Opening Speaker: Abigail Marshall Katung, former Lord Mayor of Leeds
Abigail Marshall Katung is an accomplished leader in governance, sustainable development, and diaspora engagement, with over two decades of experience spanning public policy, civic leadership, and entrepreneurship. She served as the 130th Lord Mayor of Leeds (2024–2025), becoming the first African to hold this prestigious role in one of the UK’s largest and most diverse cities. In this capacity, she represented Leeds on the international stage, hosted global dignitaries, and led initiatives that raised over £100,000 to support community inclusion and address inequalities.
Elected to Leeds City Council in 2019 and re-elected in 2023, Abigail has held senior leadership positions across infrastructure, health, social care, education, and equality. She chaired the city’s Hate Crime Strategic Board, strengthening anti-discrimination frameworks, and served as Lead Member for Faith and Belief, championing interfaith dialogue and
multicultural integration.
Keynote Speaker: Lee Healey, IncomeMAX
(Sponsored by Bristow & Sutor)
Lee Healey is the founder and CEO of IncomeMax, the award-winning social enterprise helping people across the UK access the financial support they’re entitled to. Since 2009, IncomeMax has supported over 150,000 households and unlocked more than £50 million in confirmed income, combining compassionate human advice with innovative technology.
A former DWP decision maker turned social entrepreneur, Lee is recognised nationally for his leadership in income maximisation, vulnerability strategy, and ethical AI in welfare support. He serves on the advisory board of Martin Lewis’ Money & Mental Health Policy Institute and regularly appears in national media as a welfare expert.
Lee’s mission is simple: to build systems of knowledge, compassion, and fairness that help people live with dignity and security.
He recently appeared as the guest on a special edition of the MALG Podcast entitled: ‘Hearts and Minds – Championing Financial Fairness through Leadership, Lived Experience and Human-Centred AI.’
Regulatory Keynote: Alison Walters, Financial Conduct Authority
Alison was recently appointed Consumer Finance Director responsible for supervision and policy of consumer credit firms. She represents the FCA on the Financial Inclusion Access to Credit sub-group.
Alison has worked at the FCA (and its predecessor the Financial Services Authority) for more than 25 years and worked on strategic, policy and supervisory issues across general insurance, Payments and retail and wholesale banking sectors and spent time in Enforcement. In 2023, Alison obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies, CPE with commendation.
Breakout 1a: The Changing Nature of Public Sector Debt Collection: Considering Ability to Pay
Chair: Kevin Shaw, Money and Pensions Service
Kevin leads on Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) policy matters relating to creditor debt recovery practices, enforcement, and support for those in financial difficulty. He is a member of several UK government advisory groups for debt including the Government Debt Management Function (GDMF) Fairness Group, where he chairs the Ability to Pay Sub-Group. He is a Non-Executive Director/ Trustee at Citizens Advice Sunderland.
Speakers:Chris Nichols, Enforcement Conduct Board
Chris Nichols is Chief Executive of the Enforcement Conduct Board, the independent oversight body for the enforcement sector in England and Wales. He began his career at the Ministry of Justice where he helped to bring in a pioneering new regulatory framework for legal services.
He then moved to the Bar Standards Board where he set up new approaches to barrister regulation as well as delivering a supervision function and leading the first ever round of on-site audits of barristers’ chambers.
Before taking up his current role in March 2023, Chris spent eight years at the Legal Services Board where he held a number of senior roles including Director of Policy and Oversight.
Kiri Adams, Christians Against Poverty
Kiri is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Christians Against Poverty. She has worked in the debt advice sector for nine years, working with financial services, enforcement, utilities and government departments to help secure better outcomes for customers in debt. She currently works as CAP’s Head of Policy & Public Affairs; feeding insights from CAP clients into policy decisions, leading on CAP’s Public Affairs work and advocating for those in debt and on low incomes.
Kiri also chairs the Communications Subgroup, a subsidiary of the Government Debt Management Function’s (GDMF) Fairness Group. The Fairness Group was set up in 2016 to recommend improvements to the government’s debt-management practices. It includes representatives from central government, local government, the debt advice sector and industry experts.
Adam Butler, StepChange
Speaker bio and photo coming soon.
Mike Bond, Department for Work & Pensions
Mike is a career civil servant, starting out in 1993. He’s worked in the debt arena since around 2008, initially in finance then moving into policy and strategy roles. In December 2024, he moved into a senior operational role, leading eight debt management sites in the North of England and Scotland. He is passionate about the work of DWP and ensuring we provide the best possible service to our customers.
Breakout 1b: Fintech Showcase: Innovative and Cutting-Edge Solutions for Supporting Financial Resilience and Financial Capability
Compere: Kirsty McKenna, Fintech Scotland
Kirsty joined FinTech Scotland in 2022 to support the delivery of the Research and Innovation Roadmap. Kirsty comes from a Financial Services background where she built up vast experience delivering large scale transformation programmes largely as a result of M&A activity or Regulatory changes.
