Hayley Barnard

Inclusion Thought Leader | Keynote Speaker | Diversity Consultant

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Hayley Barnard 's Biography

After quickly rising to become General Manager of Sir Chay Blyth’s ‘Challenge Business’ at just 23, Hayley went on to achieve her first directorship in an Anglo-French business aged 26. Since then, Hayley has founded three companies and is also currently a Non-Executive Director of YHA, alongside her role as CEO of Mix Diversity Developers. Hayley is a professional speaker, consultant and media commentator on subjects including gender balanced workplaces, inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, and cross-cultural leadership. She tackles issues surrounding unconscious bias and inclusiveness with humour, ensuring that her ideas have real value for audiences’ working lives. One of the most innovative projects that Hayley has headed up is the LeasePlan Women’s Arctic Challenge in which she co-led a team of women on a traverse of Baffin Island at minus 40 degrees C. MIX worked with LeasePlan to develop this unique platform to communicate the gender balance issue and challenge unconscious bias within their company. With her clients, Hayley combines the latest research on inclusion of diversity with first-hand experience, helping a wide range of companies establish what inclusion looks like for them, what their business case is and how to move the agenda forward. Hayley has: Designed Inclusive Leadership programs for companies such as Capital One, Experian, Lidl, Mazars, Boston Scientific, and many, many more. Advised the Irish government on the introduction of Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation and how to help companies reduce their pay gap. Provided keynotes and board level briefings for clients including Microsoft, Vodafone, Nissan, Virgin Media, Roche, Teva, H&M, AstraZeneca and many others. Spoken at over 225 events across aerospace, banking and finance, construction and engineering, insurance, legal, retail, telecoms, technology, pharmaceutical and the energy sector. Hayley is a prolific keynote speaker providing entertaining and inspirational speeches for company conferences as well as in-depth senior leader briefings and seminars. Her aim is always to be highly practical and demonstrate that everyone can immediately make an impact on how inclusive their place of work is through a number of small actions. When not at work or at home Hayley can usually be found swimming in the nearest stretch of open water. She has successfully swum across the English Channel, taking 14 hours and 12 minutes to reach France. In 2018 she also swam 46 km around Manhattan Island in New York.

SPEAKING VIDEOS
PHOTOS

Hayley Barnard Diversity, Inclusion, Implicit/Unconscious Bias Speaker & Trainer Showreel Demo reel.

SPEAKER TOPICS

Generations Speakers

Gender & Equality Speakers

Creativity Speakers

Diversity Speakers

Motivational Speakers

Leadership Speakers

Culture Speakers

Virtual Keynotes

Vision & Strategy Speakers

Future of Work Speakers

Women's Day Speakers

Conference Speakers

Business Speakers

Workplace Culture Speakers

Hayley Barnard Speech Titles

Future Proofing Leadership Skills

In this keynote, Hayley Barnard challenges leaders to step beyond technical expertise and develop the inclusion skills essential for the future of work. With shifting workforce demographics and globalised teams, tomorrow’s most effective leaders will be those who know how to embrace difference and foster belonging.

Hayley equips audiences with practical tools to strengthen leadership relevance—whatever the future workforce looks like. This is an essential session for anyone seeking to lead with purpose in a fast-changing world.

Practical Inclusive Leadership

What does inclusion actually look like in day-to-day leadership? Hayley Barnard brings inclusion out of the policy manual and into real life. She shares small, actionable behaviours that drive big shifts in culture—from how we run meetings to who we choose to mentor.

This talk demystifies inclusive leadership and offers immediately applicable strategies. Hayley’s message is clear: inclusion isn’t about being perfect—it’s about being conscious, consistent, and courageous.

Biased, Who? Me?

With humour and insight, Hayley Barnard invites audiences to confront a tough truth: we all have unconscious bias. Rather than blame or shame, this session opens the door to self-awareness and behavioural change.

Using relatable stories and evidence-based techniques, Hayley helps participants spot their own biases and take simple steps to counteract them. It’s a light-hearted but powerful session with lasting personal and professional impact.

Inclusive Recruitment

If we recruit the same way, we’ll get the same results. In this talk, Hayley Barnard explores how hidden biases can silently shape recruitment decisions—and what we can do to interrupt them. She offers practical guidance for building fair, inclusive, and future-fit hiring processes.

From language in job ads to diverse interview panels, Hayley shows how small changes can open doors to untapped talent. It’s a must-hear for leaders who want to hire differently—and better.

Creating a Gender-Balanced Business

Achieving gender balance isn’t about quotas—it’s about culture. In this keynote, Hayley Barnard explores the tangible benefits of gender-balanced teams and the structural barriers that often get in the way. Drawing on her Arctic leadership expeditions and global consultancy work, she brings the business case to life.

This session empowers organisations to move from good intentions to meaningful action, with proven strategies that drive progress and accountability.

D&I in Marketing

How inclusive is your brand—really? In this session, Hayley Barnard helps marketing, comms and brand teams identify hidden biases and rethink representation across channels. She shares insights on how to create content that resonates with a broader, more diverse audience—without falling into tokenism.

From language to imagery, from campaign strategy to consumer trust, this talk redefines inclusive marketing as smart, ethical, and essential.

Hayley Barnard 's Biography

Hayley is a professional speaker, consultant and media commentator on subjects including gender balanced workplaces, inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, and cross-cultural leadership. She tackles issues surrounding unconscious bias and inclusiveness with humour, ensuring that her ideas have real value for audiences’ working lives.

One of the most innovative projects that Hayley has headed up is the LeasePlan Women’s Arctic Challenge in which she co-led a team of women on a traverse of Baffin Island at minus 40 degrees C. MIX worked with LeasePlan to develop this unique platform to communicate the gender balance issue and challenge unconscious bias within their company.

With her clients, Hayley combines the latest research on inclusion of diversity with first-hand experience, helping a wide range of companies establish what inclusion looks like for them, what their business case is and how to move the agenda forward. Hayley has:

Designed Inclusive Leadership programs for companies such as Capital One, Experian, Lidl, Mazars, Boston Scientific, and many, many more.
Advised the Irish government on the introduction of Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation and how to help companies reduce their pay gap.

Provided keynotes and board level briefings for clients including Microsoft, Vodafone, Nissan, Virgin Media, Roche, Teva, H&M, AstraZeneca and many others.
Spoken at over 225 events across aerospace, banking and finance, construction and engineering, insurance, legal, retail, telecoms, technology, pharmaceutical and the energy sector.

Hayley is a prolific keynote speaker providing entertaining and inspirational speeches for company conferences as well as in-depth senior leader briefings and seminars. Her aim is always to be highly practical and demonstrate that everyone can immediately make an impact on how inclusive their place of work is through a number of small actions.

When not at work or at home Hayley can usually be found swimming in the nearest stretch of open water. She has successfully swum across the English Channel, taking 14 hours and 12 minutes to reach France. In 2018 she also swam 46 km around Manhattan Island in New York.