Theme: Role Reversal

‘Role Reversal: Why the World Should Prepare for the Women of the Future’ will bring together a diverse panel of expert and student voices to explore how young women are rewriting what it means to be a strong and successful leader, underscoring the need for society to embrace the world they create. We will be exploring how society must change to empower the girls of today and tomorrow to thrive and how young women view their potential.

Croydon High School
Old Farleigh Rd, Selsdon
Croydon, London, City of, CR2 8YB
United Kingdom

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Annabel Davies

Annabel Davies was appointed Head of Croydon High School in September 2022. A musician herself, Annabel studied music at Royal Holloway, University of London where she realised that she was destined to be a teacher. After university, she completed her PGCE in music at the Institute of Education. During her career, she has taught in boys’, girls’ and co-ed schools, both day and boarding, in the state and independent sector. It was at Surbiton High School, as Assistant Principal in charge of co-curricular, where her passion for girls’ education began. Before taking on the headship of Croydon High School in September 2022, she spent five years as Principal Deputy Head (Curricular) at Harrow in Hong Kong, leading on the academic and teaching and learning life of the school. Annabel is passionate about developing young women so they can fulfil their potential in whatever field suits them. She believes that there are no limits as to what can be achieved.

Dr Mayoni Gooneratne

Croydon High alumna, Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne is the founder of Human Health and SkinFit, aiming to help women truly thrive inside and out. A former NHS colorectal and pelvic floor surgeon, she undertook a period of research early in her career to look at the changes in the nerve pathways resulting in faecal incontinence. She realised how little women knew about their health and also felt that conventional healthcare structures kept people moving towards illness, rather than being health-facing. This prompted her to create The Clinic by Dr Mayoni which allows her and her world-class team to deliver an upstream level of care. A regular contributor to domestic and international conferences, Dr Mayoni recently curated the Medical Longevity Summit in October 2023 to promote health and wellness to the aesthetic industry and was presented with the accolade of being the most influential speaker at the event. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, as well as more main-stream consumer press namely Tatler, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health. Her services and clinic are award winning having been highly commended annually in the Aesthetics Awards. Dr Mayoni has herself been awarded f:entrepreneur 100 in 2019 and was awarded as a finalist for Best Business Woman in Health and Wellness 2022. As the vice president of the British College of Functional Medicine, she also strives hard to help functional medicine become more accessible to all through public awareness and education . Herself a wife and busy mum of 3, with her own perimenopausal journey which prompted her to create her unique programmes and workshops. She offers these in corporate and public spaces to improve patients’ knowledge around aesthetics and the health challenges of ageing well. Her programmes optimise hormonal wellness allowing her patients to navigate their health during hormonal transitions so that they can truly seize the moment and thrive.

Millie Mensah

An alumna of Croydon High, Millie Mensah was born and raised in Croydon and works as a graphic designer and design educator. A published author and former youth justice worker, Millie holds two degrees in Sociology (BSc) and Applied Criminology (MA). Millie spent nine years working at Islington and Croydon Councils in Children's Social Care, before changing her career to work as a graphic designer. She has worked in education, non-profits, travel and tech industries and is currently freelancing and working as an educator for Shillington Education. Millie wrote a children’s book called ‘Migration’ (published in 2022) to help educate children (and adults!) about the journeys Black people have made from Roman times to the present day. Millie’s energy comes from working with people; whether it is helping them make positive life choices, raising awareness about the world through design, writing or guiding aspirational designers through their design education - people will always be at the heart of what she does.

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Rachel Evans

Rachel is the Interim Director of Digital Transformation at Girls' Day School Trust (GDST). She leads on digital strategy, ensuring that technology supports learning without limits for girls across GDST's family of schools. She is passionate about using technology in an authentic way, keeping human relationships at the heart of learning. Rachel has a particular interest in artificial intelligence in education, and in fostering close collaboration between technical teams and educators to enable innovation in the classroom. She is a member of the Practitioners Panel of AI in Education and a BETT Edtech Awards judge.