Meet the Team
STAFF
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Ken Janssens
CEO
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Liz Jacobs
Director of Global Programmes
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Fernando Alonso Pérez-Chao
Director of Global Engagement
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Clare Julien
Director of Finance and Operations
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Steph Galera
Head of Asia Programmes
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Emma Appleby
Head of Programme Delivery
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Miguel Fuentes Carreño, PhD
Head of Research, Impact and Evaluation
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Jeiz Robles
Head of Growth, Asia
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Zoë Schulz
Digital Content Lead
ADVISOR TO THE BOARD
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Fabrice Houdart is the Executive Director of the newly created Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors. He also advises Fortune 500 firms on human rights issues. Fabrice is a member of L'Oreal Global Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. He is an advisor of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Center for Inclusive Governance and serves on the Editorial Board of the Women's Forum.
Fabrice Houdart
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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Jon Miller founded Open For Business in 2015 and is Chair of the Board. He is a partner at Brunswick Group, where he co-leads the global Business & Society practice, which he co-founded in 2011. Today, the practice works with many of the world’s leading companies on their critical societal issues – from climate change and biodiversity to human rights and inclusion and diversity. He has written two books on the role of business in society – Everybody’s Business and most recently, The Activist Leader, published in January 2023.
Jon Miller
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Lori Dobeus is a global inclusion & diversity professional with a broad professional background and change management experience. She is currently the Principal of Advancing Inclusion, a boutique consulting firm helping companies advance their inclusion and diversity strategies. Prior to this role, she was the global co-lead for inclusion and diversity at McKinsey & Company.
Lori Dobeus
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Dr. Ken Chan brings diverse and broad leadership experiences in the public, private and non- profit sectors. He is a Partner and the Health, Government and Public Sector Practice Leader at Optimus SBR, a Toronto-based management consulting firm. Ken’s prior roles include the Bursar and Chief Administrative Officer at Victoria University, Vice President of Administration at Brock University, Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ontario Government, Public Affairs Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Vice President of Advocacy, Research and Healthcare at Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Assistant Director with the UK Department for Business and Trade, and Senior Advisor in the Mayor’s Office at the Greater London Authority. In addition to Open For Business, Ken serves on the boards of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank. He previously served on the Advisory Board of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors - Canada. Ken holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and an Executive Ph.D. in Management from ESCP Business School, Sorbonne Alliance.
Ken Chan
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Linda is a seasoned fractional COO and senior operations consultant, specialising in helping growing businesses and non-profits scale effectively. A dedicated advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, she has a long history of activism and fundraising, serving as a board director for organisations such as OutRight International and the Human Rights Campaign. Originally from San Francisco, Linda has worked internationally for several years and is now based in London.
Linda Blackmore
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Robert Glick, OBE, has held various senior positions in corporate communications and public health – in New York, Paris, New Delhi and London. He currently serves as Vice President of International Government Affairs & Corporate Communications at American Express.
Robert Glick OBE
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Dinah is a social and environmental sustainability professional with over 20 years of policy, business and international development experience. Most recently, she served as CEO of the GCCA, a trade association for the cement industry, where she led efforts to achieve sector-wide commitment to net-zero carbon emissions. Dinah’s previous roles include senior appointments with the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, the Overseas Development Institute, The B Team, Novartis, BT, the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and the World Bank.
Dinah McLeod
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Liam is Assistant Director for Global Sustainability Brand & Marketing at EY. Prior to joining EY, Liam was Senior Marketing Communications Manager for EMEIA at Hyatt where he also worked as an Open For Business Fellow, focused on our research in the Caribbean. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago but based in London, Liam has over ten years' experience in the hospitality and tourism industry and is a champion of LGBT+ inclusivity.
Liam Rezende
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Aprileen Alexander is a finance and strategy executive with over 20 years’ experience across creative industries, technology, and social impact sectors. She currently works with early-stage and high-growth founders as a Fractional CFO and COO, helping them scale sustainably through strong financial leadership and sound operational strategy.
She is also the host of The Pursuit Playbook podcast, which supports and amplifies the career journeys of Black women in corporate and entrepreneurship. Through candid conversations and strategic insights, Aprileen explores how women can build careers that are both ambitious and authentic.
