At this year’s Brighton Summit, we’ve got three keynotes who are sharing their stories, all linked in their own way to this year’s theme: Unite. 

In case you missed it, in January we announced our first keynote, Baroness Floella Benjamin (Playschool alumni will recognise her name!), and we’re delighted that joining Floella as keynotes on April 29th will be Mike Adams and Rachel Watkyn. 

Mike Adams is CEO of multi-million-pound disability business Purple, dad of five and devoted Brighton fan. Purple is a cutting-edge organisation committed to changing the disability conversation, and it provides direct support services to more than 4,500 disabled people, helping them to lead more independent lives. 

Traditionally, the focus for the disability conversation has been on charity, welfare, vulnerable people and responsibility of government. But this needs to change, and a move towards understanding the value, wider contribution and opportunity for people and organisations is needed.

At Brighton Summit Mike will tell, through stories, how change is being achieved. He’ll explain how and why organisations, as well as individuals, need to unite to play a part. 

For Founder of Tiny Box Company, Rachel Watkyn, life hasn’t always been straight-forward. An early job in Sierra Leone led her to witness both poverty and a military coup – and what she saw inspired her vision for a Fairtrade business. 

Tiny Box Company is now the UK’s largest online gift packaging e-commerce company, with 90 employees, 700 products and over 120,000 customers. Rachel’s keynote will look at how the problems life continued to throw at her have prepared her for the challenge of business, and why she’s just launched a new sustainability company. 

If her name is familiar, it might be because you heard her speak at our Hybrid event in November. We’ve invited her back to share her powerful story with the wider Summit audience. 

What else is planned so far…

As well as three brilliant keynotes, our Summit schedule is fast filling up. 

We have a choice of workshops to help you unfrazzle, learn to speak confidently in public with an opera singer, or how to ask smarter questions.

Our Come Together (right now) HOUR is an inspiring session to do something different. You can choose to see a quantum physics lab up close, get a Sussex wine and cheese masterclass, disassemble a laptop or meditate with an organ recital. 

And, we’ve also got thought-provoking speaker sessions with Victoria Garcia from Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus, Jack Maddalena from Naurt - plus plenty of time for networking (and refreshments) built in throughout the day. 

We’re still announcing new workshops, speakers and HOURS every week. So, to get the latest Summit updates sign up to the Chamber mailing list.