Almost my whole working life, since becoming a parent, has involved campaigning and practical action to make paid work more inclusive of parents and carers. I was the CEO of the work-life balance charity Working Families from 1994 until 2018, and in that role at different times I job-shared, job-split, or worked reduced hours as a sole post-holder in order to retain time for my family life.

My experience at Working Families included judging the annual employer best practice awards, commissioning and editing research into flexible working, and lobbying government on behalf of working mothers and fathers. As a result, I am expert in workplace discrimination, and in family friendly and flexible working best practice and policy development.

My innovation and practical thought leadership has included the Modern Families Index¸ the now annual survey of working parents in the UK; Go Home On Time Day, a reminder to watch the internal parental clock and not remain chained at work; and the Happy to Talk Flexible Working recruitment initiative.

I have two children, both grown and flown, the elder an actor with an actor partner, so I have a very personal interest in seeing the performing arts become more inclusive in their employment practice.

As well as being Chair of PiPA, I am a Visiting Professor at Cranfield University School of Management, Deputy Chair of the social justice charity Commonweal Housing, and a Trustee of Rosa, the UK Fund for Women and Girls.