Vanessa Vallely OBE | Managing Director, WeAreTheCity

Vanessa is one of the UK’s most well-networked women and has provided keynotes on a variety of career-related topics for over 500 companies worldwide. Vanessa is also one of the UK’s most prominent figures in gender equality and often provides guidance and consultancy to both government and corporate organisations who are seeking to attract, develop and retain their female talent. Vanessa was awarded her OBE in June 2018 for her services to women and the economy.

At the height of her successful 25-year career in Banking and Finance, Vanessa launched the award-winning WeAreTheCity in 2008 as a vehicle to help women progress in their careers. WeAreTheCity and its sister organisation, WeAreTechWomen now has over 120,000 members and provides resources/conferences/awards/jobs to women globally. Vanessa also founded the UK wide diversity forum Gender Networks in 2010. Gender Networks which brings together diversity leaders from 100 cross-sector firms to share best practices on a quarterly basis.

Vanessa is also the founder of the Rising Stars, TechWomen100, Trailblazer50 and Pioneer20 awards. Through these awards, she has raised the profile of over 1,500 incredible women and men.

Vanessa is the author of the book “Heels of Steel: Surviving and Thriving in the Corporate World”, which tracks her career climb from a council estate in east London to the C-suite. Her new book is due for release in 2025.

Over the past 15 years, she has accumulated 26 industry awards, including Women in Banking & Finance’s Champion for Women, Financial News’ Top 100 Rising Star, The International Alliance for Women’s Top 100 Women globally, Brummell’s Top 30 London Entrepreneurs, and most recently, she was inducted into Computer Weekly’s Hall of Fame as an icon for Women in Tech. Vanessa was also cited in GQ UK’s Top 100 Connected Women and the Evening Standard’s 1000 Most Influential Londoners. Vanessa is a regular guest on TV and radio and has appeared on Sky News, the BBC, Talk London and Radio 4. Vanessa is proudly neurodiverse having discovered she has ADHD in her forties. She is now on a mission to help other women who have discovered their own neurodiverse powers later in life.

Vanessa is also the Pearly Queen of The City of London, a tradition that has been in her family for over 100 years. She is an avid charity worker and has sat on various boards, including Prostate UK and Cancer Research UK as one of its Women of Influence. Vanessa is currently a trustee for MS Together, a charity that supports 18-35 year old’s who have been diagnosed with MS.

Keynotes and workshops include The Power of Profile, The Power of Mentoring, Speed Networking, Speed Mentoring, plus her Excel your Career workshop. Vanessa is also available as a panelist, facilitator and leadership development programme host. All talks can be tailored towards specific audiences.