Meet the team

Women Working Worldwide has a small but experienced team of staff and Trustees with expertise in project management, organisational development, women’s enterprise, finance management, women’s rights, sustainability and communications. As well as knowledge of working in UK, Africa, China, India and Eastern Europe and experience of cooperatives, NGOs, governments and community groups, which all add value and richness to our portfolio.

We have a number of volunteers on placement with us at any one time, please see below if you are interested in joining us. We can also call on a range of experts who have a working association with Women Working Worldwide.

Staff and volunteers

Over the years, she has worked with and for national and local governments, businesses, social enterprises, statutory bodies and NGOs, so has an understanding and respect for the different perspectives, challenges and opportunities that these sectors face. She believes that collaboration and equity are the ways to achieve equality and lasting change.

Caroline Downey

Executive Director

Caroline joined Women Working Worldwide in July 2016. She is a passionate believer in women's rights and believes that gender equality is critical in achieving a sustainable world. She has worked in international development, ethical trade, sustainability and participatory learning in Africa, China, India, Eastern Europe and the UK.

Akanksha Saini

Alina Alpine

Alisa Smitnova

Alison Li Tianyu

Ayushi Shah

Ellie Holly

Erzhena Dashieva

Evie Gilbert

Grace Doyle

Hala Elamin

Hanna Peruala

Isis Barei-Guyot

Kaamilah Munshi

Katalin Szalai

Kate Davidson

Naima Shah

Nina Roberts

Sally Kenyon

Salma Ahmed

Jenny Wilson

And all the others who have volunteered over the years!

Thank you to our past volunteers

Emma Willder
Finance

Emma Willder, FCMA CGMA, CIS (Affiliated) is the director of Beyond Profit Ltd. Emma and Beyond Profit provide Women Working Worldwide with our finance management.

Louisa Winch
Volunteer

Louisa is a renewable energy engineer, working on solar PV development. She has been writing a blog series focused on gender and human rights within the energy industry, including research on what Just Transition should look like for women and the energy industry as we move from fossil fuels to renewables.

Exploring how we can empower women within the renewable energy supply chains, increase their employment opportunities and enable them to be included as key decision makers in energy policy.

Be our next student or volunteer

Would you like to take up a student or volunteer placement with Women Working Worldwide? We are always delighted to welcome people with the interest in a range of areas such as: gender, media, fundraising, workers rights, international development and general office admin.

At the moment our volunteering opportunities are managed mostly remotely. We can't offer payment and only an irregular office environment but we can offer regular 121 phone meetings, monthly zoom catch ups, and engagement in a worthwhile cause. When we are in the office we will also offer unlimited teas, coffee and biscuits!

Interested? Then email us with an A4 letter saying who you are and why you'd like to volunteer with us, attach your CV, and send to, contact@women-ww.org with VOLUNTEER in the subject heading. We look forward to hearing from you!

Trustees

WWW is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. We have a Board/Management Committee of seven Trustees, all of whom are also Directors of the company, and they have overall responsibility for the organisation. The Board has wide-ranging experience in Africa, Latin America, Asia – as researchers, activists, trainers, advisors, working in garment, horticulture and flower supply chains, as well as sustainability, international development and advisers to UK/European companies.

Current Trustees are:

Halima Ahmed

Halima is an an international development professional with a passion for driving social and environmental progress for the most vulnerable in society, through working with businesses, governments, industry stakeholders and civil society.

She has worked on projects focused on women's economic empowerment in West Africa, as well as with private sector businesses to address gender inequalities and women workers’ rights in their supply chains. She is currently based in Dubai, UAE, working on a number of consultancy projects including as Gender Advisor for the ETI.

Dr Linda Shaw

Linda has been involved with Women Working Worldwide since 1989 and is a researcher and educator. She has worked on gender and development issues in Africa, Asia and Latin America as a trainer, researcher and project manager.

Linda has written for a range of publications from academic articles to worker training manuals on gender and labour issues. She has also worked in co-operative development globally and is currently researching and writing on the histories of co-operatives.

Harriet Cole

Harriet has spent most of her career within ethical compliance, specifically in fresh produce and DIY supply chains.

She has experience living and working in Africa and supporting specific customer foundation women empowerment projects.. She is passionate about driving the 'beyond audit' mind set and being part of the wider solution.

Jane Blacklock

Jane is the Head of Environment Social Governance (ESG) for Passenger Clothing, an outdoor clothing brand based on the South Coast of England. She's been working in sustainability and ethical trade for over 17 years looking at working conditions in supply chains, responsible purchasing practices, marketing and sustainable raw materials. Before joining Passenger she has held in-house roles at B&Q, FatFace, SABMiller and Mothercare, as well as serving as a Non-Executive Director for the Ethical Trading Initiative for 6 years.

Could you be our next trustee?

We are looking for new trustees to join our board.

All trustees need to:

Attend Board meetings; trustees attend our 1.5-hour (approx) meetings via zoom every 6 weeks.
Attend annual strategy meetings; staff, volunteers and trustees meet in the WWW offices for a day or half-day once a year.
Contribute to the success of WWW by fundraising and building networks.

Full role description here

If this sounds like you and you would like to apply you can do so by emailing a CV (max 2 sides A4) and a cover letter to contact@women-ww.org.

Any questions regarding the role and organisation can also be directed to this email. THANK YOU!

Bev Hall
Associate

Bev Hall, originally with a corporate background from South Africa, has over 20 years’ experience in business and human rights, labour rights, international development and climate change through multi-stakeholder initiatives, business engagement, standard bodies, civil society, and the trade union movement.

Work has been undertaken in complex global supply chains, across multiple geographies and diverse industries and themes. Whether it be guidance writing, strategy development or training, Bev’s passion is to level the playing field and amplify the voices of those often excluded from our well-intentioned practices.

Benedicte Brahic
Adviser

Benedicte is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University . Before joining academia, she worked as a Research Officer for Women Working Worldwide.

The common thread across her work and research is women's struggles against unfair treatment and marginalisation —whether in global supply chains, migration regimes, or educational systems. Working with women, her research centers their experiences of structural barriers and their strategies for resistance, organizing, and navigating precarity.