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Thank you for joining WOW at 15 to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Since our first festival in 2010, WOW - Women of the World has shifted the dial on gender equality. 15 years on, WOW is now a global alliance reaching millions across six continents to drive an equal and inclusive future for women and girls.

We deliver impact through festivals, events, leadership and knowledge sharing with these guiding principles:

• Creativity is a force for progress: We believe creativity and expression are transformative tools for sparking joy, creating community, and realising a better future
• We’re led by women around the world: Through our shared Global Partnerships, programmes are locally grown in the places where they happen
• There’s a method to our movement: At the centre of our work is our unique method, rooted in the arts and proven over 15 years, 150 festivals and millions of participants inspired to take action
• We all have a part to play in an equal world: No matter who you are, WOW is for everyone who believes in gender equality

Opening remarks from WOW's Chair Sandie Okoro and WOW Founder Jude Kelly

World Premiere of REIGN by Errollyn Wallen, commissioned by WOW for our 15th anniversary, performed by Rachel Mahon, Lips Choir, Mulberry School for Girls and St Boniface Primary School, with musical direction by Jessie Maryon Davies

Annie Lennox in conversation with Jude Kelly

Panel discussion with Liz Carr, Annie Lennox, Anoushka Shankar, Jordan Stephens, Sandi Toksvig and Errollyn Wallen

Performance by Anoushka Shankar

25-minute Interval

World Premiere of Fanfare by Isobel Waller-Bridge, performed by Anna Lapwood

WOW testimonies read by Harriet Walter and Leanne Levers

Angela Davis in conversation with Jude Kelly

REIGN was made possible by the generous support of the Richard Attenborough Charitable Trust, the Julia Rausing Trust and Arts Council England.

With thanks to WOW's Global Founding Partner Bloomberg and WOW's Global Girls Champion Standard Chartered.

Sandie Okoro

Dr Sandie Okoro is Chancellor of Birmingham University. She was previously Group General Counsel at Standard Chartered Bank and prior to this, served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President, and Vice President for Compliance, at the World Bank Group. Sandie is an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple in the United Kingdom (2018) and was named one of the Upstanding 100 Leading Ethnic Minority Executives (2016), Top 20 Global General Counsel (2019) by the Financial Times, and was recognised as Britain’s fifth most influential person of African and African Caribbean heritage by Powerlist (2018). Sandie was appointed inaugural Chair of The WOW Foundation in June 2021, and is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jude Kelly

Jude Kelly CBE is an internationally acclaimed creative leader who has founded and steered some of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions, arts festivals, charities, and outreach programmes. A pioneer for social progress, Kelly is renowned for championing inclusion, gender equity and diversity. She is former Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, and the Founder and current Head of Global Advisory of WOW – Women of the World which runs festivals and programmes in 26 countries. In April 2025 Jude will become Master of St Catherine’s College, Oxford. Jude Kelly has directed over 200 theatre and opera productions and in 2024 Jude became Chair of the newly launched One Creative North, a bold new vision for the north of England’s creative industries.

Errollyn Wallen

Errollyn Wallen CBE was born in Belize before moving to the UK at the age of two. She is a composer, pianist and singer-songwriter who studied music and composition at Goldsmiths, King’s College London and King’s College, Cambridge. Her work includes 22 operas and a range of orchestral, chamber and vocal compositions. Errollyn was commissioned to compose pieces to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees. She has also composed works for the BBC Proms and other international events including the COP26 summit and the 2012 Paralympic Games. In 2023 she was ranked among the Top 20 most performed living classical composers. Errollyn was the first black woman to have a work featured in the Proms and the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music for her body of work. In 2024, His Majesty The King appointed Errollyn as Master of the King’s Music, the first appointment to this role under his reign. Her book Becoming a Composer was published by Faber in November 2023.

