With over 25 years in senior management roles within the FM sector, Chris has vast experience and knowledge working with large and small FM companies. He has been on many D&I committees and is determined to bring neurodiversity to the forefront of the industry and every workspace it reaches.

Since Chris’s official diagnosis, he has been a champion for autism awareness in the workplace, running several campaigns across social media to help educate workplaces and support younger autistic people to get employment in FM.

Chris is an avid runner and regularly takes part in marathons and ultra-marathons.

Sofie Hooper leads on the IWFM’s wider policy and public affairs work, helping to raise the voice of the Institute, its members and the wider workplace and facilities management sector. She engages with stakeholders to ensure best practice is taken on board and concerns affecting workplace and facilities professionals are mitigated.

Covering a wide range of activities and areas, sustainability, workplace and building safety form the core agenda. Sofie has been leading on IWFM’s Building Safety Manager work programme, feeding into the legislative process towards the Building Safety Bill.  She provided the Secretariat for the Competence Steering Group’s Working Group 8, which developed the Building Safety Managers competence framework. 

In addition to being the co-author of the Group’s report, Safer people, safer homes: Building Safety Management, she is a regular contributor to Facilitate. Building on WG8’s recommendations, Sofie is a part of the Interim Executive of the Building Safety Alliance, a cross sector collaboration which is working to improve holistic building safety competence across the occupation phase. She is also a part of the Steering Committee for the DLUCH sponsored PAS 8673, which is setting the competence specification for Building Safety Managers.

Colin has worked in the FM industry for 16 years, both for large and small organisations in customer environments ranging from global corporate headquarters to the public sector, museums to tech giants.

He is currently Operations Director at Pareto FM, a business which places social value at the very forefront of what they do, with supporting inclusion in FM a key part of that strategy. In addition to his operational responsibilities, Colin also leads the HSEQ, L&D and D&I activities for the company, and is very proud to be part of the steering committee for LGBT+ in FM.

Marcia’s diversity, inclusion and equity journey began when she responded to the Scarman Report following the riots that took place in the UK in 1981.

During her 30-year career, Marcia has held several roles where she challenged the structural barriers to equality, diversity and inclusion which existed in the Police Service.

Since retiring from the Police Service, she has continued being actively involved with diversity, inclusion and equity, particularly relating to race and ethnicity, young people and individuals with disabilities, and women.

Marcia has recently been appointed as the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at EMCOR UK.

With a background in quantity surveying, Sharon has over 20 years' experience working for main contractors in the construction and FM industries. She is the director of Constructing Rainbows and works with built environment organisations to improve their business through implementation of D&I strategies.

Sharon’s other roles include: co-founder and director of STEER Support & Mentoring CIC, an undergraduate mentoring programme; founder of LGBT+ in FM; and member of the Yorkshire and Humber regional boards of RICS and the Construction Industry Council.

She has also featured in the OUTstanding/FT Top 50 Future Leaders list and won several awards for her work in D&I.