Our Ambassadors and Patrons

Our Ambassadors

Elliott Rae

Elliott Rae is the founder of the parenting platform MusicFootballFatherhood, called the ‘Mumsnet for Dads’ by the BBC.  Elliott’s book DAD is an Amazon Top 10 bestseller. DAD is a deeply moving collection of 20 stories that represent the diversity of modern fatherhood and challenges the traditional ideas of masculinity.  

Elliott has been recognised by the United Nations for his work on gender equality and was awarded the #HeForShe award by UN Women UK.  

Elliott presented the BBC One documentary ‘Becoming Dad’ in January 2022 which is the first show of its kind to bring issues around dad’s mental health and masculinity to the mainstream. Becoming Dad was one of the most watched documentaries across the BBC network in 2022. 

Elliott is a media commentator on issues around fatherhood and mental health, having written for The Independent and The Telegraph and featured live on Loose Women, BBC News, Channel 4 and Radio 5 Live. 

Anna Whitehouse 

Journalist, editor, mother and voice of those who just happen to be parents – Anna Whitehouse is the honest, always well informed and forever hilarious voice of Mother Pukka; a platform created to share the trials and tribulations of parenthood and beyond. Having written for the likes of Marie Claire, Stylist, The Telegraph and former Vice Editor for Time Out Magazine Amsterdam – Anna is a force to be reckoned with not just within the parenting space but for anyone who has a penchant for honest accounts of how to navigate your way through life with wit and purpose. 

Patron

Sir Howard Davies

Howard Davies was appointed Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland on 1 September 2015. Previously, Howard was Chairman of the Phoenix Group between October 2012 and August 2015. He chaired the UK Airports Commission from 2012-15 and was the Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2003 until May 2011. Prior to that appointment Howard chaired the UK Financial Services Authority then the single regulator for the UK financial services sector, from 1997 to 2003.
Read more…

Vice Patrons

Lucy Daniels

Lucy is the founding director of the Working Mothers Association (WMA), a precursor to Working Families.  From running a help line for mothers returning to work in the early 80s, she grew the WMA into an influential national charity, campaigning for childcare and promoting family friendly policies via initiatives such as the Employer of the Year awards.  
Read more…

Maggy Pigott CBE FRSA

Maggy has been associated with, and supported, Working Families over several decades, including speaking at conferences, featuring in research studies and as a Changemaker.  Maggy was a pioneer of flexible working, joining the Government Legal Service and working part-time from the early 1980s. In 1988 she was one of the first In Government, (and other sectors), to job-share and continued for 23 years, in seven jobs, including non-legal, policy, operational and judicial appointments roles. With the same partner throughout, their last post was Joint CEO of the training organisation for the judiciary.
Read more…

Susan Vinnicombe CBE 

MA PhD MCIM FBAM CCMI
Professor of Women and Leadership, Cranfield School of Management  

Susan’s research interests focus on the lack of women in leadership and specifically on corporate boards, women’s leadership behaviours and the issues involved in women developing their executive careers. Susan was Founder Director of the Cranfield International Centre for Women Leaders from 1999 to 2016 and the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Endowed Chair in Women’s Leadership at Simmons College, Boston, USA from 2013-2016.
Read more…

Patron Biographies

Sir Howard Davies

Howard Davies was appointed Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland on 1 September 2015. Previously, Howard was Chairman of the Phoenix Group between October 2012 and August 2015. He chaired the UK Airports Commission from 2012-15 and was the Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2003 until May 2011. Prior to that appointment Howard chaired the UK Financial Services Authority then the single regulator for the UK financial services sector, from 1997 to 2003.  

Howard was the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 1995-97, after three years as the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry. Earlier in his career he worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including two years as Private Secretary to the British Ambassador in Paris, the Treasury, McKinsey and Co, and as Controller of the Audit Commission.  

Howard has been a Professor of Practice at the French School of Political Science in Paris (Sciences Po) since 2011. He teaches courses in finance regulation and central banking to master’s students.  

Howard also chairs the Risk Committee at Prudential plc, whose board he joined in 2010. He is a member of the Regulatory and Compliance Advisory Board of Millennium Management LLC, a New York-based hedge fund. He has been a member of the International Advisory Council of the China Banking Regulatory Commission since 2003 and in 2012, was appointed Chairman of the International Advisory Council of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Previously Howard was an independent Director of Morgan Stanley Inc. for 11 years, from 2004 to 2015 and earlier in his career was a Non-Executive Director of GKN plc from 1989-95.  