Speakers:Ren Yi Hooi, Lightning Reach
Ren Yi Hooi is the Founder and CEO of Lightning Reach, an award-winning Fintech for good startup which streamlines access to financial support. Passionate about using technology to drive social impact and financial inclusion, she was previously the Product Director at FinTech scaleup Railsr and has worked in international teams supporting financially underserved communities globally.
Ren was recognised as one of the WISE100 top women in social enterprise, Big Issue 100 Changemakers and Women in FinTech Powerlist. She has served as a mentor for the FCA and a Senior Visiting Practitioner at the University of York’s Administrative Fairness Lab. Ren holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Rob Tyrell, Haboo Money
Rob has spent the last decade designing and building digital propositions for leading Financial Services firms globally. In 2023, Rob then co-founded haboo money, with the mission of helping millions of borrowers get back on track while powering responsible growth for lenders across the UK and Europe.
Cat Divers, National Support Network
Cat Divers is the award-winning Founder and CEO of National Support Network (NSN), inspired by her own experience and a passion for ensuring people can access help as early as possible.
NSN makes it simple for brands to support customers facing life challenges beyond their control by signposting them to trusted external services. Home to the UK’s largest human-vetted directory of support providers, NSN creates co-branded and fully customisable “one-stop-shop” support websites that enable organisations to:
✅ Signpost customers to the right help when issues fall outside their own expertise
✅ Showcase their own initiatives and partnerships that strengthen customer support
✅ Gain valuable insight into customer support needs, outcomes and preferences
MALG Podcast LIVE: Liz Barclay, Institute of Directors
Former MALG Chair Liz Barclay is an entrepreneur, broadcaster, journalist, writer and author specialising in small business, personal finance and consumer affairs. She is currently working with the Institute of Directors as Small Business and Entrepreneurship Lead, with technology firms on the adoption and effective use of technology for small and micro businesses, and with businesses of all sizes on strategy, governance, employee engagement, inclusivity and communications. This follows a four-year role as the UK’s Small Business Commissioner with the remit of resolving payment disputes and improving practices.
Liz is an experienced Chair and NED with Boards in the private and third sectors, is Chair of the Fair by Design Campaign (to tackle the poverty premium) and a NED at Trustmark. She also speaks at and chairs UK and international conferences and panel sessions. She has started and run several businesses.
Breakout 2a: Financial Inclusion: Rebuilding Creditworthiness after Economic Abuse and other Financial Difficulties
Chair: Genevieve Richardson, StepChange Debt Charity
Genevieve joined StepChange in 2022, leading on policy work related to housing and vulnerabilities. She authored the 2023 report ‘Trapped in rent’, which explored the experiences of StepChange’s clients renting in the Private Rented Sector, and the 2025 report ‘Too close to home’, about StepChange clients’ experiences of economic abuse and coerced debt. She has acted as a media spokesperson for the charity, having been quoted in the Guardian, i paper, and made appearances on national radio. Before joining the charity, she worked on select committees in the House of Lords and as Parliamentary Assistant to a Member of Parliament.
Speakers:Sam Smethers, Surviving Economic Abuse
Sam has twelve years’ experience as a charity Chief Executive. She is the former CEO of the Fawcett Society – the UK’s leading feminist campaigning charity and the former CEO of Grandparents Plus (now Kinship).
Since 2021 Sam has been working in a consultancy capacity to support third sector organisations to develop their strategies and grow their impact, including contracts with Black Equity Organisation, the Abortion Support Network and the Equality and Diversity Forum. Sam is also the Chair of campaigning charity Pregnant Then Screwed and Deputy Chair of BPAS, the UK’s largest abortion provider. She is a former trustee of single parent charity, Gingerbread and was a founding Director of the Good Law Project.
Karen Perrier, Money Advice Plus
Karen Perrier is the Chief Executive of Money Advice Plus; and has been in the debt advice industry for 17 years, with a specific knowledge in creating a debt advice service that supports those with additional needs and vulnerabilities. In 2017, Karen took her knowledge and transformed a dying debt and money advice service for victim-survivors and transformed into two services. Financial Support for Victims of Domestic Abuse and its casework service are well established and are now seen as the leading experts on debt advice for victim-survivors.
Karen established the delivery of debt advice through a lens of economic safety, and her expertise is now sought by others in the debt advice sector. Karen’s knowledge of economic abuse and debt advice has been the driving force behind developing and implementing the Economic Abuse Evidence and its training program. With this expertise, Karen will be instrumental in setting up the Centre of Excellence for Debt and Economic Abuse services at Money Advice Plus and implementing other survivor-lead changes in the debt advice space.
