Diversity and Inclusion in the Profession Speakers

Helen is a Strategic Planner with over 30 years’ experience working across public and private sectors, both in the UK and internationally. Her specialism includes regeneration, masterplanning, inclusive healthy placemaking, development management, infrastructure planning, strategic policy development, community engagement and service improvement. She has led major development schemes such as Oak Wharf, a canal redevelopment site in Hackney, London and a Model City Plan for over 4 million people in Lagos, Nigeria, and more recently leading on a range of Garden Town developments and urban extensions for mixed use schemes comprising housing, schools and major infrastructure of more than 6,000 dwellings on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council.

She is the Founder and Chair of BAME Planners Network, promoting  diversity and inclusion in the planning profession. She is also an Advisory Board Member for Women in Planning and President of ICOGA Europe (Idia College alumni association). Helen has won several awards and was a judge in the RTPI London Region Awards 2021, RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence in 2020 and 2021.

Helen has been a member of the  RTPI General Assembly since 2019, RTPI Membership Panel (2016-2017), RTPI International Committee (2019), RTPI Membership and Ethics Committee (2020 to date) and was part of the International Strategy working group (2020/21).

Helen is RTPI President 2025. 

Having studied Town and Country Planning as a Postgraduate at Manchester University, Sue started her career at Birmingham City Council. She then moved to academia as a senior lecturer in planning law and practice at the University of Central England, before returning to the public sector as Head of Planning and Transport at Advantage West Midlands. In 2005 Sue joined Arup where she led their Midlands Planning, Policy and Economics Business, followed in 2009 by a move to become National Planner for the RTPI Planning Aid England. In 2011 Sue moved to the Pegasus Group as a Regional Director and since 2018 has run her own practice which specialises in strategic advice on community engagement and consultation in relation to development projects. She is a visiting lecturer at Birmingham University, a Fellow of the RSA and RGS and is RTPI Immediate Past President.

Charlotte is a chartered town planner with nearly 15 years of experience across public, private and third sectors. She is currently a senior lecturer and doctoral researcher at Leeds Beckett University. Alongside this, Charlotte is the co-founder and national co-chair of the UK-wide network Women in Planning.

Charlotte's research interest focuses on women working in planning gender-informed planning. Her doctoral research focuses on women's experience as leaders and managers in the planning profession. Charlotte is also the receipt of the RTPI Early Careers Research Grant exploring "Expectations and understandings of digital literacy of planning students and employers and its potential impacts on the implementation of digital planning in practice" with Professor Silvia Gullino at Birmingham City University.

Jenny Offord MRTPI is Co-Founder of “Neurodiversity in Planning” and a Senior Planning and Enabling Manager at Homes England where she is Vice Chair of the Neurodiversity Network. With 20 years’ experience of Planning in local authorities, consultancy, housebuilders and now at Homes England, Jenny is passionate about encouraging a wider range of perspectives to be heard across the profession and built environment sector.

Neil is the Inclusive Design Lead for HS2 Ltd. He is one of the Mayor of London’s Design Advocates and is Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation’s Built Environment Access Panel. Before joining HS2 he was the Head of Inclusive Design at Buro Happold Engineering. He is the principal author of the Mayor of London’s Supplementary Planning Guidance ‘Accessible London: achieving an inclusive environment’, and the London 2012 Games and 2019 Legacy Development Corporation’s ‘Inclusive Design Standards’. He a member of the National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC) Advisory Group and represents the NRAC on BSI Committee for B/559 - Design of an Accessible and Inclusive Environment and the CIC Diversity and Inclusion Panel.