A charity executive with over 20 years of director-level experience, Farah is passionate about women’s rights. She has worked on women’s rights and gender issues for most of her career and is committed to feminist principles of leadership including courage, sharing of power and accountable collaboration

Shreena Kotecha is a Deputy Director at the UK Department for Education, where she leads policy on counter extremism, non-school education, and the department’s work to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG).

With extensive experience across government, Shreena has worked on a range of complex and high-profile policy areas.  She brings particular expertise in designing and delivering policy that improves safeguarding and outcomes for children and young people.

Rachel is the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, a rural constituency that straddles the Devon-Somerset border. As an MP she sits on the Public Accounts Committee.

Her career has spanned many areas. Beginning her career as a teacher, Rachel then worked in roles with national and international NGOs, including in former Eastern-bloc countries. More recently, she was Director of Communications at the National Farmers’ Union – becoming its first female board member in 100 years – before going on to be the Head of Strategy at the Environment Agency.

As a politician and a working mother, Rachel has mastered many important skills. She thrives on the camaraderie of the campaign trail, knows how to keep people’s spirits up, and is focused on being the best constituency MP she can be.

Jenny is a Senior Subject Specialist at the PSHE Association, working closely with the Director of Education to lead the Subject Specialist team. She led PSHE education in two London schools, and has a Masters in Teaching and Learning. Since joining the PSHE Association, she has worked with a range of agencies, from the NSPCC, to the Home Office, to the National Crime Agency, developing materials that support schools to deliver highly effective, safe PSHE education

An educator for over 15 years, Allana has worked as a teacher, curriculum leader and senior leader and has spent the last two years developing whole school Personal Development and Safeguarding at a large 11-18 comprehensive school.

As the school’s DSL, targeting sexual harassment sexism became a key area of focus for Allana and using UK Feminista’s resources and action award scheme has developed a whole school action plan and framework for tacking these issues and helping to support young people in school to identify and report these issues.

Naomi Abraham-Bello is an experienced family law solicitor, specialising in supporting individuals facing complex and sensitive family issues, including domestic abuse and matters that arise from this, particularly in relation to children . She is the Principal Solicitor and a Director at HAB Law, where she has supported the firm for the over five years in striving to ensure faster and more effective access to justice.

Naomi is passionate about empowering victim-survivors through provision of legal advice at the earliest stage to ensure timely protection and resolution through the courts. Her work is driven by a belief that legal processes should be responsive, trauma-informed and accessible to those most in need.

She is a strong advocate for multi-agency collaboration, recognising that effective partnership between legal professionals, support services, government, educators and community organisations is essential to reducing domestic abuse, re-traumatisation and improving outcomes for victim-survivors. Through her work, she aims to influence and encourage more coordinated and survivor-centred approaches across the sector.

Jess Asato is the Member of Parliament for Lowestoft, elected in 2024, and a member of the Education Select Committee. Prior to being elected, Jess was the Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the children’s charity Barnardo’s, worked for the domestic abuse charity SafeLives, and was a political advisor to Tessa Jowell.

Jess Smith leads the Women and Girls Online Safety team at Ofcom, and previously led the Online Safety Public Policy team where she oversaw the passage of the Online Safety Act. She joined Ofcom in 2022 from DCMS, where she led the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, focussing on how the potential of data could be unlocked for the public good. Prior to this Jess spent more than a decade in HM Treasury in various policy and spending roles, and completed a three year placement in Hong Kong where she worked for the Jardine Matheson conglomerate.

Professor Catherine White is the Medical Director for IFAS. Previously the Clinical Director of St Mary’s SARC, Manchester, Cath is the Sexual Offence Medicine lead for the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine.

Her research was used as evidence to change the law regarding strangulation. Cath was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in The Queen’s 2014 New Year’s Honours List for services to Vulnerable People.

Rachael Clegg is the Head of Operations for Women and Families at Phoenix Futures, overseeing Ophelia House—our specialist women’s residential service—and the Sheffield Family Service. With extensive experience in trauma-informed, gender-responsive treatment, Rachael leads national developments supporting women and families affected by substance use, mental health needs, violence against women and girls, and multiple disadvantage. Her work includes championing specialist pathways for women experiencing the criminal justice system, recognising the impact of trauma, substance use, abuse, exploitation and social exclusion on women’s lives, including the challenges many mothers face around child removal and family separation. She advocates for earlier, compassionate interventions and access to the right therapeutic, practical and family-focused support to help women recover, strengthen relationships, and keep families safely together wherever possible. She is a passionate advocate for lived experience leadership and improving access to safe, specialist, and trauma-responsive support for women across the system.

Luke Hart, and his brother Ryan Hart, share their family’s story of coercive control and domestic homicide. In 2017 they released their book, Remembered Forever, and set up their organization, CoCoAwareness, to increase the awareness of coercive control. So far, their work has taken them to over 13 countries and they have trained tens of thousands of professionals in identifying, understanding, and ending domestic abuse.

