I was born in Portsmouth in 1965 and grew up in a naval family. From six I knew I was a girl, though the word transgender was not part of playground talk. I kept my truth silent and learned to read people. That early training in empathy guides my work today.

At sixteen I joined the Royal Air Force as an electronics apprentice. I fixed radar sets, earned my stripes, and saw teamwork at scale. Later I built global computer networks for a private bank, flying across three continents to keep traders online. In the nineties I wanted more time with my young family, so I started an IT firm in Hampshire. Over ten years the team grew to twenty five and turned over three million pounds a year. Clients trusted us to launch cable TV networks and large call centres.

Service mattered as much as profit. I joined Round Table in 1992 and raised funds for local causes. Members elected me National President in 2008. We travelled the country, rallied volunteers and raised three hundred thousand pounds for air ambulance crews.

All this happened while I hid my gender dysphoria. After forty years the strain showed. In 2012 I told my wife, Marie, and in 2016, our two children that I am Joanne. They hugged me, cried, then helped me rewrite the future. I sold my company in 2017 to live openly and to make workplaces safer than the ones I once feared.

I founded SEE Change Happen that year. The name stands for Smile, Engage, Educate. I train leaders to build cultures where everyone belongs. My workshops turn policy into daily habits, from pronoun use to fair hiring. Clients range from high street shops to global banks.

To share lessons widely I host the Inclusion Bites Podcast and write for HR Zone, HR Magazine and others. Each piece links personal story to clear action. Readers say the articles helped them change bathroom signs, adjust dress codes, or back a colleague who came out.

Speaking grew into a career too. I earned Fellowship of the Professional Speaking Association and served as its National Chair 2022-2024. I mentor new voices and make sure our events welcome all backgrounds.

Media work keeps the debate honest. I appear on the BBC, Channel 5 and GB News. I answer hard questions with calm facts so that viewers meet a trans woman who is also a veteran, a parent, and a business owner.

Since launch SEE Change Happen has trained more than ten thousand people across fifteen countries. I have guided boards through policy reviews, supported staff through transition plans and helped firms tie inclusion to profit and purpose. Surveys show improved belonging scores and lower turnover within a year.

Peers have recognised this work. I hold Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts and Chartered membership of the Institute of Equality and Diversity Professionals. These honours matter because they open more doors for the message, not for my ego.

Volunteering remains my anchor. I chaired the charity, Round Table Children’s Wish, granting dreams to children with life limiting illness. I was a trustee of akt, which finds safe homes for LGBTQ+ youth. I have run peer groups at Beyond Reflections and advised the NHS on patient experience.

Parents still write after seeing the Channel 4 film back in 2019, made about my gender transition. A wife recently told me that her husband slept well for the first time in weeks because he saw a future where people thrive as themselves. Notes like that keep me going on tough days.

Along the way I battled poor fitness. I lost eight stone and twice ran the Great South Run. I’ve now stopped drinking alcohol and am keeping the weight off once more and love cycling on my ebike and flying my drone. The races taught me that small steps, repeated, move you far. The same rule drives my inclusion work.

I do not claim perfection. I claim persistence. Every project, speech and article aims at one goal: people are people. Because of that belief companies have adopted gender neutral facilities, parents have found hope, and young staff have stayed in jobs they love.

A Lifetime Achievement Award would recognise a journey still in motion, yet already rich in shared impact. I will keep walking, one steady step at a time, until inclusion is ordinary everywhere.