He was a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 2002-2010 and Chair from 2009-10. He was a director of the Royal National Theatre from 2011 to 2015, when he left to chair the London Library. He is also the patron of Working Families, a charity which promotes family-friendly working practices.  

Howard has published five books focused on the financial markets and regularly writes for The Financial Times, Times Higher Education, Project Syndicate and Management Today.  

He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, Merton College, Oxford and Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

Lucy Daniels

Lucy Daniels is the founding director of the Working Mothers Association (WMA), a precursor to Working Families.  From running a help line for mothers returning to work in the early 80s, she grew the WMA into an influential national charity, campaigning for childcare and promoting family friendly policies via initiatives such as the Employer of the Year awards.  

In the early 90s Lucy led the organisation through its first name change to Parents At Work (PAW). Under its new name, the organisation launched workshops for new fathers and mothers, held the first ‘Go Home on Time Day’ and created a support network for working parents of children with special needs and disabilities. 

On departing from Parents at Work, Lucy was instrumental in the launch of the Work Life Research Centre, bringing together academics and practitioners, which led the publication of the first UK Work-Life Manual in 2000 in collaboration with the Work Foundation and the TUC.   

As a researcher and trainer, Lucy continued to support Parents At Work after its merger in the ‘noughties’ with New Ways to Work to become Working Families.  Since then, she has worked with numerous organisations in the private and public sectors on work-life initiatives for parents and other carers.  She is now an independent coach and a volunteer mediator, specialising in inter-generational issues. 

Lucy has two adult daughters and two grandchildren.  It is their future, plus her own experience of working – initially as a cleaning lady on leaving school and then juggling caring whilst running a small business, that have been key drivers for her activism in helping disadvantaged families.     

Maggy Pigott

Maggy has been associated with, and supported, Working Families over several decades, including speaking at conferences, featuring in research studies and as a Changemaker.  

Maggy was a pioneer of flexible working, joining the Government Legal Service and working part-time from the early 1980s. In 1988 she was one of the first In Government, (and other sectors), to job-share and continued for 23 years, in seven jobs, including non-legal, policy, operational and judicial appointments roles. With the same partner throughout, their last post was Joint CEO of the training organisation for the judiciary. On retiring they were thrilled to receive a CBE  for their contribution to the administration of justice and for promoting, helping others and role modelling job-sharing in the Civil Service. 

Maggy continues to be a staunch advocate of the benefits of flexible working and job-sharing, including on social media and radio (for example, on BBC Woman’s Hour). She also highly recommends this way of working in her 2019 book ‘How to AgeJoyfully: Eight Steps to a Happier, Fuller Life’ which has been endorsed by health and ageing experts – and Dame Judi Dench! 

Maggy is also an Independent Member of the Public Service Honours Committee, Vice Chair of the charity Open Age, a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple Inn of Court and Trustee and member of Sage Dance Company. 

Susan Vinnicombe

Susan’s research interests focus on the lack of women in leadership and specifically on corporate boards, women’s leadership behaviours and the issues involved in women developing their executive careers. Susan was Founder Director of the Cranfield International Centre for Women Leaders from 1999 to 2016 and the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Endowed Chair in Women’s Leadership at Simmons College, Boston, USA from 2013-2016. She and her co-authors produce the annual Female FTSE Board Report, which she launched in 1999 and is regarded as the premier research resource on women directors in the UK and is renowned globally. She has written ten books and over one hundred articles, reports and conference papers. Her latest book “Handbook of Research on Promoting Women’s Careers” (Eds. S Vinnicombe, R.J. Burke, S. Blake-Beard and L.L. Moore) was published by Edward Elgar in 2013.  

Susan receives regular recognition worldwide and was honoured in 2016 by the International Women’s Forum in Washington as a woman who has “Made a Difference” in the world and become a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management in the UK. Susan was also named in the HR Magazine Most Influential Thinkers, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Susan has been presented with the Richard Whipp Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Academy of Management. She was a member of The Lord Davies Steering Committee on Women on Boards between 2010 and 2015 and is on the Advisory Board of the Sir Philip Hampton/Dame Helen Alexander Review on the lack of women in the executive pipeline and that of Sir John Parker’s Review of the lack of ethnicity on FTSE 100 boards.  

Susan was awarded an OBE for her Services to Diversity in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2005 and subsequently awarded a CBE for her Services to Gender Equality in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2014