John Webb, Experian
John Webb, Senior Consumer Affairs Manager at Experian, is a leading expert in personal credit scores and helps deliver the company’s consumer education programme. This is focused on explaining credit reports & scores, lending decisions and promoting a range of financial education initiatives. John joined Experian in 2012, managing teams in the Customer Servicing area, before moving to Consumer Affairs in 2017. He acts as a spokesperson for Experian in local and national media, as well as working closely with the free debt advice sector. John has spent a number of years supporting the UK’s most financially vulnerable people. Working on initiatives to support victims of domestic abuse, problem gambling and people with disabilities.
Breakout 2b: MALG Members Friday Forum LIVE: The Future of Consumer Protection
Mick McAteer, Economic and Social Justice Advocate
Mick McAteer is an experienced economic and social justice advocate working on: economic and social justice; financial market reform, regulation, and sustainable finance; and the impact of the intersection of finance, technology, and data on society.
He is: Co-Director of The Financial Inclusion and Markets Centre; Chair of Registry Trust; on the boards of the Irish Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman and Consumer Council of Northern Ireland; and a member of the Bank of England’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Engagement Forum.
Previously, he was on the boards of the Financial Conduct Authority (Chair of the FCA’s External Risk and Strategy Committee), Financial Reporting Council Oversight Board, and Chair of the European Commission’s Financial Services User Group. He was with Which? for 13 years where he led policy development on financial services and led the work exposing the scale of the major mis-selling scandals. Prior to this he worked for two major fund management houses in the City of London.
Speakers:Isobel Crosse, Santander UK
Izzy started out her career in the debt sector in 2014 as a Performance Analyst at TDX Group, part of Equifax, where she put her BSc in Economics and analytical mind to work on government contracts. In less than six years, she had worked her way up to Head of Customer Experience, a newly created role in response to the 2020 pandemic, and was then promoted to Head of Strategy and Customer Experience three years later. In May 2024, Isobel moved from debt recovery and credit referencing into the banking sector as Head of Financial Care for Santander UK.
She was named Vulnerability Champion of the Year at Credit Strategy’s Vulnerability Awareness Gala in 2023, and is also a trailblazer for financial education and inclusion, with a particular interest in women in financial services and leadership.
Meg van Rooyen, Money Advice Trust
Meg works as policy lead for the Money Advice Trust, and has been working on policy and influencing at the Trust for the last 15 years. Meg leads the Trust’s work on improving insolvency and debt options, bailiff reform, energy debt and consumer credit. Meg is also responsible for responding to consultations for the Trust on a wide range of topics, and engages regularly with government and regulators. Meg is on the Quarterly Account editorial board and represents the Trust at national MALG. She is an active member of the Taking control bailiff campaign, the IVA Standing Committee, the FCA consumer network and a range of other forums. Previous roles in over 30 years at the Trust include money adviser, a team manager, and information officer.
Matt Vaughan Wilson, Citizens Advice
Speaker bio and photo coming soon.
Better Together: Artificial Intelligence – Technology in Tandem with Humans
Chair: Bob Winnington, MALG
Bob Winnington has 30 years’ experience in the Banking Sector, including a diverse range of positions within Lending Control, Relationship Management, Area/Regional Management and Senior Service Management. He combines this with many years’ experience as a Customer Service Strategy Consultant working across a range of sectors including over six years at the Institute of Customer Service as a National Account Director.
Bob joined the Money Advice Liaison Group at its CEO in 2016 since which time he has led a transition of the not-for-profit membership organisation to develop an engaging, inclusive and diverse business with a strong focus on ‘working together to improve the lives of people in debt’.
Speakers:Mark Pearce, Wyser
Mark Pearce is the CEO and founder of Wyser, which he set up in 2020. Wyser’s mission is the development and improvement of AI language models, which power digital services that help users and advisers, so that everyone across the UK can access the advice they need when they need it most. Wyser works with Citizens Advice, AdviceUK, the Ministry of Justice, Ombudsmen and more. The latest version of their product ASSIST launches in January. It:
Mark has over two decades of expertise in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and innovation.
Victoria Oliver, Inicio AI
Vic Oliver is the Chief Commercial Officer at Inicio, bringing over 24 years of experience across banking, retail, telecommunications, utilities, energy, and government sectors.
At Inicio, she is passionate about transforming the way organisations engage with customers around financial wellbeing. The company believes the affordability process should be efficient, fair, and make discussing money less difficult.
Inicio’s conversational AI technology is uniquely designed and trained to enable genuine, empathetic engagement — supporting all customer needs, including those who are most vulnerable.
Stuart Pearson, Citizens Advice
Stuart Pearson is the Head of Innovation at Citizens Advice SORT, where he leads the development of AI tools to transform advice delivery. As an experienced leader in the non-profit sector, he is passionate about using collaboration and technology to find solutions to complex problems.
Savannah Price, Serene
As the CEO and Founder of Serene, Savannah is on a mission to transform how financial institutions detect and support vulnerable customers across their financial lifecycle.
Her journey to the intersection of fintech and social impact began with personal experiences supporting vulnerable family members. This drive, combined with my MBA from Said Business School and a background in AI in fintech and digital transformation, fuels her passion for creating positive change in the financial sector.
