Policy Committee

Posted on Staff and committees by · June 17, 2019 2:12 PM

What is the Policy Committee?

The Policy Committee is made of the spokesperson and movement builder for each of our seven policy goals and the party in Scotland. It is chaired by the leader of the party, Mandu Reid.

The Committee helps us communicate our fantastic policies far and wide, growing our movement and representing us as spokespeople at events and in the media.

Go straight to the policy area you're looking for:

Equal Representation

Equal Pay and Opportunity

Equal Parenting and Caregiving

Equal Media

Equal Education

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Equality in Health

Equal Scotland

About the Policy Committee

How were the Policy Committee members chosen?

Policy Committee members have been elected by Party members.

What do Policy Committee members do?

Individually, the spokespeople participate in public debates on their area on behalf of the Party, in consultation with the Party Leader or Chief of Staff. The movement builders reach out to organisations and individuals to build relationships with people relevant to their policy area. They are also required to monitor developments in their policy areas and update the Leader and other spokespeople on developments, as well as build alliances with organisations that share the Party’s objectives.

Can members put forward motions to update policies?

Motions to change, update or add to our policies can be put forward by members, branches, the Party Leader and the Policy Committee, in accordance with the Party’s Constitution. Collectively, the Policy Committee reviews all policy motions to check their coherence and consistency with our mission and objectives, before they are put forward to Party Conference.

You can contact the teams for each policy area at their dedicated email addresses, given below.

Objective: Equal Representation

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equalrepresentation@womensequality.org.uk

Harini Iyengar,
New elected Spokesperson for Equal Representation

Since Harini’s election in 2016, she has taken every opportunity to stand for public office - for Parliament, Hackney Mayor and two council seats. She is proud our London members selected her as Lead Candidate for London Assembly elections 2020.

She has given many political speeches promoting our policies in the media, including BBC and Sky news, Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire, and by writing news articles in New Statesman, Huffington Post, and the Independent.

She has worked in partnership with the Equal Representation Movement Builders, and formed strong collaborative links with campaign groups, including 50:50 Parliament, Operation Black Vote, Green New Deal, DiEM25, and Fawcett Society, as well as other political parties and many charities.

Harini helped write our General Election and European manifestos. With Eleanor, she successfully proposed a motion to Conference.

Pamela Ritchie,
Movement Builder for Equal Representation

Pamela is passionate passionate about connecting our grassroots campaigning with communities and national organisations to bring about change.

She is also an active campaigner for proportional representation with Make Votes Matter, attending alliance building events, discussing national campaigns with cross party MPs as well as some of the leading voices in electoral reform.

Pamela joined The Women’s Equality Party in 2016 and has been actively involved with the Greenwich Branch from the start, standing in the local elections in May 2018.

Objective: Equal Pay and Opportunity

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equalpay@womensequality.org.uk

Celine Thomas,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Equal Pay and Opportunity

Celine has a proven track record: standing for Parliament and two Council seats, she has been a strong and visible advocate for the Women’s Equality Party.

She led the successful Tunbridge Wells branch for over two years while always helping others to stand and run campaigns. As their spokesperson on television, radio and the local papers, she has appeared twice on BBC TV to speak about the pay gap and new reporting rules, as well as being interviewed on BBC radio and by KentLive for a piece on the pay-gap in Kent Councils.

Celine initiated and led discussions with AXA PPP’s Finance Director and employee networks on their gapping pay inequality affecting many local women. She has sought to increase WEP’s visibility by challenging our public authorities and speaking up against pay-gap complicity.

Kathryn Adkins,
Newly elected Movement Builder for Equal Pay and Opportunity

Kathryn is extremely passionate about tackling the Gender Pay Gap - she is a founding member of the Women’s Equality Party and co-leader of the Manchester branch. She finds it shocking that the UK still has a significant Gender Pay Gap, and many organisations still don’t believe that they need to try and close their Gap, as they believe it's due to women’s choices!

Kathryn is a qualified accountant and has several years’ experience working in senior management positions to effect organisational change. She is on the Board of a large, national charity, and is responsible for shaping strategy and ensuring good governance. She has worked with organisations on their Gender Pay Gap reporting and has run pop-up stalls educating the public on the issue.

As Movement Builder, Kathryn will work with organisations to educate them on the causes of their Gap and the steps they can take to close it. She will work with our fantastic branches to roll out a best practice guidance nationwide.