Jessie Maryon Davies

Jessie Maryon Davies is a collaborative musician whose work centres around community and care. Alongside her role as musical director of Lips Choir, she is musical director and composer with devised theatre company Hooligan Art Community and co-founder of award-winning music charity Girls Rock London. In 2018, she was awarded The Unsung Hero award by Time Out recognising her achievements in building community through music. Recent composing commissions include My Voice is Mine - an anthem for children's choir written with young people in Suffolk for Britten Pears Arts and The Herring Girls - greater than we are alone written with and for a 100 strong community chorus for High Tide Theatre. Jessie was recently awarded the honour of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. She plays keys and synth in three-piece synth pop band Glorybox and is the keys player and orchestrator for UK artist Kate Nash.

Rachel Mahon

Rachel Mahon is Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral where she is primarily responsible for training and conducting the Cathedral Choir and since January 2022, she has been Conductor of the Coventry Cathedral Chorus. Prior to arriving at Coventry Cathedral as Assistant Director of Music in 2018, she was Organ Scholar at St Paul’s Cathedral – the first female organist in the cathedral’s 1400-year history - and subsequently, Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral. She combines life as a Cathedral musician with a busy international recital schedule, touring as soloist and as part of Organized Crime Duo. Rachel has appeared on radio as performer and presenter, accompanying the BBC Singers in Choral Evensong and presenting Inside Music on BBC radio 3 and This Is My Music on CBC radio. Funded by a grant awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Rachel's debut solo album was released to excellent reviews - it received five stars in Choir and Organ Magazine and was Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice in March 2020.

Lips Choir

Lips is a proudly trans-inclusive and intersectionally feminist pop choir. Formed in 2009, Lips has grown from a small group of women who love to sing, to a 100-strong musical force to be reckoned with. Lips' members and influences come from far and wide and they’re as likely to weave Garage classics into Bjork arrangements as they are to belt out no-holds-barred All Saints Covers. Lips have collaborated with X Factor winner Leona Lewis and were handpicked by Alison Goldfrapp to perform alongside her at the Royal Albert Hall. Other performances include sell-out shows at eARTh Hackney, the Clapham Grand and the Union Chapel, and on the main stages at Bestival, Camp Bestival and Wilderness Festival. As well as many joyful performances with WOW at the Southbank Centre. Lips is a proud supporter of the charity Women For Refugee Women and have regularly sung in solidarity with those seeking asylum in the UK.

Mulberry School for Girls

Mulberry School for Girls is a high achieving, over-subscribed and successful girls’ comprehensive school for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is a place where girls’ talents and abilities are nurtured in a safe creative space and where they can develop their ambitions and the power for self-determination. Their aim is that all pupils should leave the school as highly qualified, confident and articulate young women with a wealth of experience in the wider world. Outstanding academic achievement is very important for future success, as is the need to develop ‘Confidence, Creativity, Leadership’ and a life-long ‘Love of Learning’. They believe these things will enable our pupils to lead enriched, happy and fulfilled lives, making a contribution to their own community, to British society and to global well-being.

St Boniface RC Primary School

St Boniface School is a very happy place to play, work and learn. A place where relationships are based on the examples of Jesus through the Gospels; a place where people are respectful and caring towards one another. The success of the school is due to the extraordinary team of teachers and support staff who strive on a daily basis to provide each child in their care with the learning and nurturing they need to thrive and achieve their potential. Standards of behaviour and academic achievement are high and St Boniface School places great value on the provision of an enriched curriculum that enables children to receive input from specialist teachers in music, art, drama, French and PE. A well-established programme of trips within the local area, Central London and beyond provides pupils with important and rich experiences beyond the classroom.

Annie Lennox

As one of the most universally renowned artists in pop musical history, Annie Lennox's iconic career spans over 40 years. First gaining international fame as part of Eurythmics and later as a successful solo artist. She has sold over 83 million albums worldwide, won numerous awards including four Grammys and an Oscar, and was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Beyond her musical achievements, Lennox is known for her humanitarian work with Oxfam, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The British Red Cross, Comic Relief and Mothers2Mothers. Lennox is the founder of The Circle, a global feminist organisation working to achieve equal opportunity for women and girls in a fairer world.

