The Fawcett Society is governed by a Board of Trustees, who take ultimate responsibility for the work of the organisation. The majority of our Trustees are elected by and from our membership and others are co-opted where specific skills and expertise are needed to assure sound governance. Our members are responsible for electing the Board of Trustees. The Board leads the charity on behalf of members.

Harriet Harman | Chair

Ayesha Hazarika

Ayesha Hazarika MBE was a special adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband from 2007 to 2015. While in government, she specialised in women’s issues and helped draft the landmark Equality Act 2010. She is now a much sought-after political commentator and broadcaster.

She is a columnist for the London Evening Standard and writes for many other national publications. She frequently appears on television and radio including the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Newsnight, Sky News, Good Morning Britain, LBC and CNN where she’s a regular pundit on domestic and international affairs.

Her first book ‘Punch and Judy Politics’ – a history and insider’s guide to the art of Prime Minister’s Questions –
was published in May. Ayesha is also an award-winning stand-up comedian and has just performed her latest show “Girl on Girl – the Fight for Feminism” at the Edinburgh festival and is currently performing a national tour. (Photo by Steve Ullathorne)

Resham Kotecha

Resham stood as a candidate in the 2015 General Election, and was the Conservative party’s youngest BME candidate and the youngest mainstream candidate in London. She was a candidate for a target seat in the 2017 general election (Coventry North West), achieving the party’s highest vote share since 1979.

Resham serves as the Head of Engagement for Women2Win. She is the founder of the Conservative Policy Network and runs her own public speaking training agency, Podium Perfect. Resham currently works as the Director of Strategy and Education at the UK Anti-Doping Agency. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cambridge University and has also been recognised as one the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers. She speaks at Schools and Universities around the country as part of her outreach role to try and encourage young people, particularly women, to get involved in politics. Resham has spoken at events such as ‘Feminism in London’ and has written for publications such as The Times and Huffington Post.

Zahra Latif 

Throughout her career Zahra has sought to have positive social impact and challenge social divisions and injustice. She currently works in the Prime Minister's Implementation Unit advising on serious violence. Prior to that she worked in the Prime Minister's Policy Unit where alongside her work she set up a mentoring scheme for women in No 10. She has previously worked in the Cabinet Office's Open Innovation team and the Office for Civil Society's Youth Policy team leading on innovative approaches to policy making which bring in citizens' and academics' views to shape policy development.

Zahra's career has also spanned working on community cohesion, interfaith and creating opportunities for young people from under-represented backgrounds to participate in politics through the Patchwork Foundation, National Union of Students and the Lokahi Foundation. She holds a Master's in Public Policy from the University of Oxford where she was a Blavatnik scholar. She was selected to speak at TEDxOxbridge, her subject was the power of listening.

Tracey Fletcher

Tracey is inspired by the work of the Fawcett Society and its values which resonate with her own passions and values around equality for women and girls, and particularly for women and girls of Black and other minority ethnic backgrounds who experience additional barriers and prejudice. This is reflected through her extensive professional experience at a senior level in the voluntary and community sector e.g. leading a Black women (and families) organisation, young people’s mentoring charity, developing Asian women’s services and activities and enabling the provision of accommodation for young women at an East London YMCA.  

Tracey appreciates that policy change is critical in supporting wider systems change; this is at the heart of the Fawcett Society’s work that she is keen to support using her learned and lived experiences as a leader and trustee of both local and national organisations and as a Black woman who has navigated challenges to realise her own potential. 

Naushabah Khan

As a passionate intersectional feminist and longstanding member of the Fawcett Society, Naushabah has played a dedicated role in the fight for gender equality for over a decade, and recognises the importance of robust and powerful voices to champion equality.  

Building stakeholder relationships, developing strategic leadership and providing oversight and scrutiny are skills she has  developed through a career in politics, public affairs and communications. As an elected Councillor, she has continued to promote equality between men and women, leading local campaigns on equal pay and state pension age inequality. She has also used her platform to promote and encourage women into politics. In January 2021, she set-up a local Fawcett branch, which in a short period has gone from strength to strength; growing its membership to over a hundred. 

Victoria Jones

Victoria studied law with politics at university, before joining the information team at Gingerbread, where she was introduced to trade unions as a local representative. She then worked with Unison, supporting low paid migrant workers, and is now a National Officer for the FDA, representing senior managers and professionals across the Civil Service. She has experience of running effective campaigns, growing membership and working to improve the day to day lives of individuals. As a proud member of the Fawcett Society and I have ensured the trade union I work for is also affiliated and supports the work Fawcett does.

Gender pay gap, pregnancy discrimination, harmful gender stereotyping, unequal representation in politics and the uneven burden of unpaid work are just some of the unacceptable issues that reiterate that we still don’t have gender equality. Victoria wants to support Fawcett to continue to shout until we get there.