Stay Well Leaders

As Stay Well Leaders, each of us plays an important role in championing health, resilience, connection, and positive change. We are not only advocates for wellbeing, but also role models, listeners, and encouragers who help others thrive both personally and professionally.

This forum provides us with an opportunity to connect, share experiences, learn from one another, celebrate successes, and explore new ideas and strategies that will help us continue making a meaningful impact.

Today is about collaboration, open conversation, and collective growth. Together, we can build stronger, healthier, and more supportive environments where everyone feels valued, empowered, and equipped to stay well.

Engaging in meaningful conversations during our panel sessions where experienced Leaders will openly discuss the challenges faced in both personal and their business lives. Energetic and dynamic sessions in each of the two topics. Our facilitators will guide you through an amazing exclusive event. A delicious healthy breakfast is included to ensure a comfortable and enriching experience an opportunity to network with likeminded Leaders from the North.

Prioritising your wellbeing is paramount and the forum is designed to address the unique challenges all Leaders encounter.

Your presence and active participation will contribute to fostering

a supportive community of Leaders committed to their own wellbeing.

Panel session 1 - The Self Aware Leader 

Managing blind spots and their impact on your teams

Discussion points

1 - Emotional Regulation Under Pressure - Why self-awareness is often overlooked but critical

2 - Sustainable performance - The hidden cost of high performance cultures  

3 - How to be a compassionate towards employees - A change of management style to show authenticity and empathy

Deborah Smith

Panel Facilitator

Deborah is a co-owner of S&L Planning Consultants, bringing extensive experience in shaping places and communities. Alongside her professional work, she is a passionate advocate for mental health and wellbeing, recognising the importance of creating environments both physical and personal that support people to thrive. Deborah is a member of the Stay Well Preston Steering Group, where she contributes to initiatives focused on improving wellbeing across the community. She is proud to support conversations that connect professional life with personal wellbeing.

Professor Rob Binns

A dynamic entrepreneur with a distinguished track record, Robert excels in founding and leading successful ventures across the technology, leisure, and property sectors. With 17 years’ experience at top-tier global technology firms spanning aviation, defence, manufacturing, finance, education, health, and the third sector, Robert is recognised for a forward thinking leadership style that seamlessly blends corporate expertise with entrepreneurial drive.

An effective CEO and accomplished non-executive director, Robert brings innovative solutions to complex business challenges across diverse industries. Deeply committed to his community, he is actively engaged as a charity trustee and civic board member, championing initiatives that make a meaningful difference. In his role as Professor in Practice at the University of Lancashire, Robert enriches academic programs with actionable business insights, equipping the next generation with the practical knowledge to succeed.

Lisa Dunnington

Lisa Dunnington is the co‑founder and CEO of The People’s Health Alliance (PHA), a grassroots initiative focused on reducing medical dependency and restoring individual health sovereignty. She challenges the limitations of centralised healthcare systems and advocates for the idea that true wellbeing grows from informed, connected, and resilient communities. Through the PHA and its wider People’s Community Network, she works to build decentralised structures that help people step outside restrictive systems and reclaim authority over their own bodies.

Her work includes developing local wellness hubs such as the Stay Well initiative that encourage communities to become self‑sustaining rather than reliant on institutional care. Lisa’s mission centres on shifting from fear‑based, profit‑driven medical models toward heart‑led healing, bodily autonomy, and empowered community support. She champions the belief that when people have knowledge, connection, and confidence, they become the primary stewards of their own health.

Elizabeth Hopes

Elizabeth Hopes is an accomplished leadership coach, team facilitator, and business mentor who brings over two decades of senior corporate experience to today’s panel. Beginning her career as a "Big 4" accountant, she successfully transitioned her analytical expertise into high-impact leadership and commercial management roles across both the public and private sectors. Her extensive background includes directing major healthcare development projects and driving strategic financial operations within the NHS, giving her a deep, practical understanding of managing complex organizational change.

As the Director of Business Attitude Limited and a certified Myers-Briggs (MBTI) Practitioner, Elizabeth now specializes in transforming leadership potential into measurable business results. She combines sharp commercial acumen with behavioral insights to help executive teams optimize their workplace culture and collaborative strength. Attendees can look forward to her practical strategies on unlocking team performance, navigating corporate growth, and developing resilient leadership in fast-paced environments.

Panel Session 2 - Be The Change You Wish To See

A facilitated discussion to help leaders to manage their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.

Discussion points

1. It’s tough at the top – the isolation of being a leader.

2. Share and Inspire – be open about your well-being.

3. Get well and Stay Well – what do you do?;

Mark Jones

Panel Facilitator

Mark Jones Mark Jones’s background is as a Senior Learning and Development Specialist with a vast experience of developing businesses, teams and people across a wide range of industries including professional services (Legal, Architecture and Dentistry), Financial Services, Tourism and Public Services; He is currently owner and creator of ‘evolve – creative arts academy’ in Chorley that delivers drama and creativity workshops to adults and children. He also delivers a full portfolio of courses and programmes designed to help individuals with their mental well-being. Over the past two years he has worked closely with ‘itsmental’ and co-delivers the Stay Well Ambassador workshop with Stephen Robinson.

Dawn Navarro

After 24 years in HR, Dawn is still endlessly fascinated by people and what makes them tick. At AXA, she leads the teams supporting the employee lifecycle, keeping people processes human in an increasingly AI-shaped world. Known for her focus on confidence, growth, wellbeing, and mindset, she isn’t afraid to ask the uncomfortable questions that spark real development. Equal parts people champion, mindset cheerleader, and constructive challenger, she brings honesty, humour, and a refreshingly human perspective to every conversation.

Bryan Jones

Bryan is Dean of School - Health, Social Work and Sport at University of Central Lancashire. 

Bryan is a prominent advocate for regional mental health. Combining a background in performance sport with healthcare education, he serves as an expert speaker and community panelist Stay Well. Bryan actively supports regional health initiatives and leads public workshops focused on building practical toolkits for self-compassion, resilience, and preventative wellness.

Tracy Boylin

Tracy Boylin MCIPD is the award‑winning CEO of People Genetics Limited and a recognised specialist in employee relations, organisational culture, conflict resolution, and leadership behaviour. With 30 years’ experience as an HR Director across the private, charity, and public sectors, she is known for resolving the longest‑running strike in UK educational history and helping transform a failing college from a £3 million deficit to a strong Ofsted outcome. Her published research includes whistleblowing practices in FTSE 100 companies and her innovative “Healing Process” work in Scotland.

She holds research and teaching roles with Salford, Middlesex, and Warwick universities, and serves as a Trustee of both the Parrhesia Institute and Back Up Northwest. Tracy also works as an expert witness, mediator, and coach, delivering training on whistleblowing, ethical decision‑making, and eliminating bullying cultures. Featured in Brainy Neuroscience for Engaged People as a leader worth listening to, she also leads the CEO Growth Collective leadership programme.