Connect, Learn, & Launch: Sustainability Speed Networking – Invite Only

Malin Cunningham is the founder of Hattrick, an award winning b2b communications consultancy and certified B Corp. 

A Swedish national with an MA in Public Relations and a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumni, she thrives on helping businesses balance commercial realities with climate conscious operations.

A board trustee for the UN-recognised Carbon Literacy Trust, Malin is a certified carbon literacy trainer and has developed the first accredited course for sales and marketing teams in the built environment. 

She is a frequent speaker, panellist and contributor on how brands can navigate the transition to ‘net zero’ and communicate confidently including BusinessGreen, Better Business Summit and Making Design Circular. 

Strong believers in ‘progress over perfection’, the Hattrick team walks the talk and is the current holders of the Good Agency ‘Agency Sustainability Award’. They regularly host free webinars on sustainability and publish guides & original research reports to share business critical insights around the opportunities and threats in the green economy.

Head of SEC Newgate’s Northern office in Manchester, Simon is a strategic communication professional and former journalist with extensive experience across the public and private sectors. The Manchester team work on behalf of organisations leading transformational change, including developers of new homes, renewable energy projects, major infrastructure and more.

Simon joined SEC Newgate from Transport for Greater Manchester, where he supported the rollout of the transformational Bee Network and led communications for the revised Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan.

In a first for a Destination Management Organisation, Simon served as Content Curator on behalf of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (now GM Business Board) at Marketing Manchester, part of the Growth Company. The role supported the city-region in increasing awareness of its sector strengths nationally and internationally, helping to attract inward investment, visitors and students.

Simon worked at the Manchester Evening News for 15 years, with stints on the business and features desks. He edited the MEN’s award-winning standalone business magazine, Greater Manchester Business Week.

Mark is founder and managing director at NetZero.co.uk, a Manchester based Climate technology business. Following a twenty-year career in the digital automotive sector, Mark returned to university and was awarded an MBA from Manchester business school before launching the business in 2019.

Proud to be a B Corp, the business uses a hybrid model of carbon consulting and technology to streamline carbon reporting, analysis and reduction whilst engaging employees and customers with the Engage Carbon Portal within Net Zero’s proprietary software NetScope.  The NetZero.co.uk team, work with local SME’s and corporates such as Santander, VW and QBE in addition to sports partners such as MCC Lords, SRO Motorsport and World Netball where technology is used to leverage engagement and awareness amongst fans.

Stephen Henry is CEO and co-founder of Positive Planet, a leading boutique ESG consultancy helping organisations deliver positive impact for people, planet, and profit. With 10 years’ sustainability experience, he supports over 500 companies—from FTSE 100 giants to startups—in developing and delivering effective, practical ESG strategies that drive measurable change. 

Mallika Raj is a Sustainability Consultant with over four years of experience supporting organisations to deliver net zero strategies, carbon accounting, and clear ESG reporting. She currently works with property managers to implement NABERS and BREEAM requirements, strengthen ESG data processes, and translate emissions data into practical sustainability roadmaps.

Her experience spans real estate, supply chains, and circular economy research across the UK and EU, with a strong focus on governance, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based decision-making. She brings a balanced perspective that connects policy, business, and community priorities to support Manchester’s green and inclusive economic ambitions.

Tom is a Low Carbon Economy Principal at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), where he is programme manager for Bee Net Zero, a public-private partnership led by Greater Manchester’s Business Board that has the mission to make Greater Manchester the easiest place to become a net zero business. He joined in April 2023 from the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), where from October 2021 he was a Senior Policy Adviser, working primarily on clean heat policy. Prior to that he was a chartered accountant, working first in Audit and then Transaction Services at Deloitte (2009 to 2018) and Dow Schofield Watts (2018 to 2020), after which he completed an MA in Politics at the University of Manchester.

Hi! I’m Josh and for the last three years I have been working as the HR Coordinator at The Carbon Literacy Project, a Manchester-based charity who help organisations and individuals understand and reduce their environmental impact.
My responsibilities are really varied but involve leading on recruitment, creating contracts and policies, and overseeing all placement students and interns. Before joining The Carbon Literacy Project, I completed a BSc in Climate Change followed by an MSc in Environmental Management and International Development.
My professional experience is also pretty mixed, with previous roles such as financial adviser, trainer, project manager and removal worker. Despite these roles being very different, each of them has helped me develop valuable skills in communication, organisation, problem-solving and working with people. I’m excited to share some of these experiences and help others explore their own career paths into both the sustainability sector and beyond.