Objective: Equal Parenting and Caregiving

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equalcare@womensequality.org.uk

Lucy Ryan,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Parenting and Caregiving

Lucy is a 55 year-old business woman, academic and a fierce advocate for women’s equality. She’s a founding member of WEP and has completed a PhD exploring the experiences of older women (aged 45+) in organisations, to understand their barriers to career progression.

As well as exposing an invisible ageist/sexist discrimination, the study highlights significant caregiving issues facing older women, for which there is no exposure or policy. As an age group, the older woman is ignored. This is not to belie the major parenting issues faced by younger woman as so much parenting and caregiving goes unrewarded and underexposed.

Lucy has been effecting change within organisations for 16 years, advocating for women in management, and developing systemic change through individual organisational policies. Lucy wants to play a more active role in pursuing women’s equality at a governmental policy level, believing that Systemic change is the only way women will achieve their potential.

Objective: Equal Media

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equalmedia@womensequality.org.uk

Emma Ko,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Equal Media

Emma thinks equality is not only better for everyone, but we need everyone to get this message loud and clear. She believes her media experience will help WE be part of creating this crucial narrative.

As a screenwriter and programme-maker, Emma has worked in the broadcast industry for almost twenty years. She woke up to the institutionalised sexism in the industry and became involved in campaigns to get more women’s voices on our screens, including the Writers’ Guild Equality Writes campaign, launched after a damning report with stats e.g. only 13% of primetime drama is written by women. She advocates on behalf of female BAME screenwriters for inclusion in writing rooms and has set up a film-making co-operative producing and supporting female filmmakers in the under-represented ‘genre’ creative landscape.

She holds the intersection of politics and media to be important, as a lot of regulation is done in-house, and believes it’s only when public service broadcasters like the BBC are held to account by outside auditors, within the law, that gender and equality goals will truly be met.

Rozina Ahmed,
Movement Builder for Equal Media

Rozina has worked for the Mayor’s Office (GLA) for almost 15 years on various strategies and policies delivering key cultural festivals and events -promoting equality, diversity, inclusion and social integration to a multicultural international audience.

She has also worked at the BBC in Documentaries & Investigation where she established extensive experience and knowledge of media law and key broadcasting guidelines.

"I absolutely believe I will make a positive contribution to WEP and implement action that will leave a positive legacy for future generations".

Objective: Equal Education

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equaleducation@womensequality.org.uk

Caroline Hunt,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Equal Education

You may have met Caroline Hunt on the parliamentary campaign trails in Shipley or Lewisham East, when she was co-ordinating the Northern Hub, or perhaps you heard her speak at conference. She is the former leader of the Leeds WEP branch, and spends a lot of time running around the country canvassing for WEP candidates.

Up until 2016 Caroline was a secondary school teacher. Her specialism was A-Level Politics but like most teachers she had to teach plenty outside of her comfort zone: Psychology, Sociology, History, Geography, IT and SRE were all part of her experience.

Caroline wants to make sure people hear about WE’s fantastic policies (inclusive SRE, more men in primary and early years, more women in SLT, compulsory formal sexual harassment policies, free sanitary products in schools, gender free uniform options) so we can work towards a gender equal education system.

Guilene Marco,
Movement Builder for Equal Education

Guilene is an activist and has been organising community events and campaigning on local issues, such as fighting against budget cuts in education and joining the national campaign Fair Funding in All Schools.

Objective: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: endvawg@womensequality.org.uk

Tabitha Morton,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Tabitha believes ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) is the most important of our 7 core objectives. While it’s still acceptable for women to be raped and killed, none of us will be free. We must end this epidemic of violence to achieve true equality.

Tabitha currently leads WEP’s work to end VAWG:
• She has implemented an end VAWG strategy with the Metro Mayor of Liverpool.
• She is working with the branch in Manchester to do the same.
• She has introduced a campaign model for branches that takes activists on a journey to becoming experts on ending VAWG in their area.

Alongside the elected Movement Builder she wants to continue this work so we have a UK-wide team who are committed to ending VAWG.

Tabitha has a strong track record of both press and broadcast interviews for WEP and am often requested to comment both locally and nationally on VAWG matters, as well as receiving invitations to speak publicly at conferences and events.

Christine Dean,
Newly elected Movement Builder for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Christine is Waltham Forest Branch Leader, a List Candidate for GLA 2020 elections and a member of the BAME caucus. She is a former family lawyer with over 20 years’ experience representing women and young girls who were subject to domestic violence and abuse.

