A Meeting of Minds Winning Advisers North 2023

Speakers

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  Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes

  Archaeologist, Author and Honorary Fellow in the School of Archaeology

  Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist and Honorary Fellow at the University of Liverpool. She specialises in prehistory and is an expert in ancient stone tool technologies. After an academic career including four years in Bordeaux, France, in 2020 Rebecca followed her long-held passion for writing for wider audiences in her first book KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, which won the 2021 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. A deep dive into the 21st century understanding of these ancient relatives, KINDRED is a critically acclaimed bestseller, translated into 19 languages. It was a finalist for the 2022 Premio Galileo, the 2022 Wissenbuch des Jahres, won 2021’s Current Archaeology Book of the Year, and was selected as one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books Of 2021, a Book Of The Year for The Sunday Times, New Scientist and others; Book Of The Week for The Times; and Book Of The Day for The Guardian. Rebecca’s other writing including articles, opinion pieces and reviews has featured in The New York Times, The Times, The Guardian, Aeon and elsewhere, and she regularly appears on a variety of radio from the BBC to NPR, as well as numerous podcasts. Earning a reputation as a compelling speaker and broadcaster, in 2022 Rebecca received the Public Anthropology Award from the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the President's Award from the Prehistoric Society.

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  Anthony Bennett

  Inspirational Speaker on Teamwork, Resilience & Mental Health

  Anthony Bennett is an inspirational speaker and motivational speaker & fundraiser who learned how to walk, talk and speak again after contracting three virus infections at the same time. After what many would consider being a miracle, Anthony was given only a 10%chance or survival, but has made a full recovery and is inspiring businesses, schools, and organisations with his optimism and bubbly personality. In 2006, after returning from a trip to Disneyland Paris Anthony fell extremely ill and was left fighting for his life. The cause was narrowed down to the air conditioning within the coach and affected 80% of students on the trip but left Anthony with a 10% chance of survival after contracting 3 viral infections - Streph-Pneumonia, Influenza, and Staphylococcus, his white blood cells reduced to zero, he suffered from a seizure whilst in a coma, he was resuscitated and brought back to life an amazing 12 times, he relearnt how to walk, talk, and breathe again after spending 3 weeks on an Extra Corporal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine. After making a full recovery, Anthony played a major role in winning a £7.5m Charity Partnership between Whitbread PLC and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, where he spent 4 years traveling the UK and Inspiring teams to get involved in raising the much-needed funds for the children’s charity. The money raised went towards the construction of a brand new cardiac hospital wing, helping at the children’s hospital to treat up to 20% more children. He went on the be named one of the happiest people in the UK in the Independent on Sunday’s 2015 Happy List, a programme recognised by the Prime Minister for his efforts in enriching the lives of others, making Britain a better place. Now an International Speaker, Anthony inspires audiences globally

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  Professor Matthew Goodwin

  Professor of Politics, University of Kent

  Matthew J. Goodwin is an academic, writer and speaker known mainly for his work on British and European politics, extremism, immigration and Euroscepticism. He is currently Professor of Politics at Rutherford College, University of Kent, and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House. Matthew is a trained political scientist. He received his PhD from the University of Bath in 2007, after which he worked for a self-funded research institute at the University of Manchester. He was then awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Economic and Social Research Council. He was also recipient of an ESRC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship and spent twelve months on full-time secondment in a UK government department. In 2015 he was appointed Professor of Politics at the University of Kent. In the same year he was awarded an ESRC Senior Fellowship to examine Britain's 2016 EU referendum. In 2014 he received the Richard Rose Prize, awarded to one person annually for their contribution to the study of politics. In 2015, he won the Paddy Power Political Book of the Year for Revolt on the Right, co-authored with Robert Ford. Since completing his PhD he has attracted around £1 million in external research funding. Since 2008 he co-edited the Routledge book series on Extremism and Democracy. Between 2011 and 2015 he served as a member of the UK government's working group on anti-Muslim hatred. Since 2013 he served his profession as a Trustee and executive committee member of the Political Studies Association, which since 1950 has promoted the study of politics. Matthew is an outward-facing researcher who believes that social science should be as much about contributing to wider society as to social science. He engages widely and has worked with over two hundred non-academic organisations from the European Parliament and National Security Agency down to his local police authority.