Susan Buckingham -

chair of WEN’s Board of Trustees, will chair the debate, ‘Identity in a Changing World’. Susan is head of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Brunel University, author of Gender and Environment (Routledge, 2000), joint editor of Local Environmental Sustainability (Woodhead Press, 2003) and a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Home Planet. She researches the involvement of citizens, especially women, in environmental decision-making.

Caroline Lucas

Caroline is currently Principal Speaker for the Green Party. She won the Green Party’s second County Council seat in the UK (Oxfordshire County Council, 1993-97). She joined the Green Party in 1986 and has held many positions including National Press Officer (1987-89) and Co-Chair (1989-90). Caroline has written extensively on trade issues, and is an acknowledged expert on globalisation and is an Advisory Board Member of the ‘Protect the Local, Globally’ think-tank (co-ordinator, Colin Hines). With a long history of involvement with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, she was an active member of the Snowball Campaign against the US bases.

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze is a writer & performer of international standing. She first established herself as a key writer, performer and recording artist in her native country of Jamaica, where she studied at the Jamaican School of Drama. She was encouraged to come to Britain by Linton Kwesi Johnson and has since performed world-wide. Her work reveals a generous and uncompromising vision – exploring a wide range of personal, social and political issues – with a sublimely-tuned lyrical sensibility. Jean brings all her artistic experience to bear on her work as a poet. She has a striking stage presence, generating all the power and excitement of a full-blown theatrical performance.

Beatrix Campbell

Beatrix Campbell is a writer and broadcaster: her books include Wigan Pier Re-Visited, a prize-winning polemic on poverty, politics and George Orwell; Goliath - Britain's Dangerous Places; and Diana Princess of Wales - How Sexual Politics Shook the Monarchy. She is a regular contributor to the Independent, the Guardian, Any Questions and Question Time. With Judith Jones she co-authored the play And All the Children Cried, recently part of the Time Out Critics Choice festival at Battersea Arts Centre.

Amina Taylor

Amina Taylor is Editor at Europe’s premier lifestyle magazine for women of colour Pride Magazine. Before joining Pride in 1999, Amina enjoyed a brief stint at a local London newspaper and freelance opportunities with various publications including Ampersand, She–Caribbean, In Celebration of My Sisters magazine, Evening Standard and the Guardian. Known for her unorthodox interviewing technique, Amina has interviewed a host of international personalities including Mariah Carey, Lennox Lewis Janet Jackson, Brandy, Samuel L. Jackson and P.Diddy. Amina is a radio presenter on BBC London and contributes to spots on Choice FM, BBC Radio Five Live and LBC.

Shazia Mirza

Shazia began stand-up comedy in September 2000 and in a very short space of time as become world-known. She is in certain respects a revolutionary figure being the UK’s only female Muslim stand-up, a job which many in her culture would frown upon. However, this enables her to have a unique perspective as a British Muslim with her material crossing both cultures; her distinctive act combines a deadpan delivery with observation of her world. Shazia is a writer, actor and stand-up comedian.

Angie Le Mar

A comedienne, writer, director, actor, Angie Le Mar is one of Britain’s top comediennes. She is the first black British performer to storm the stage of Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theatre and made history in London‘s West End with the first ever sell out show by a black comedienne. Her TV appearances include the BBC’s ‘The Real McCoy’ and Channel 4’s ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ and she currently presents ‘The Saturday Morning Show’ on Choice FM. Angie is a proven hit with male and female, black and white audiences and is equally at home with quick-fire comedy, acutely observed character sketches and solid acting performance.

Bernadette Vallely

Bernadette is a community activist, environmentalist and social entrepreneur. She is a United Nations Global 500 Laureate for her innovative work on environmental issues, including co-founding the Women’s Environmental Network. She is the author of a number of books, including The Young Person’s Guide to Saving the Planet, The Young Person’s Guide to Mind, Body and Spirit, What Women Want and, most recently, Sacred Sex.

Jacqueline Chapman

Jacqueline has won national and international acclaim as a quintessential English dancer who is able to perform and choreograph with authencity and genuine feeling for classical Belly Dancing, a middle eastern art-form. She has danced in London, Egypt, Paris and New York and has worked with Ronnie Corbett, Nigel Kennedy, Ernie Wise, Boy George, to name a few. Her aim is to enlighten, inform and correct unhelpful myths regarding this liberating form of dance. She leads regular classes and workshops and gives lecture and demonstration evenings, as well as performing solo cabaret.