They are White Ribbon Ambassadors and Refuge Champions speaking out against male violence towards women and children. They have also worked with the charity Level Up to produce and advocate for the acceptance of domestic homicide reporting guidelines and have received a number of awards for their work in raising awareness – including the Lincolnshire Police Outstanding Contribution to Public Service 2018/2019, BBC Inspirations 2020 award and the Big Issue’s Top 100 Changemakers of 2020.

Serving as an officer for twenty-five years, Jim Munro, heads the West Midlands Police Homicide and Major Crime Reactive Teams. Jim has been a detective for most of his service, serving at all ranks. Jim is one of the force’s most experienced accredited senior investigating officers, having led over fifty murder investigations.

More recently, Jim has been instrumental in leading Operation Fearless, a dedicated problem solving approach, in order to promote long term solutions and regeneration of deprived areas. During his service, Jim has been recognised on many occasions for his leadership, starting back in 2003, when he won the Andrew Le Comte trophy for the probationary officer who committed an outstanding act of bravery – tackling an armed robber whilst off duty. Jim’s work continued to be recognised throughout his service, more recently achieving two excellence awards, five judge’s commendations, a Chief Constable’s award and a Commander’s commendation, all relating to investigations he has led. In addition, Jim has also led two operations to national award finals.

Accredited Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) – Major Crime, Serious & Organised Crime (SOC) & Kidnap & Extortion (K&E)

Detective Chief Inspector Philip Poole is a senior UK policing leader and accredited Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) spanning all detective ranks across Major Crime, Serious & Organised Crime (SOC), and Kidnap & Extortion (K&E). Currently leading a Homicide Investigation Unit, he has an exceptional track record of driving organisational performance, resolving legacy cases, and building high-performing, victim-focused investigative teams.

Alongside his operational homicide remit, DCI Poole is nationally recognised for his driving role in tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Following a series of street sex worker homicides, he secured funding to launch a benchmark multi-agency initiative. By uniting policing, health, and third-sector partners, the programme transformed intelligence gathering, safeguarded vulnerable women, and effectively managed high-harm offenders, earning national recognition as a model of best practice.

An advocate for evidence-based policing, DCI Poole has led large-scale professional development programmes to elevate technical excellence and investigative capability. As a keynote speaker, he delivers candid, operational insights on leadership, multi-agency safeguarding, and the collective responsibility required to eradicate VAWG.

Siobhan Blake was appointed Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) of CPS West Midlands in March 2021, having previously been the Chief Crown Prosecutor of Mersey-Cheshire since 2016. Before this, she was Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for Cymru-Wales Area for four years.

Siobhan qualified as a solicitor having studied law at Southampton and joined the CPS in 1994 as a trainee solicitor. After qualification Siobhan worked in private practice for a period before returning to the CPS.

Siobhan is an experienced prosecutor who has advised upon and prosecuted many high-profile cases, becoming a specialist in the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences. She obtained her Higher Rights of Audience in 2004 and became a frontline manager in 2005.

Siobhan has been at the forefront of the work undertaken by the CPS to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) – domestic violence, rape and other violent offences in which the victims are predominantly women. She is now the National CCP Lead for the CPS on rape and serious sexual offence prosecutions.

Anthony has worked at Islington Council for 11 years, including the past 10 years within Housing Services. He is currently a Deputy Area Housing Manager and leads Housing’s Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) Champions Network, a role he has held for the past year.

The network brings together staff from a range of housing teams, including repairs, tenancy management and neighbourhood services, to strengthen the organisation’s response to domestic abuse. Through this work, he supports the development of frontline practice, staff confidence and training, helping to ensure survivors receive informed, timely and effective support at the point of service delivery.

He is committed to partnership working, safeguarding residents and embedding a whole-housing approach to supporting survivors of domestic abuse.

Laura Smith is the Clinical Lead for the Lighthouse Service at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Laura is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with a special interest in recovery and justice following child sexual abuse. At the Lighthouse, Laura is responsible for leading England’s first Child House, a Barnahus model service. Laura is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and hold additional professional leadership roles at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, as Trust Lead for Psychological Therapies and Children and Young People’s Head of Psychological Therapies.

Emma is the Director of Housing at Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, where she leads initiatives including the Whole Housing Approach, Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), and teams addressing multiple disadvantages and homelessness.

Her previous roles include serving as the Strategic Lead for Domestic and Sexual Abuse in Cheshire East, where she coordinated efforts to end domestic abuse through agency collaboration and cocreation with those directly affected. Previously, she has worked on projects focusing on high-risk perpetrator intervention development, and acted as the national technical advisor for innovative approaches to child safeguarding and domestic abuse.

A charity executive with over 20 years of director-level experience, Farah is passionate about women’s rights. She has worked on women’s rights and gender issues for most of her career and is committed to feminist principles of leadership including courage, sharing of power and accountable collaboration