Her experience gives her a unique insight into the current problems and failings in the protection available for women and young girls today. Christine wants to play a part in shaping more effective and female-focused violence prevention policies. She has an excellent working knowledge of the party's policies on VAWG.

She is a confident networker, adept at building positive relationships with stakeholders, change-makers and service providers. Christine is keen to work with local branches; she wants to learn from their knowledge and experience and bring their ideas to the policy team. She believe WEP policies should be current, develop and evolve. She wants to work on the party’s manifestos and briefings, as her experience in drafting legal advice and opinions will be useful in carrying out these tasks.

Objective: Equality in Health

Read about the policy >>

Contact the team: equalhealth@womensequality.org.uk

Rebecca Manson Jones,
Spokesperson for Equality in Health

In her personal life, Rebecca has experience of the Health and Social Care systems as an end of life carer and as a patient.

Professionally, Rebecca is currently the Interim Director of Oily Cart the UK's leading touring theatre creative immersive work for early years, children and young people with complex needs and Autistic Spectrum conditions and deaf/blind young people. She has a 20-year record of developing diversity and inclusion in theatre and participatory as a director. Her participatory work has been cited by Arts Council England as a model of good practice.

Rebecca has been active in WEP since joining as a founding member. She has been a candidate three times, most recently in the Lewisham Council Elections where she polled 1 in 4 voters. She has been advocating for WEP at events and workshops around the country and was part of the working group that created the Equal Health Care policy.

Meera Khanna (formerly Feldman),
Movement Builder for Equality in Health

Meera is an Economics graduate and mum of two with 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. She founded The Nest Club to revolutionise postnatal care in the UK through empowering, modern day education and practical, hands on help and support.

Working with experts in the medical and wellness space she is keen to find a more personalised approach to women’s health and to lobby for change in the language used in maternity so it is more positive and encouraging.

Objective: Equality in Scotland

e-mail scotland.policy@womensequality.org.uk

Ruth Wilkinson,
Newly elected Spokesperson for Scotland

Ruth is a founder member of the Women’s Equality Party and has lived in Scotland for over twenty years. This September she is starting an MSc in Applied Gender Studies at Strathclyde University, so she’ll be up to date with current thinking and research, and able to contribute even more usefully to policy committee meetings as they discuss plans not just for Scotland but for the whole UK.

She has been an active member of the Glasgow branch since its early days: writing letters and emails, speaking in public, canvassing, marching, leafletting, tweeting (as @ruththerep), and talking to voters about why WE exist and what WE hope to achieve.

With Holyrood elections to plan for, the next couple of years promise to be exciting ones for the WE Party in Scotland. As Scotland spokesperson Ruth will be making sure that people know about us and what WE are campaigning for, spreading the word about our fantastic nickable policies, and working with our Movement Builder to grow our Scottish membership and give us a real chance of getting WEP into the Scottish Parliament in 2021.

Suz Martin,
Movement Builder for Scotland

As a public affairs professional for a national mental health charity, Suz can be found in the Scottish Parliament and in constituency offices on a regular basis, in addition to the many meetings with civil servants, promoting carefully developed policy positions.

She has experience in a myriad of policy areas, from planning and environmental regulation, right through to healthcare, social care, and social security.

Executive Committee

Posted on Staff and committees by · November 12, 2018 2:46 PM

Bea Gare

Bea Gare is a former British Diplomat. In mid-career she undertook a PhD in biological sciences and rejoined the FCO after a short stint running her own Environmental Consultancy. Her work in the FCO concentrated on multilateral arms control including 5 years in Vienna at the British delegation to the OSCE.

Bea joined WEP in 2016. A lifetime of watching Westminster politics led her to the only party with policies on equality and PR as part of their manifesto.

Catherine Mayer, President

Catherine is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist with a career spanning The Economist, the German news weekly FOCUS and TIME magazine. Her most recent book 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World!' includes the story of why in 2015 she co-founded the Women’s Equality Party. She served as elected president of the Foreign Press Association in London, is on the founding committee of WOW - The Women of the World Festival and was a judge for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is the Executive Director of the think tank, Datum Future.

Catherine is the President of the Women’s Equality Party.

Chris Paouros

Chris is a business and charity leader, specialising in the growth of small organisations. Chris is a Trustee of Just Like Us, an LGBT+ charity for young people; Non-Executive Director of Leaders Unlocked, a social enterprise giving young people a voice and has recently been appointed to the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board.

