Jean Tomlin

Founder and CEO of Chanzo, formerly known as Tomlin&Co, Jean Tomlin is a global business leader. A successful business management speaker and consultant, Jean is an expert in HR and people management. Jean has worked with some of the UK’s leading businesses, including Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer, and was appointed the Director of HR, Workforce and Accreditation for the London 2012 Games. Responsible for mobilising the UK’s largest peace-time workforce of 200,000, Jean was later awarded an OBE for her services to the Games, a testament to her skills in Human Resources and team management – topics she regularly discusses as a diversity & inclusion speaker.

After graduating from Loughborough University with a BSc in Economics and Social History, Jean joined the HR department at the Ford Motor Company. Quickly realising her passion for human resources, Jean went onto work as Sales and Operations Director for Prudential Assurance. In 1998 Jean took the position of HR Director at Egg Plc, then as Group HR Director for Marks and Spencer. Following her success in these roles, Jean was appointed Director of HR, Workforce and Accreditation at the London 2012 Olympic Games, responsible for the operational delivery of their strategic plans and policies, which she successfully fulfilled and was later awarded an OBE.

Since the Olympic Games, Jean has held a number of non-executive roles. Formerly a Non- Executive Director at J Sainsbury’s PLC, Jean is currently a Non-Executive Director of Hakluyt& Company Limited and Independent Director at Capri Holdings. In 2016, Jean founded Chanzo which focuses on helping both mature and start-up organisations optimise success and ‘deliver brilliant’. Chanzo provides consulting, operational delivery and international recruitment services to the sporting sector and major events. Jean is at the heart of Chanzo’s success, providing innovative solutions to ensure organisations run at an optimal level.

Central to her work is diversity and inclusion, unifying workforces to increase employee retention and engagement. Now a popular diversity & inclusion speaker, Jean uses her passion and experience to deliver keynotes on workforce organisation, development, optimisation, and management. The recipient of the CIPD’s Outstanding Contribution Award and the Loughborough University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013, Jean’s outstanding commitment to Human Resources makes her an authority on creating diverse and inclusive workplaces, something she encourages as a speaker.