Our Trustees
Our Trustees have responsibility for strategy, quality, compliance, governance and oversight of management. They make sure we comply with legislation and all relevant regulations, as well as being our advocates and ambassadors.
We recruit trustees through an open application process. Our aim is for the Board to:
- be diverse and gender-balanced
- reflect the professional skills and lived experience we need to operate effectively and sustainably.
We actively encourage people with a passion for supporting and advocating for working parents and carers, especially those who are disadvantaged. Lived experiences of these issues is an advantage.
Interested in joining our board of trustees? Find out more in the information pack, and apply using the application form.
Please submit your application form to recruitment@workingfamilies.org.uk before 9am on Thursday 1 May 2025. We will offer interviews, via Teams, from the week commencing Monday 12 May. We will agree the date of your appointment with you if you are successful in your application.
Helen Humphreys – ChairHelen is an experienced strategic change communication director with extensive leadership experience in culture and behaviour change. She has advised and supported many large, global organisations with their employee communication and engagement as they go through significant change.
Helen has been a strong advocate for ensuring the employee voice is heard – and listened to – especially at times of uncertainty and change. To help with this, Helen provides mentor support and advice to senior business and communication leaders and teams to help them engage their employees during periods of transformation and change.
Outside of her work environment, Helen has been active in the voluntary and charitable sector for many years. Helen spent seven years as a community governor in a local primary school, after which she joined the board of Drinkaware, and served six years as a trustee.
Helen’s experience improving employee communication and engagement, has given her a good understanding of the issues faced in the workplace as employees try to balance their home and work commitments. She has seen the value of the services provided by Working Families – to businesses and to individuals.
Rebecca McGowan – TreasurerBecky is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and has 20 years’ experience advising pension scheme trustees. She is a Partner at Aon, where as well as working with clients she has a number of internal leadership roles and people management responsibilities. Her clients include a number of large companies as well as a charity giving her a broad experience of different types of organisations. Becky has Chaired the Board of Governors of a local secondary school for six years through a desire to be more active in her local community. She has two primary school aged children and is very aware of the challenges that come with working motherhood.
Clare is Director of External Affairs at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, responsible for the charity’s information and support services, marketing, communications, policy and public affairs activity. She was previously Director of External Affairs at RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and before that worked at organisations including Mind, The National Autistic Society and Which?. Clare has worked four days a week for the last ten years and is a strong advocate of the benefits of flexible working for individuals and organisations. Having spent a decade as a trustee for anti-poverty charity Toynbee Hall, she was delighted to have join the Working Families Board in 2019.
Paul CoulsonPaul is a pragmatic and achievement-oriented employment solicitor and ER leader. He has significant legal, employee relations, commercial and leadership experience in both private practice and industry with a passion for fairness and equality. Paul is also passionate about helping everyone identify and reach their full potential and he provides formal mentoring through various organisations.
Paul has three children, all of whom are still in formal education, and fully understands the challenges of being a working parent.
Prajakta works at Adobe UK where she manages the pre sales team for Adobe’s content & work management business. Praj has worked in MarTech and Digital Marketing for over 12 years and has supported several organisations on their digital transformation journeys, especially focussing on data and insights. Praj is an advocate for establishing a culture of trust & transparency within her teams and organisations which enables people to do their best and make an impact.
Praj has always been involved in the charity sector from being part of “Leo club” in her teenage years to more recently organising several volunteering events at Adobe. Praj is part of a tri-lingual, multi-cultural, trans-continental family. She and her husband live in London and have 2 sons, affording her first hand experience of what it means to be a working family and what is needed for working families to thrive!
Michael is currently a Director of Cloud Engineering at S&P Global and has 24 years of experience working within Technology across various vertical industry sectors. Often tasked with improving the technology landscape, driving cloud adoption and digital transformation efforts. Passionate about people development and an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace and society at large.
Michael has two adult children, and two younger children in primary education. He is intimately familiar with the challenges of balancing work responsibilities with the flexibility required to remain an active father across blended families, while also having a perspective on managing work-life balance at various career stages. Additionally, Michael also acted as the primary carer to his elderly mother post being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Neha Kulkarni
Neha is a Partner at Deloitte and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. During her professional career that spans 18 years across Mumbai and London, alongside her fee-earning work, Neha has held several internal leadership roles in the areas of finance and operations, people management, business development and diversity and inclusion. Neha is passionate about facilitating equal opportunity for success for women, people of minority backgrounds, those with caring responsibilities and health conditions and other under-represented groups and champions this through her professional and personal lives and volunteer roles.
Having started a sports and toy company as a result of being made redundant during the 2009 recession, David was fortunate to exit and license out his brand in 2016. Since then, David has spent much time helping to grow start-ups ranging from the FinTech space as a commercial director to food companies, FMCG companies and education tech businesses.
In his spare time, David enjoys an early round of golf normally followed by a nice lunch and read of the paper. He loves to swim, cycle and play tennis and squash, as well as the odd game of cricket (weather permitting).
Steven ToftSteven is a business writer and consultant with twenty-five years experience of managing change in organisations. Before starting his own business he worked in the OD consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers and in HR roles for NatWest, British Gas and RAC Motoring Services. He has worked with organisations throughout Europe and the Middle-East in private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Steven writes on employment and the future of work both publicly and for clients. He has written for the Guardian, the New Statesman and Prospect and featured on People Management’s list of the Top 20 social media influencers.
Charlotte has extensive experience steering complex, regulated organisations through transformational change. A leader in operations leadership, strategic planning, and change management, she is known for her innovative approach and ability to inspire diverse teams and foster inclusive cultures through her effective communication skills.
As a trustee for Working Families, Charlotte brings her expertise in governance, strategic development, and community engagement to support the charity’s mission of promoting work-life balance and helping working parents and carers achieve their goals.
In addition to her professional achievements, Charlotte is a dedicated mother with a young family. She understands firsthand the challenges faced by working parents and is deeply committed to advocating for practices that create a supportive and balanced environment for families.
Gordon Whyte
Gordon is CEO of BIE, an executive recruitment firm, having played a crucial part in its growth and success over the past decade.
Gordon is passionate about leading a team at BIE wedded to their values of collaboration, providing a high touch agile service within a supportive work environment. He plays a key role in driving BIE’s social purpose, linking their community impact through supporting charities dedicated to improving the lives and social mobility for ‘care experienced’ young adults looking to start and develop their careers.
Born in Scotland, Gordon has lived in both the UK and Asia Pacific. Gordon now lives in Hackney with his husband Colin and their terrier Frank and enjoys spending time between home in London and their friends & family in Glasgow.