To celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, SMV’s leader Robert Bourns hosted a special event at Merchants’ Hall. We were honoured to be joined by over 50 inspirational women, including keynote speaker Christina Blacklaws, an internationally recognised and award-winning innovator in the legal services industry. Christina’s thought-provoking presentation explored bias under a new lens, with examples of how unconscious bias continues to influence decision-making as people increasingly rely on AI generated input.
 

Christina emphasised the importance of recognising these biases and taking steps, both individually and collectively, to create a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

As past-president of the Law Society of England and Wales (2018–2019) and the current UK representative on the International Bar Association, Christina is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, having dedicated her career to furthering the rights and lives of women in the legal sector.

Following the keynote address, over 70 guests representing 20 different sectors from across the Greater Bristol region, gathered for a networking lunch, where new connections were made, ideas were shared, and potential collaborations were formed.
 

While the theme of the day was celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women throughout history, Robert closed the event by emphasising the importance of accelerating gender parity and addressing the barriers to equality.