Liz Carr

Liz Carr is a disabled actor and activist perhaps best known for playing Clarissa Mullery in BBC’s forensic drama, Silent Witness. Other TV and film credits include Good Omens, Marvel's Loki, The OA, The Witcher and Paramount’s Infinite. In 2022, Liz won an Olivier Award for her performance in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart at the National Theatre. She played the role of Dr Emma Brookner, a pioneer in the early days of HIV & AIDS and based on the real life wheelchair using doctor, Linda Laubenstein. Liz was the first disabled actor to professionally play this role. And last year, as a long term campaigner on the issue, Liz authored a BBC documentary, Better Off Dead? exploring hers and many other disabled peoples’ opposition to assisted suicide. It's available on iPlayer if you fancy a watch.

Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar is a singular, genre-defying artist whose work spans classical, global, electronic, jazz, and neo-classical music. A masterful sitarist, prolific recording artist, and film composer, she has released 13 solo albums and earned 11 Grammy nominations—the first Indian woman to be nominated. She was also the first Indian musician to perform live and present at the Grammys. Anoushka’s accolades include an Ivor Novello nomination for A Suitable Boy, an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, and, most recently, an Honorary Degree in Music from Oxford University (2024). In 2025, she celebrates 30 years of stage performance with the release of the final chapter in her mini-album trilogy and as Creative Director of Brighton Festival. Born into a musical legacy, she trained under her father, the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar, and made her professional debut at 13, touring globally before launching her solo career. Her evocative playing, innovative collaborations, and fearless experimentation continue to break new ground, shaping a deeply personal, multicultural artistic voice.

Jordan Stephens

Jordan Stephens is a creative, musician, writer and performer, perhaps best known as one half the chart-topping duo, Rizzle Kicks who have recently made a come back after a 9 year hiatus. Jordan is also an accomplished actor, with television credits including The Ex-Wife, Starstruck and Catastrophe and films including Teen Spirit and Stars Wars: Rogue One. He also hosted ITV2 Don’t Hate The Playaz for four series. Having spoken publicly about his struggles with mental health, Jordan has been very active in raising awareness around the stigma. His mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE reached over 120 million people online and was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament. Jordan endeavours to express himself through many different forms of art. He published his first Children’s book, The Missing Piece, a self-influenced story about joy and connection. And last year he published his first adult book, Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs, a personal story of self acceptance, exploring masculinity, mental health, addiction and heartbreak. Jordan also wrote an article in The Guardian about the negative effects that Hyper-Masculinity has on men’s wellbeing and has been invited on television and at festivals to further discuss the matter.

Sandi Toksvig

Born in Copenhagen and raised around the world, Sandi Toksvig began her comedy career at Cambridge, where she studied at Girton College. She is currently a bye-fellow at Christ’s College, working on a female-friendly version of Wikipedia. A beloved broadcaster, Sandi’s television career spans Number 73, Call My Bluff, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Fifteen-to-One, and The Great British Bake Off. In 2015, she became the host of QI, BBC2’s notoriously tricky quiz. She also explored the UK’s most unusual hideaways in Extraordinary Escapes (2021–2023) and will present Sandi’s Great British Woodland Restoration in 2025. For a decade, Sandi chaired The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4, earning her a place in the Radio Hall of Fame. A prolific writer, she has been President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain since 2019 and has published nearly 30 books. Her latest novel, Friends of Dorothy, was released in 2024. An activist for gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, Sandi co-founded the Women’s Equality Party in 2015 and received an OBE in 2014 for her contributions to broadcasting and charity.

Isobel Waller-Bridge

Isobel Waller-Bridge is an award-winning composer known for her work across film, television, theatre, and contemporary classical music. Spanning orchestral, electronic, and experimental sound design, her compositions are both dynamic and genre-defying. Her film scores include Munich: The Edge of War (Netflix), The Phantom of the Open (BBC Films), Emma (Focus Features), and the BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse (Bad Robot). She has also worked on Apartment 7A (Paramount) and I Came By (Netflix). For television, she has scored Fleabag (BBC/Amazon), Black Mirror (Netflix), Roar (Apple), and The Way Down (HBO). Beyond screen work, Isobel composed Temperatures for the Philharmonia Orchestra, premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in 2021. She has collaborated with fashion houses Alexander McQueen and Simone Rocha and created music for Royal Opera House principal ballerina Francesca Hayward’s film Siren. In theatre, she has worked on The Son and The Forest by Florian Zeller, Woyzeck (Old Vic), and Blood Wedding (Young Vic). Her releases include Music for Strings, Illuminations (Mercury KX/Decca), and VIII (Mercury KX). Isobel has received multiple awards, including Best Composer at Underwire Film Festival.

