Navigating Workplaces as Women:Leveraging DEI for Success

We are excited to announce the IWIRC Mentoring series for 2025, aimed at empowering women in the restructuring industry through structured mentoring and coaching. As part of this initiative, we will be hosting two plenary sessions and establishing coaching circles to foster continuous professional development and relationship building.

The first plenary session will be on 22 September 2025 (more detail and the link to sign up to this is below), and if you're interested in joining a coaching circle (either as a leader or participant), please let us know by 1 September 2025 – our contact details are at the bottom of this email with more information about the coaching circles.

Both plenary sessions will be delivered by Belinda Riley, well known to many for her engaging and insightful talks at past IWIRC events, including at the August 2023 Global Leadership Summit and a session on imposter syndrome in November 2022. Belinda is the former EY Culture, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality Lead for EMEIA, and a keynote speaker on DEI who now consults with leaders and businesses to accelerate their DE&I strategies.

The first session will focus on Navigating Workplaces as Women—Leveraging DEI for Success in Disruptive Times … Like Now! and will be held on 22 September 2025 at 6pm (with the plenary session running from 6:30pm to 8pm, to be followed by networking over drinks and canapés), and is kindly hosted by EY at their 1 More London Place office in London. The format of the session will be interactive, featuring insights, discussions, and practical applications.

The format of the session will be interactive, featuring insights, discussions, and practical applications. We hope that this session will help attendees to:

1. Understand the current workplace landscape through a gender lens. ​
2. Explore the business value of gender diversity with up-to-date research. ​
3. Identify key workplace challenges for women in periods of disruption.
4. Understand UK & EU legal frameworks driving accountability (including gender pay gap reporting).
5. Provide tangible strategies and discussion points for ongoing career success.

Coaching Circles: In addition to the plenary sessions, we will be creating coaching circles consisting of 5-6 participants, each led by a Senior Leader (Partner equivalent) in the industry. These circles will provide ongoing support and relationship building among participants as well as furthering the conversation on the various discussion points raised in the plenary session (it is not a requirement to attend the plenary session in order to join a coaching circle, although it is likely to be beneficial to do so if possible). The expectation would be for each coaching circle to arrange at least 2 meetings (either virtual, in person, or hybrid) following the initial plenary session to exchange those additional insights and discussions.

Call to Action: We hope you are able to join us at the plenary session – to register to attend, please sign up using the link in this email. To make the most of the session we will only be holding the event in-person. For those who would also like to join a Coaching Circle, either as a leader or participant, please let us know by emailing Bethan Griffith (Bethan.Griffith@dentons.com) and Gina Russell (grussell@parthenon.ey.com) by Monday 1 September with your preference (leader / participant) to ensure your spot in this transformative program.

Belinda Riley is a DEIB consultant, leadership strategist, and clinical hypnotherapist who helps high-performing women and organisations break through the barriers that hold them back.

With a background in professional services and senior roles, including Culture & Equality Lead at EY (EMEIA), Belinda brings over a decade of experience advising global organisations like Amazon, EY, Dentons, Meta, and FTI Consulting. Her signature approach blends neuroscience, DEIB strategy, and subconscious transformation to drive meaningful, measurable change.

Belinda is the founder of Beyond the Barriers™ Academy, a high-impact platform supporting both structural inclusion and personal leadership breakthroughs. She’s known for her ability to cut through the noise, speak truth with care, and create environments where leaders lead differently without burnout, bravado, or bypassing the hard stuff.

Whether she’s working with CEOs, leaders, or ambitious women at the cusp of their next chapter, Belinda’s mission is clear: to create cultures and careers where all talent feels safe, seen, and supported to succeed on their own terms.