Herstory

I never knew what I wanted to be.. School had told me what I couldn’t do, my Mum and Dad wanted me to choose… so I did.. not really with much forethought or planning.

What I did know was I wanted to be successful and somehow make a difference.

Through my own experiences, professional and personal, I became more and more committed to learning and development. In particular supporting others who didn’t think they could or should progress.

Not everything I’ve tried has been a success, although almost everything has made a difference to me and to others.

These have made me who I am and how I work. Here you will be able to review some of the more recent projects I’ve completed.

They’ll tell you about me and why I do what I do. Please get in touch if you’d like to talk to me further.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Changing Organisations

  • Progressing Diversity and Inclusion for Horton International – Ruth facilitated an online strategy development session for the board directors of Horton International
  • Changing how we think in organisations – Ruth provided workshops on Leadership and Culture to participants in the entrepreneur accelerator programme supported by The Collective and in the WE in Social Tech the NWES accelerator programme for Women
  • Generational differences and building trust – Ruth published an article with her reflections on an event run by the Young Women’s Trust
  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office – In association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Women’s Association, Ruth hosted a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Dangerous Women: Risk in Leadership
Women for the Board

Women in Leadership

  • Covance – Ruth ran global online workshops for staff in Navigating Organisational Politics and You are not an Imposter
  • We in Social Tech Mentoring Female Entrepreneurs – Ruth supported women in developing and progressing their business propositions into viable enterprises
  • Women in Banking and Finance – Ruth presented a workshop for Women in Banking and Finance in March 2019
  • Barclays Female Talent Network – Ruth facilitated several workshops around the country for Barclays Female Talent Network to support their career development progress
  • Women for the Board –  Developed by women for women, this innovative programme was designed for women planning to apply for board-level positions
  • Interview with the Financial Times – Prior to the launch of the Women for the Board programme Ruth developed for Westminster Business School, she was interviewed by the Financial Times.
  • WomenUP! Ruth was interviewed about the impact of the Hampton Alexander Report 2018
  • Becoming a great Chair and Board member – Ruth ran a workshop at the National Housing Federation on one key aspect of good governance that we tend to overlook: the importance of asking questions. Here is a summary of the session.
  • Women in Leadership – Ruth facilitated a four-day Northern Women in Leadership Programme and a one-day conference in July 2019 in collaboration with Northumbria Business School
  • Women in the City Awards – Ruth was a judge on the final selection of the Women in the City awards 2017

Leadership Development 

  • Raising Roofs – The programme ran from 2018 to 2020. Watch this video to hear the feedback of the programme participants
building-trust-in-organisations

Working with Influence 

  • Northern Power Women TwoZero programme for Scaling up Female Entrepreneurs –  Ruth coached all the participants for their funding pitches to investors
  • Developing Influencing Skills – Ruth ran a workshop for female staff at Majan College Oman
  • Institute of Directors North West – Ruth facilitated a national online workshop for members in Dealing with your Imposter
  • HBSC – Career Strategies – Working in Hong Kong with real-time video links to Malaysia and Singapore and also in London with links to New York. Ruth provided participative workshops  on developing career influencing strategies.
  • Asking questions in meetings – A presentation given to member of the National Housing Federation. A summary of the session is here: What stops you from asking questions at meetings?
  • Re-building Trust – Ruth published an article on how to have more purposeful conversations in order to re-build trust in the workplace
more-women-on-bords-book

Publications

  • Chartered Management Institute – Ruth is a judge on the CMI management book of the year in the Practical Manager Category. She is currently reviewing the shortlisted books for the Book of the Year 2021
  • More Women on Boards: An International Perspective – Ruth was a contributor to the book which is a volume in the series: Women and Leadership.  Ruth co-authored the Chapter: Analysis of the Perceived Role and Value of Women’s Support Networks in Helping Women Gain a Board Position, with Fatima Maatwk.
  • CMI A Blueprint for Balance Report 2018 – Ruth was a member of the academic advisory board for the CMI A Blueprint for Balance Report 2018 which highlights some best practice for gender balance and suggestions for ways to increase diversity and challenge second generation gender bias. Ruth worked with the team to refine the research focus and support the lead researcher in her work. Ruth contributed a section on leadership development and its role in supporting and developing diversity and gender equality. You can read Ruth’s comments on page 17 of the report.