shane, MS, MSW, LSW, LMSW (she/her) has 25+ years of experience guiding the world's top leaders in business, education, and community via individual, small group, and full-staff trainings. She is known for making each organization's specific Diversity and Inclusion needs become more manageable, approachable, and actionable. This includes physical spaces, hiring practices, policies/procedures, and more. Kryss has two Master’s degrees, two licenses to practice mental healthcare, and she is currently working toward her PhD while shaping the minds of learners as a Lecturer at Columbia University and an Adjunct Professor at Brandman University. She is also the author of "The Educator's Guide to LGBT+ Inclusion," the first book of its kind to guide educators, administrators, and school staff to become able and empowered to make their schools more LGBT+ inclusive.

  CONNECT WITH ME

• mentor

  

  Chloë Davies

  Head of PR & Partnerships
  myGwork

  Chloe Davies is an activist, proud bisexual woman, mother of two, chef and entrepreneur, who campaigns for inclusion and equality in social spaces, corporate organisations and the wider community. She spent over 15 years working in retail, artist management and PR before starting her own company in 2015. Chloe is Head of PR & Partnerships for myGwork - The global recruitment and networking hub for LGBT professionals and organisations promoting diversity and inclusion. Chloe volunteers with UK Black Pride (UKBP) as the Strategic Officer, working closely with the Executive Director and the Board of Directors to help shape the future of UK Black Pride. She is also the Community Lead for the London Queer Fashion Show - An annual showcase of fashion, identity, and expression.

  CONNECT WITH ME

• mentor

  

  Laura-Rose Thorogood

  Founder/ Strategic Account Director
  THE LGBT Mummies Tribe / REDBOX GROUP

  My name is Laura-Rose & I am a Strategic Account Director for REDBOX GROUP managing UK wide group accounts & New Business. I also founded & own 'The LGBT Mummies Tribe' . Our sole purpose is to ‘Educate, Share, & Celebrate’ LGBT+ women worldwide on the path to Motherhood. We act as a central point of support & a safe haven through providing information, advice & knowledge on the available routes to starting a family through our website & social channels. From educational resources, support groups & services, information on charities, LGBT+ brands, & sharing your stories with our community to our annual UK ‘Meets’ where families come together to celebrate our community, make friends & share their experiences. Whether you are thinking of starting a family or have children already by fertility treatment, surrogacy, adoption, fostering, as a single parent, co-parent or a step parent, all are welcome. We are passionate about making change for same sex families (specifically women) & are currently in talks with the Government, NHS & other UK governing bodies to bring policy change & support to ensure equality & inclusivity to LGBT+ women & their children through the Health system & associated services. We work tirelessly to inspire LGBT+ women on their quest to Motherhood, whilst working to normalise our families in the media & creating a more inclusive future for our children, by providing visibility of our families, creating change & equality for our amazing women & their children. My wife & I are also Ambassadors for The Centre for Reproductive & Genetic Health supporting LGBT+ parents through their fertility treatment at the clinic. We have worked with Stonewall as part of their 30th Anniversary campaign & have also been personally invited to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister & have had multiple articles & interviews published about the work we do.

  CONNECT WITH ME

• mentor

  

  Ann Marie Docherty

  Deputy Centre Director
  JLL

  I am the Deputy Centre Director, for JLL managing a large shopping centre on the south coast of England, main responsibilities are for security, cleaning, health & safety, staff welfare, budgets and budget setting and the day to day running of the shopping centre. JLL have been hugely supportive of me both in my professional life and in my personnel life. I am originally from Glasgow, I visited Brighton for the weekend, and never left, that was 26years ago, I fell in love with the cosmopolitan life style, the ability to live my life as who I am, and not having to hide my sexuality was and still is liberating, not forgetting the much better weather. I have been with my wife for 25 years and in 2009 we decided that we would try to start a family, we, (I say we I mean my wife) had 4 rounds of IVF, 2 unsuccessful and unfortunately 2 miscarriages, for round 1, 2 and 4 we used donner sperm and my wife's eggs for round 3 we went to Spain and used donner eggs and sperm. This was a difficult and emotional time, after the 4th attempt we decided not to carry on with the IVF, but we still wanted to be mummies, so we started to investigate adoption and fostering, we decided that fostering would be the best way forward due to the level of support given for children placed within our care, the assessment was along process that can be very challenging, over a 5 year period we had 20 kids placed with us, ages ranges from birth to 16, some just for a few days and some for longer, in February 2018 we had a baby placed in our care, (not the first baby we had had), this baby was different, there was an instant bond between all 3 of us, (we say that she was knitted for us), when it was decided that she would be placed for adoption, we were determined that we should be her mummies, however we were not approved as adopters and we had to go through the entire assessment process, not knowing if we would be successful, this was a really difficult time, however we did have a happy ending, she is now legally our daughter. Life in lockdown with a 2 year old has been challenging, working from home is not easy, but it has been great to see her develop, grow and change every day, I now fully understand why it is called the terrible two's, but being a mum is the best thing to have happened to me, it has changed me in ways I could not have foreseen, she really does bring out the best in me.

  CONNECT WITH ME

• mentor

  

  Natasha Walker

  Senior Global Pricing Analyst
  RS Components

  CONNECT WITH ME