John Madejski Centre for Reputation 25th Anniversary Conference

This conference will reflect past success and future directions for the study and management of reputation in a world that is both increasingly interconnected and polarised. It will also mark 100 years of the University of Reading.

Participants will hear from a range of speakers in the government, for-profit and non-profit sectors. The conference will explore case studies of how to navigate difficult times and how to build constructive futures and positive legacies. Speakers will reflect on key lessons for how organisations can embrace challenging times and contribute to flourishing communities and societies.

From the world of government, Baroness Theresa May will be the keynote speaker. She will reflect on her time as Prime Minster and how government can build connection and reduce polarisation by realigning the values of service with power.

From the world of academia, Professor Tom Oliver will share how the science of ecology means that we are more interconnected with each other and nature than we think. His talk will go onto explore how this can inspire us to more collective action.

From the non-profit world, Petrina Pakoe will share her experiences as the Director of the Peninsula School Feeding Association, one of South Africa's largest school feeding programmes. She will reflect on how reputation research with Henley Business School has helped her organisation build deeper connections with schools and communities and extend the reach of her organisation.

Finally, leading coach and psychologist Gary Leboff will share his insights. His talk will focus on about how we can energise and sustain the changes we may want to see in ourselves and organisations as a result of the conference.

The conference will be held on 6 March 2026 in the National Grid Lecture Theatre of Henley Business School's Greenlands campus. The proposed agenda is as follows:

9:30am, Registration and Coffee

10:00am, Welcome and Introduction - Professor Robert Van de Noort and Professor Elena Beleska Spasova

10:15am, My Life and Lessons Learned for Re-aligning Service and Power - Baroness Theresa May

11:15am, Lessons from Ecology for the Future of Business and Society - Professor Tom Oliver

12:00pm, Lunch

1:00pm, Building Positive Health Outcomes with a Diverse Audience: Communication and Evaluation Case Study - TBC

1:45pm, Non-Profit Case Study: Peninsula School Feeding Association of South Africa, Using Reputation Research to Build Connections and Extend Impact - Petrina Pakoe

2:30pm, Coffee Break

3:00pm, Making Positive Change Stick - Gary Leboff

3:45pm, Closing Remarks - Professor Kevin Money

4:00pm, Close

The speaker biographies are as follows:

Professor Robert Van de Noort CBE became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading in 2018, where he oversees the effective running of the university. Since his appointment, Robert has championed academic freedom and promoted the university's status as a global leader in climate research and action.

During his time as Vice-Chancellor, the University of Reading achieved one of the top positions in People and Planet's ranking of sustainable universities, was named Sustainable University of the Year by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 and received Times Higher Education's inaugural award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership.

Robert convenes the S10 Vice-Chancellor's Group and chairs the Universities UK Research Bureaucracy Working Group. He also contributes to environmental initiatives as Executive Chair of the London Higher Sustainability Network.

After studying History at the University of Utrecht and Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam, Robert worked at several institutions including the British School at Rome, the Rotterdam Archaeology Unit, the University of Hull and the University of Exeter, where latterly he served as Dean of the College of Social Sciences and International Studies before joining the University of Reading in 2014.

His research focuses on marine and wetland archaeology, especially around the North Sea Basin. He directed multi-organisational fieldwork projects in the Humber Wetlands and at Sutton Common in South Yorkshire (both funded by English Heritage) and he was the project lead of an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded experimental reconstruction of a Bronze Age sewn-plank boat at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

In the local community, Robert serves as Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire and is a member of the Berkshire Business Board. He is a Patron of Launchpad, a Reading-based homelessness charity, and President of the River Thames Society. In recognition of his work in science, flood risk management and sustainability, he was appointed CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours list.

Professor Elena Beleska Spasova is the Dean of Henley Business School and a Professor of International Business. She joined Henley Business School in 2009 with more than 10 years' corporate strategy consulting experience, working with organisations across Europe and North America.

Elena has held a number of teaching and learning leadership positions over the years and led the instituting and growth of a number of work-based and executive programmes, both nationally and internationally. In her leadership capacity, she has also headed major change management and education innovation projects.