Chris is of the firm belief that the Women's Equality Party is the only answer to our broken political system and a feminist analysis and solution-focus is the way to fix it.

Yvonne Thompson CBE

Yvonne is an entrepreneur working in the Communications, Marketing and PR industry. She has advised corporates, public sector, educational establishments and government, developing a reputation as an activist and a campaigner for supporting women and minorities in business.

In 2003 she received a CBE in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Birthday Honours List for her work with small business, women and minorities. In 2005 she received a doctorate for her work with women and minorities in small businesses and supporting entrepreneurs from London Metropolitan University, and in 2015 she received her second doctorate for work in Global Diversity and Equality from Plymouth University. In 2015 she published her first book, “7 Traits of Highly Successful Women on Boards". A book promoting greater gender diversity in company boardrooms.

Annie Rickard

Annie Rickard spent most of her career in advertising and media. She was a co-founder of Posterscope in 1983 and left in March 2018. During that time, she built a global network with 57 offices in 34 countries.

Annie is passionate about gender equality; having developed multiple initiatives to mentor and teach women globally during her time as Posterscope's Global Executive, she is a champion of direct action as the only way to ensure women's voices are heard. Annie is also a keen learner and is dedicated to improving diversity within the party. She is a founding member of WEP and is also part of the WEP Development Committee. She lives in London with her two children, Thomas and Elizabeth, and (most importantly) their cat, Ida.

Francesca Pridding

Francesca Pridding is a lawyer and a town clerk from rural Mid-Wales hoping to change the world for women with the help of her twin 18-year-old daughters.

She is passionate about equality in every aspect but particularly politics, sport, and education.

Steering Committee

Posted on Staff and committees by · March 16, 2018 11:39 AM

The Steering Committee is the Party’s central decision-making body outside of Party conferences. It steers the direction of the Party by agreeing strategy, planning ahead and reacting to internal and external factors. It monitors the Party’s activities and outcomes against its mission, aims and objectives, and makes sure the Party’s activities are within the budget it sets and approves each year. It is also the body with the sole discretion to decide when and where WE stand candidates in elections.

The Steering Committee is made up of the Party Leader, The Party’s Life President and Life M.C, ten members elected by Party Conference, five members recommended by the Steering Committee and appointed at Party conference, and five members randomly selected.

Your Steering Committee members, as of September 2018, are:

Sandi Toksvig

Co-founder

Sandi is a writer, comedian and broadcaster who co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2016. She is the current Chancellor of Portsmouth University and is involved with many charities focusing on civil liberty, women’s rights and education. Sandi was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British LGBT Awards in 2018.

Catherine Mayer

President

Catherine is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist with a career spanning The Economist, the German news weekly FOCUS and TIME magazine. Her most recent book 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World!' includes the story of why in 2015 she co-founded the Women’s Equality Party. She served as elected president of the Foreign Press Association in London, is on the founding committee of WOW - The Women of the World Festival and was a judge for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is the Executive Director of the think tank, Datum Future.

Catherine is the President of the Women’s Equality Party.

Elected committee members

Womens_Equality_Party_(26_of_97).jpg

Ali Smith

Ali Smith was brought up in a highly political family who thought equality should be a given, and she's used this incredible privilege all her life to try and afford everyone else the same democratic freedoms. Ali is an editor and legal proof reader by trade, and has edited everything from academic journals to children's fiction.

She joined WE because being part of a party that works for women's rights and true equality seemed the only logical thing to do, and she hoped she might be useful.

Annie Rickard

Annie Rickard spent most of her career in advertising and media. She was a co-founder of Posterscope in 1983 and left in March 2018. During that time, she built a global network with 57 offices in 34 countries.

Annie is passionate about gender equality; having developed multiple initiatives to mentor and teach women globally during her time as Posterscope's Global Executive, she is a champion of direct action as the only way to ensure women's voices are heard. Annie is also a keen learner and is dedicated to improving diversity within the party. She is a founding member of WEP and is also part of the WEP Development Committee. She lives in London with her two children, Thomas and Elizabeth, and (most importantly) their cat, Ida.

Barbara Guest

Barbara Guest was brought up on a Council estate in Manchester and has been an activist since she was a teenager, becoming involved in the women's rights movement when she went to polytechnic in Coventry at the age of 18 years. She's a founding member of WEP and has been active in the Manchester branch since August 2015. Her professional background is in social welfare law - delivering and managing free legal advice services to help alleviate poverty and prevent homelessness.