Penny Gane

Penny is a founding partner of GEM. She has held senior positions in both the public and private sectors. As Development Manager of the Bristol Strategic Partnership she brought together the key agencies, partnerships, private sector and community and voluntary sector organisations in the city to work together on the city’s community strategy. The partnership was one of the most inclusive in the country.

As a District Director she worked with some of the most disadvantaged communities in a city and spearheaded an innovative and outward focussed change management programme for the department. She set up the multi-million pound CREATE centre for sustainable development, led the city’s Local agenda 21 process involving some 3000 citizens and established and managed a £1m fund for sustainable communities. As Director of Public/Private Partnerships with the Tribal Group she brought together teams for major projects in regeneration, health and education.

As a partner in GEM Penny has worked with a wide range of organisations on equality and diversity and sustainable development both as a consultant and trainer. She has developed and led programmes on organisational change, capacity building, team building, policy development, action planning and performance management. She is a lively and engaging trainer and draws on a background in teaching English, Drama and media production.

Diane Bunyan

Diane is a founding partner of GEM. She specialises in equality, diversity and social cohesion issues by assisting organisations to respond effectively to the needs of the most disadvantaged and isolated communities. Diane has worked at national and international level where she is a highly regarded expert on gender equality. Recent work includes drafting a Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life for the Congress of Municipalities and Regions of Europe covering practical actions that councils can take in all aspects of their responsibilities. To date the Charter has been signed by over 500 local authorities including major European cities. She has worked for the Council of Europe as an independent expert advising governments on drafting equality legislation and on increasing the representation of women on elected bodies. Diane is a member of Council of Europe Expert Group on Gender Mainstreaming. She advised the Equal Opportunities Commission on the guidance for Local Authorities on the implementation of the Gender Equality Duty.

Diane was deputy leader and leader of a large city council and held executive responsibility for urban regeneration, sustainable development and equality and diversity. She chaired multi agency partnerships including the Local Strategic Partnership and the Community Safety Partnership. Diane worked for 20 years in adult education as a lecturer and manager.






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