Aprileen Alexander
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Danni is a senior real estate lawyer with elite US law firm, Latham & Watkins. Danni advises their clients on operational real estate matters, with a focus on hospitality, sports, leisure, and retail assets. In their role on the global DEI committee for Latham & Watkins, Danni has been a vocal advocate for the recruitment, retention, and promotion of LGBTQ+ and other minority lawyers. Danni has overseen significant policy changes supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues, including surrogacy and adoption benefits, private medical care for transitioning individuals, pronouns in email signatures, formal gender transition guidelines, and inclusive parental leave policies. Danni is a champion of causes that support the LGBTQ+ community, and has provided hundreds of hours of free legal support to charities such as Mermaids (launching the UK’s first name change clinic for trans people); GiveOut; and National AIDS Trust. Danni is proud to be a visible role model for non-binary and queer people in business, regularly speaking on panels, providing training, and advising businesses on building successful diversity networks. Danni’s sits on Chelsea FC’s ED&I Advisory Group and recently worked on the club’s Rainbow Laces campaign, striving to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion and eradicate homophobia from football.
Danni Davies
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Born to Panjabi Sikh work-class migrant parents in the UK, Gurchaten (he/they) is a widely respected LGBTI changemaker and community leader, joining ILGA World to further strengthen and build on the organisation’s programmatic work and manage its growing Programmes team. Before their time at ILGA World, Gurchaten was the Non-Discrimination Programme Officer at the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Brance, where they built their expertise and knowledge on promoting social justice through decent and inclusive work for all, in particular to enhance LGBTIQ+ rights and work and economic inclusion. They were also the President for UN-GLOBE, the group representing LGBTIQ+ personnel in the United Nations system.Gurchaten serves as a steering committee member of International Family Equality Day NGO, a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT forum, a Sarabat LGBT Sikhs volunteer and a trustee for We Create Space. Gurchaten has been listed as the OUTStanding LGBT Role Model from 2018 to 2021. They are also an Honouree of the Out & Equal’s 2021 Global LGBTQ Corporate Advocate Outie Award, and the winner of the British LGBT Award for Exceptional Inclusion 2021.
Gurchaten (Nanoo) Sandhu
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Geffrye (he/him; “Geff”) is the Founder and CEO of The Inclusion Imperative, an independent consultancy practice which provides consulting, training and keynote speaking services oriented around inclusion, psychological safety and change agency, to create workplaces, leaders and cultures which are more effective, productive and robust. His approach to this work is informed by his previous 35-year client-facing executive career as a Chartered Accountant and a corporate banker, with global financial and professional services organisations.
Geff has been designated as a ‘Top Voice’ on LinkedIn for each of Leadership, Culture Change and Executive Management, and his LGBTQ+ inclusion work has been recognised by accolades from the Pride Power List, the British LGBT Awards, the PinkNews Awards, and Stonewall. Geff holds several fractional Board-level roles with not-for-profit organisations working to advance LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. In addition to Open for Business, these include being a Director of the LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors Canada Association (which works to increase LGBTQ+ representation at Board level across Canada), a Trustee of GiveOut (a UK based entity facilitating charitable giving to LGBTQ+ activist causes globally), and a Board Advisor to Voda, a mental health and wellbeing app specifically for and by the LGBTQ+ community.
Geffrye Parsons
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Aalap Shah is an international development consultant and business strategist, who has worked in the intersection of inclusive economies, financial inclusion, technology, and human rights (including intersectional approaches to gender, SOGIESC, disability, and migrant communities). He has worked across both the public and private sector; and was on the Board of Directors of Outright International during nine transformative years. Through his work at Fortune 500 companies to startups and international development organizations, he has a track record of delivering long-term value to both stakeholders and communities; and centering results to be healthy, sustainable, and inclusive. Aalap went to the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and got his MBA at the University of Texas. Aalap lives in Lisbon, Portugal and often spends his time dancing, with community, and in nature.
Aalap Shah
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Until recently, Ashley was Senior Director of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Boston Consulting Group where she was responsible for driving the strategy and execution of BCG’s Global DEI agenda across gender, LGBTQ+, AccessAbility, and ethnic/cultural/socioeconomic groups. She defined the firm’s aspirations, tracked and reported on progress, increased leadership accountability and designed programs to foster an equitable and inclusive environment for all BCG employees. She is based in London.