Meet the WE staff team

We are a small and determined team who work hard to achieve the aims of the Party.  We consider ourselves lucky to work alongside an army of volunteers who support us with everything from video-editing and website development to branch building and election planning. Find out more about volunteering with central office.

Cath Smith, Head of Campaigns 

Cath leads on our national campaigns and elections. She is passionate about getting WEP representatives elected and driving change at a local and national level.  

Celia Wilson, Head of Members and Supporters 

Celia leads on our members and supporters strategy.  She's passionate about growing our movement and helping our members have a positive member journey. She first joined as a branchstarter in the early days of the Party and now builds on that experience to lead the development and support of our branches and hubs.

Eleanor Bull, Finance and Compliance Manager

Elly ensures the effective management of the Party’s finances and has lead responsibility for the Party’s compliance with electoral law and other regulations. She work with Branch Officers and suppliers to enable and ensure their actions in relation to the Party are compliant. She also oversees central office management, including systems, processes and administration. Even though most of her work is behind the scenes, she is always involved in the party's external campaigns and says "its great to be part of a team that values my opinions and feedback". 

Erin Mansell, Political Researcher and Advisor 

Erin provides support and advice to the leader of the Party and other spokespeople, oversees the Party's political engagement strategy, and researches developing policy areas.

Fariya Sharif, Members and Supporters Officer

Fariya is the members and supporters officer and is dedicated to growing and supporting our membership. She works on developing membership campaigns and ensuring our communications with members are the best they can be. A proud Scot living in London longer than she had planned, it seems that her passion for Women's Equality has prevailed.

Hannah Peaker, Chief of Staff

Hannah is responsible for operationalising the Party's strategy, managing the central office team and is the Leader's right-hand woman. 

Lorraine Roberts, Interim Director of Finance and Operations.

Lorraine is an independent management consultant covering the post of Director of Finance and Operations at WE while conducting a series of organisational governance reviews for the party.

Chiara Martinelli, Events Manager

Chiara leads on all WE events, from putting on comedy shows with the party's MC Sandi Toksvig to holding crucial fundraising events to help finance our campaigns and activities. 

Amy Killen, Election Coordinator

Amy has been involved with the Party since 2015, serving as the Lewisham Branch Leader for a year. She has now brought her expertise on running local elections to our central office, where she oversees elections across the party's branches.

Adela Ryle, Press Coordinator 

Adela develops the party's relationship with national and local press and oversees its reactive presence on social media, as well as generating communications around the party's longer term policies and campaigns. She also works with local branches, providing communications support and advice.

Rebecca Mtsambiwa, Communications Coordinator 

Rebecca works to develop the party's strategic social media campaigns and generates digital communications around its longer term policies and offline campaigns. She also works on internal communications with the party's members and supporters.

Eleanor Leone, Administrative Officer

Eleanor is the front of house for the party, ensuring that visitors, enquiries and volunteers get to the right place. She also does finance and branch admin, manages our volunteer system and handles bookings and travel and oversees the day to day running of the office to make sure the party's work goes as smoothly as possible. 

Aimee Williams-Maynard, Members and Supporters Officer

Aimee job-shares the members and supporters officer role with Pauline Davis.  Together they manage the day-to-day work of recruiting, engaging and retaining the party's members and supporters and responding to member enquiries and requests. 

Pauline Davis, Members and Supporters Officer

Pauline job-shares the members and supporters officer role with Aimee Williams-Maynard.  Together they manage the day-to-day work of recruiting, engaging and retaining the party's members and supporters and responding to member enquiries and requests. 

Vacant post, Head of Fundraising 

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 

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.