Top Experts For Your Social Mobility & Inclusion Panel

Choosing the top experts to inspire your next social mobility and inclusion panel is the difference between an hour people enjoy and an hour people act on. The five UK-based speakers below all bring lived experience of the barriers they talk about, alongside the practical detail organisers need: what to change, who to change it with, and what good looks like a year later.

Each of them works across social mobility and diversity and inclusion briefs, so you can build a line-up that covers money, education, leadership and early careers without four people making the same point.

Social mobility, diversity and inclusion: meet the speakers

Emmanuel Asuquo

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The money side of social mobility, explained without jargon.

Emmanuel Asuquo is one of the UK’s clearest voices on money and opportunity. A financial adviser, author and broadcaster seen on Channel 4, ITV and BBC Radio, he went from economic hardship to becoming the youngest financial adviser at a major bank, and he uses that route as a worked example rather than a headline.

On a panel, Emmanuel is the person who keeps the conversation specific. He covers what financial confidence really costs people who start without a safety net, why financial education belongs inside an inclusion strategy, and how employers can support colleagues who are the first in their family to earn a professional salary. A strong fit for finance, retail and professional services audiences.

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Major Scotty Mills

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Leadership that spots potential in people the system overlooks.

Major Scotty Mills came up through South London and went on to serve as a Commando ‘Green Beret’ officer, leading elite teams and later working with the England football team on leadership and culture. He speaks about high performance from inside organisations that select hard and develop harder.

His contribution to a social mobility panel is the leadership half of the argument: how teams get picked, who gets stretched, and how little of someone’s potential is visible at the point of hiring. Expect resilience, clear standards, and straight talk about the difference one sponsor makes to a career.

Learn more and book Major Scotty Mills →

Sophie Pender

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Building routes into work for state-educated talent that actually hold.

Sophie Pender founded The 93% Club, the network named for the 93 per cent of people in the UK who were state educated. A lawyer by training and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, she has built it into a route to careers, networks and confidence for people who turn up to work without a ready-made contact book.

She is the panellist to book when the brief is systems rather than sentiment. Sophie talks about school and university access, the way recruitment filters quietly screen out state-educated candidates, and what an employer can measure to know whether a social mobility programme is working. Her own route from a council estate into law gives the argument teeth.

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Toni Kent

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Naming the everyday class barriers that keep good people quiet.

Toni Kent is a speaker, podcaster and writer on social mobility, with a career in tech at Microsoft behind her. She founded The Common Good Network to work on the barriers that sit below policy level, the ones people meet daily rather than read about in a strategy document.

Toni is excellent on class at work: accent, confidence, unwritten rules, and the small moments that tell someone they do not belong in the room. She gives audiences language for things they have felt but never named, then hands managers changes they can make the following week. Pair her with a data-led panellist and the session covers both halves of the problem.

» READ MORE: Start your social mobility journey today, by speaker Toni Kent.

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Victor Sosanya

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Early careers and multi-generational teams, backed by research.

Victor Sosanya is an award-winning researcher and entrepreneur working across social mobility, DEI and multi-generational workforces, with research at Cambridge Judge Business School. He has trained more than 10,000 young professionals and advises companies on early careers strategy.

Book Victor when the panel needs evidence sitting next to the stories. He works with the social mobility index, explains what those numbers do and do not capture, and covers the generational question most inclusion panels skip: how to build a team where the 22-year-old and the 55-year-old both get heard.

Learn more and book Victor Sosanya →

How to shape the panel

PepTalk books all of the formats below. If you already know the shape of the session, start with our panel speakers and moderators.

Three panellists and a chair is the format that works most reliably. Two voices leaves gaps, and four or more means nobody says anything twice, which sounds efficient and lands as shallow. Give each panellist a distinct angle before the day so they are not competing for the same territory, and brief your chair to ask for specifics rather than reflections.

The formats these speakers work in most often:

• Panel discussion, 45 to 60 minutes with a chair and audience questions.
• Keynote plus panel, one speaker sets the argument for 20 minutes, the panel pulls it apart.
• Fireside chat, one speaker and an internal host, good for smaller or more senior rooms.
• Workshop, 90 minutes upwards, for teams who need to leave with actions rather than notes.
• Virtual or hybrid, for multi-site organisations and network launches.

Three line-ups that work

Early careers and recruitment. Sophie Pender on the filters that screen state-educated candidates out, Victor Sosanya on what the data says about entry-level pipelines, Toni Kent on what happens to those hires once they arrive. Best for talent acquisition teams and graduate scheme launches.

Leadership and culture. Major Scotty Mills on selection and stretch, Toni Kent on class and confidence in the room, Emmanuel Asuquo on the financial realities behind who can take a risk on their career. Best for a leadership offsite or a management conference.

Financial services and professional services. Emmanuel Asuquo on money and access, Sophie Pender on the profession’s recruitment habits, Victor Sosanya on retention across generations. Best for a network event or an inclusion week keynote slot.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I book a social mobility speaker?

Tell us the date, the audience, the format and roughly what you want people to do differently afterwards. We will come back with a shortlist, availability and a quote. Email hello@getapeptalk.com or use the chat on any page.

What does a panel cost?

Fees vary by speaker, format and whether the session is in person or virtual, and a panel of three costs more than a single keynote. Send us your budget range with the brief and we will tell you honestly what it covers rather than sending you a shortlist you cannot book.

Are there extra costs beyond the fee?

For in-person events, travel and accommodation sit on top of the speaker fee where they apply. Virtual sessions do not carry them. We confirm everything in writing before you commit, so nothing appears later.

How far ahead should I book?

Six to eight weeks is comfortable for most dates. Social mobility and inclusion speakers get booked out early around inclusion weeks and awareness moments, so if your date falls in one of those windows, start earlier.

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💡 Ready to build your social mobility and inclusion panel? Tell us the brief and we will find the perfect PepTalk expert for your organisation. Email us at hello@getapeptalk.com or send us a message via the chat. You can also call us on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US). Remember, it’s always a good time to get a PepTalk!