Date: 12th November 2025

Venue: St. Mary’s University, London

At our annual modern slavery conference this November, we will gather a select group of thought leaders, industry experts, and change-makers to collectively address the pressing issue of modern slavery and forced labor risk. Our conference is now in its third year of running; find our takeaways from last year here.

The conference theme for 2025 will be “Understanding Modern Slavery as part of Human Rights Due Diligence”. This resonates with our shared commitment to lead beyond compliance, seeking practical solutions that can make a tangible difference. We’re delighted to say that our keynote speaker this year will be Dr. Carole Murphy, Professor of Sociology and Applied Research at St Mary’s and Director of the Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery Exploitation and Abuse.

As a result of our partnerships with DMH Stallard and the Bakhita Centre, we are happy to say that we have been able to reduce our conference ticket price by 50% on last year, with the aim of making the event more accessible to all who could benefit from our speakers’ expertise. 10% of all ticket purchases goes to funding our non-profit, Tendai.

Our Agenda

Our Partners

Meet Your Speakers:

Dr. Carole Murphy – Keynote Speaker

Professor of Sociology and Applied Research at St. Mary’s University · Director of the Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse.

Carole played a key role in establishing the Centre, formerly the Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery. She has supported and led on numerous funded studies on modern slavery and human trafficking. Her research interests include a focus on victim/survivor support systems and developing tools for practice interventions and policy impact. She is committed to creating training for practitioners who work with victims of abuse and exploitation and advancing opportunities for access to education and training for survivors/experts by experience. Her main research interests are in human trafficking, modern slavery, exploitation and abuse, and examining intersections with social problems, inequalities, addiction and health/mental health issues. 

Session 2

Samah Ali

Policy & Research Analyst · Walk Free

Samah is a Policy and Research Analyst, at Walk Free, an international human rights group working to accelerate the end of all forms of modern slavery. Walk Free is the creator of the Global Slavery Index, the world’s most comprehensive data set on modern slavery. Samah plays a key role in conducting research and developing policy solutions to governments and regulators with particular focus on the Arab States region and North Africa. She holds a MSc in International Development where she focused on the role of social movements in generating sustainable change.

Session 3

Richard Valder-Davis

Head of Safeguarding & Academy Player Care · Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

Brighton & Hove Albion are a values led organisation, meaning the culture from the club’s board of directors right down through the staff base creates a supportive, authentic and safe environment for young athletes, staff and fans. Richard’s awareness of how human intersectionality affects us all, sees him work closely with the club’s sustainability strands including, staff wellbeing, equality diversity and inclusion Child rights and environmental sustainability to enable a thriving workforce. The Clubs values, amplified through their commitment to being a sustainable organisation, see’s commitment and shared responsibility extending to suppliers, commercial partners, fans and former players.

Session 4

Martin Buttle

Better Work Lead · CCLA

Martin joined CCLA Investment Management in 2022 to lead the Better Work pillar of the sustainability strategy, which includes coordinating the ‘Find it, Fix it, Prevent it’ programme on Modern Slavery as well as broader engagements on Living Wage, Decent Work and Business and Human Rights.  Martin joined CCLA from ShareAction where he was Head of Good Work. He has over 18 years’ experience in labour and human rights across academia, consultancy and the non-profit sector working primarily with fashion, food, finance and the retail sectors. He was formerly the apparel & textiles lead at the Ethical Trading Initiative where he ran collaborative Human Rights programmes in India, Turkey and the UK. He has sat on a variety of international advisory groups including OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, UK Sustainable Clothing Action Plan and Business Commission to Tackle Inequality Working Group on Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive workplaces and value chains. He holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham on ethical finance in the social economy.  

Session 5

Malcolm Hett

Sustainability Director · UCC Europe

Malcolm has worked within some of the largest coffee companies since first entering the world of coffee as a Brand Marketing Manager in 2007.  He has spent much of the last 17 years focused on the ‘consumption’ side, covering roles in innovation, marketing and insight – and joined UCC Europe in 2021.  Following a long-held passion to bring sustainable consumption choices to the mainstream, his latest role is Sustainability Director for Europe. This role takes responsibility for organising towards UCC’s global sustainability goals; satisfying the sustainability requirements of both B2B customers and B2C brands plus rising to the challenge of meeting the increasing demands of compliance.  Malcolm lives in West Wales with his partner and they look after 3 donkeys from a sanctuary. 

Claire Harcourt-Cooke

Project Director · Creative Contracts

Claire is the Project Director at Creative Contracts, where she plays a key role in developing and implementing visual legal solutions. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and a Master’s in Finance, where she focused on the use of comic contracts in financial services. Since joining Creative Contracts in 2021, Claire has led impactful projects, including a partnership with The ClemenGold Foundation to boost vaccine uptake in rural South African communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Passionate about accessibility and dignity in legal communication, she continues to drive innovative solutions for legally vulnerable individuals.