In her current role as Dean, Elena works to provide vision, direction and leadership of the Henley Business School. Her research interests include strategic issues and challenges faced by organisations on an international scale, drivers of international competitiveness and performance, with a particular focus on exports and SMEs.

Baroness Theresa May served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019 - the second woman ever to hold the office. Her premiership marked the culmination of 21 years’ continuous service on the front bench, having held a total of 14 ministerial or shadow ministerial posts, serving as the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party and the longest-serving Conservative Home Secretary for over a century.

Theresa stood down as a Member of Parliament in 2024 after 27 years of service to her Maidenhead constituents. She continues to undertake philanthropic and campaigning work around the world.

Petrina Pakoe

Petrina Pakoe is a community development practitioner passionate about children and social justice. She started her career in the medical field, specialising in obstetrics and phlebotomy. She developed her skills in small business through training, mentoring, coaching, fundraising and organisational development, working for the Social Development Programme of the Anglican Church, HOPE Africa.

She strongly advocates for gender justice, social justice and children's rights. She served as a trustee of a youth development programme called the Global Organisations for Aid and Relief (GOAL), initiated the national gender-based violence network 'We Will Speak Out' and was the South African representative for the international programme Community of the Cross of Nails, based at Coventry Cathedral.

Petrina is the chairperson of the Justice Desk South Africa, an award-winning human rights organisation with projects running across Africa. She was also recently appointed as the vice chairperson of the No-Profit Organisation Sector for the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Having worked abroad in the medical profession over the years, Petrina has travelled extensively, doing international fundraising and developing and managing international partnerships between donors and recipients. She has vast experience working with government and municipal departments in developing and supporting programmes for the upliftment of communities.

Petrina has been the Director of Peninsula School Feeding Association since 2015, an organisation where she had served as a board member for 10 years before her appointment as Director. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors of South Africa.

Gary Leboff is the UK's leading performance psychologist. A unique figure in the arena of coaching, Gary has created a vast array of leading-edge tools and techniques, transforming performance across the spheres of business, music and sport. His clients include major organisations (Unilever, CarWow, Electric US), English Premier League football teams, elite performers in rugby, tennis and golf, actors, musicians and opera singers.

Gary specialises in three areas. The first of these is winning: Gary has a long track record of success with Olympians, international footballers and sportspeople. He has also helped many organisations achieve their financial and people objectives, creating breakthroughs for artists across multiple disciplines. The second is problems: since 1998, Gary has helped to resolve commercial, artistic, team-based and performance issues for clients. The last is happiness: many clients approach Gary for help at a testing time of their lives. Helping them move past such difficulties and providing the tools for happiness is the prime objective of Gary’s work.

Professor Kevin Money is a Professor of Reputation and Responsible Leadership and Co-Director of the John Madejski Centre for Reputation and its sister research centre in Africa, the JMCR Africa, at Henley Business School. He is also a Visiting Professor at Instituto de Empresa Business School, Madrid, Spain.

He studies reputation, identity, corporate responsibility and stakeholder relationships, exploring trust, sustainability and pro-social behaviour and how leaders, organisations and boards can influence this. He has published books and articles in leading journals, such as the Journal of Business Research, Group and Organisation Management, the Journal of Business Ethics, the British Journal of Management and Long Range Planning, and is the former editor of the Journal of General Management..

Kevin's work has a widespread impact on practice through its use in corporate, government and non-profit organisations (NPOs). At a corporate level, he has advised Unilever, McDonald's and Zurich Insurance on issues such as sustainable consumption, healthy eating and customer retention and in the third sector his work is used by NPOs and the NHS to showcase and build positive societal impact. He advises the UK Government on its communications and is a member of the UK Cabinet Office Strategy and Evaluation Council. In 2024, he reviewed UK Government communications, leading to the publication of the Government Communication Service Evaluation Cycle, a mandatory communication tool used across government. In 2025, Kevin is part of a team reviewing the UK's international communications.

As the module convenor for the MBA Reputation and Responsibility Immersion Trip, Kevin works with a network of more than 100 South African NPOs. He supervises doctoral students and is a Chartered Psychologist.

Further speaker biographies will be released in the near future. For now, please save the date and details on how to register will be shared with selected invitees.