Anna Lapwood

Anna Lapwood MBE is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster, serving as Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall, and Artist in Association with the BBC Singers. A passionate advocate for her instrument, she reaches millions worldwide through her performances, recordings, and social media. In 2023, she received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gamechanger Award and signed exclusively with SONY Classical. Anna made her BBC Proms solo debut in 2021 and returned in 2023 with Moon and Stars. She regularly performs concertos with leading orchestras, has collaborated with artists like Alison Balsom, Raye, and Bonobo, and made her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut in 2024. Her recordings include Images (Signum) and LUNA (SONY Classical, 2023). Anna has presented BBC Young Musician and a televised BBC Prom and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and 4 and advocates for women in music, founding organ workshops and the annual Bachathon fundraiser. She also curates and commissions new music, including Gregoriana, a celebrated anthology of works by female composers. Having spent some years being encouraged to “play like a man”, Anna is proud and humbled to see so many adopt her hashtag #playlikeagirl.

Angela Davis

Angela Y. Davis is professor emerita of history of consciousness and feminist studies at University of California, Santa Cruz. An activist, writer, and lecturer, her work focuses on prisons, police, abolition, and the related intersections of race, gender, and class. She is the author of many books, from Angela Davis: An Autobiography to Freedom Is a Constant Struggle. Her most recent books include Abolition.Feminism.Now., written with Gina Dent, Erica Meiners and Beth Richie, and a book of essays entitled Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1. She is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organisation dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Internationally, she is affiliated with Sisters Inside, an abolitionist organisation based in Queensland, Australia that works in solidarity with people in women’s prisons. Like many educators, Professor Davis is especially concerned with the general tendency to devote more resources and attention to the prison system than to educational institutions. Having helped to popularise the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.

Angela will be joined for questions from three young people and will answer questions submitted by the audience.

Amanda Amaeshi

Amanda Amaeshi is an award-winning activist, campaigner, and writer, specialising in gender equality, anti-racism, and youth voice and political participation. She is a final year LLB Law student at University College London (UCL). Amongst various other roles, she is a Council Member of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. In this role, she engages in collaborative intersectional policy scrutiny and provide the much-needed youth voice to ensure that the Council’s work in holding the Scottish Government to account is helpful for girls and young women. For her writing and campaigning work, Amanda was named on the Young Women’s Movement’s 30 Under 30 list for 2020 and the WOW Foundation’s Young Leaders Directory 2022. In April 2021 she was named the Glasgow Times Young Scotswoman of the Year 2020. In November 2024, she was named My Life My Say’s Next Gen: Changemaker of the Year.

Sumayyah Mohammed

Sumayyah, 16, is a student at Mulberry School for Girls studying Politics, English, and Sociology. Passionate about international relations, feminism, and the arts, she focuses on the intersection of politics and society. Through her studies and wider engagement, she explores global issues, advocates for gender equality, and contributes to meaningful discussions. She is an ambassador for her school’s Global Girl Leading programme, the founder and president of its Law Society, and an active participant in Model United Nations (MUN), where she hones her debating and diplomacy skills. For her contributions to her community, she won Youth Inspiration of the year award in her borough.

Mervedy Mpinda

Mervedy is a passionate and motivated young woman from West London who was part of the first Futuremakers Goal Accelerator (GA) programme in London. Mervedy joined the programme to meet new people, build her confidence and find employment. Before joining Futuremakers GA, Mervedy struggled with having a routine and wanted a supportive environment where she could thrive. Throughout the 10-week programme Mervedy excelled, taking on a mentoring role to other participants and took the lead on capturing all social media content too. Mervedy has found work in hospitality through Street League's employer partnerships. Her long-term ambition is to work in the field of construction which Street League are still supporting her to find as a long term goal.