Session 6

Margherita Parodi

Legal Advisor · Ethical Trading Initiative

Margherita works as Legal Advisor at the Ethical Trading Initiative, a multistakeholder initiative aimed at upholding workers’ rights in global supply chain. She holds extensive qualitative and MEAL experience in research on ESG practices, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines and the UK Modern Slavery Act. She holds a BSc in Politics and IR, an MSc in Human Rights and an MA Law conversion. Through the solicitor qualifying exams (SQE1 and SQE2) route, she has been admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. She now offers legal advice to companies with a particular focus on CSRD, CSDDD and the EU Forced Labour Ban to ensure their human rights due diligence policies are accurate and efficient.

Marie Rumsby

Director of Communications and Advocacy · Fairtrade Foundation  

Marie joined the Fairtrade Foundation in April 2024 as Director of Communications and Advocacy, responsible for Fairtrade’s public affairs, campaigning and community engagement, and brand and marketing.  Marie has over 15 years of experience as an impactful policy, advocacy, campaigns and communications strategist. She has worked for The Royal Society (the UK’s science academy), Save the Children, Global Citizen and most recently Bite Back 2030 – a youth-led movement working to fix the food system in the UK. Her work has focused on international development, food security and sustainability.  She has authored numerous policy reports including ‘People and the Planet’ and ‘Unequal Portions’ and is an experienced media spokesperson. She has a MSc in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

Session 7

Phil Brewer

Specialist Advisor on Modern Slavery · Human Trafficking Foundation 

Phil has a background in law enforcement, serving as a Police Officer for 30 years and reaching the rank of Detective Superintendent. He was head of the Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit in the London Metropolitan Police and regularly represented UK Policing at the Europol Trafficking Human Beings Expert Group.   Following police retirement, Phil remains active within the anti-trafficking sector. Through HTF, he supports a range of organisations and individuals involved in collaborative counter- exploitation activity. Phil lectures on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at St Mary’s as well as regularly contributing to The Bakhita Centre’s projects and research. In 2023 Phil became a Trustee at Bucks Safestep Foundation, a community-based charity that primarily supports survivors of exploitation and their families. 

Sosa Henkoma

Expert by Experience · Independent Consultant

Sosa Henkoma is an award-winning Expert by Experience Consultant dedicated to combating human trafficking and modern slavery. As a prominent public speaker, life coach, and mentor, he passionately advocates for incorporating lived experiences into anti-trafficking initiatives, ensuring survivor voices are central to the fight. In addition to his consulting work, Sosa serves as an ambassador, a school governor focused on safeguarding, and a charity trustee. He is currently a second-year student studying Criminology and Sociology, where he values collaboration and aims to foster understanding to improve survivor support systems and influence lasting policy change.

Session 8

Liam Rogers

Legal Research Intern · Ardea International

Liam Rogers is a third-year Law student at the University of Cape Town and an intern at Ardea International. He is an enthusiastic and driven individual with a passion for sports, environmental sustainability, and conservation. Having participated in sports at various levels throughout his life, he applies the values of teamwork in all aspects of his work. He is known for being approachable, enjoying the company of others, and valuing collaboration and consultation. After completing his studies, he aspires to be admitted as an attorney or solicitor and to use litigation as a tool to drive meaningful change for businesses, individuals, and the planet. He is excited to be part of Ardea International during this period, as the company’s values align closely with his own, and he recognizes the significant impact the organization has on those it engages with.

Session 9

Hannah May

Sustainability Manager · Hiscox 

Hannah joined Hiscox in November 2023 as Sustainability Manager for the Group. Prior to joining Hiscox, Hannah was Sustainability Manager for a UK life insurer, Just plc, driving the development of their Sustainability Strategy, Transition Plan and their initial TCFD reporting. She has completed the University of Cambridge Sustainable Business Management course and is a Graduate of English from the University of Birmingham.

Shehani John

Risk Officer · Hiscox 

Shehani is a Risk Officer at Hiscox working in the Group Risk Team. She has experience in Enterprise Risk Management within financial services as well as in consulting roles, having previously worked at Deloitte.

Debbie Venn

Partner · DMH Stallard

Experienced and pragmatic commercial contracts specialist with particular expertise in technology, data, IP, travel, manufacturing and wine sectors and support to in-house counsel.  With more than 20 years’ experience, Debbie has worked with global brands, household names and entrepreneurial businesses advising on trading arrangements, contracts, collaboration agreements, supply chains, intellectual property rights protection and commercialisation, licensing and royalty agreements, IT contracts (software licences, support and maintenance, SaaS / Cloud, managed services and IT infrastructure contracts), online trading / website regulation, privacy and data protection issues (including UK GDPRs).  Debbie has worked with manufacturing and distribution businesses, including logistics and international trade agreements, agency terms, distribution agreements and sales conditions, with particular experience in managing supply chain issues, contractual obligations, supplier compliance and reduction of risk. She is also an acknowledged expert in the travel sector, working with tour operators, travel agents, destination management companies and suppliers, advising on a wide range of matters including package travel and ATOL regulations, booking conditions and agency agreements.  Debbie has also spoken at many ABTA events and contributed to travel and other publications.

What people had to say about our previous Modern Slavery Conferences: