Meet our Team

Chief Executive

Hannah joined Elect Her on a very part time basis in 2017 whilst grappling full time parenting. As her babies grew, so did her hours with the organisation and in July 2020 she took over the role of Chief Executive from founder Lee Chalmers.

Hannah has over 15 years experience working as a senior manager within the third sector with particular experience in supporting the set up and growth of charitable organisations. She spent more than a decade working in Cambodia within the disability and arts sector to develop the capacity of local organisation leaders. Hannah has sat on the board of several international organisations and is a strong advocate for diversity in public life.

Programme Manager

Katie has spent five years supporting women to stand for election. She joined our team following her work with Activate, which she grew from an idea into an organisation, providing grants to low income and underrepresented women to get politically active.

Before that, Katie spent over a decade campaigning for social justice, working extensively on UK poverty, mobilising parents to campaign on childcare policy with Save the Children, and advocating for asylum seekers rights on housing services with Asylum Matters. Katie served on the board of directors for Amnesty International UK for 6 years and was a UK NGO delegate to the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Director of Communications

Annabel is a communications and campaigning specialist with a focus on strategic advisory and training, helping broad ranging clients land their messaging and media goals. She has delivered award-winning data-led campaigns and many years' experience running political campaigns, as well as having co-founded politically-oriented organisations Stand for Something and Advance Together.

Annabel has a psychology background with clinical and academic experience of the criminal justice system. She worked in the NHS to rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders with severe mental illness, and as a Met police officer. Annabel has recently completed her ESRC Funded PhD at UCL.

Community Engagement Manager

Rosie joined our team in 2022 to support women in Scotland accessing our work, including organising our 2023 Scotland’s Women Gather Parliament event. Rosie developed experience supporting local communities through activism and campaigning whilst a student at the Glasgow School of Art and through working in local non-profits in Glasgow, where she focused on developing and supporting local LGBTQIA+ communities and groups of women.

Outside of Rosie’s work at Elect Her, she is a visual artist. Rosie is interested in addressing socio-political change on a personal and societal level and finds inspiration from her work at Elect Her in her creative practice.

Project Officer

Through studying History and Politics, Kirsty developed a strong interest in the history of social movements, specialising her research on social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, with a particular focus on the intersections between the women’s rights movements and the gay rights movement.

Kirsty has also curated electronic club nights across Glasgow that aim to be inclusive and safe spaces, offering a lineup of diverse and all-female local talent. Through her work in this sector and her studies, Kirsty developed an understanding of the inequalities women face and has become extremely passionate about advocating for women’s inclusion in spaces.

Ruth is a lecturer in human rights at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York. In that role she supports students to think politically about human rights, and works with artists and activists to explore how feminist and human rights activism is framed and how it might be reimagined.

She is also Chair of the Electoral Reform Society, an organisation that works to champion the rights of voters and build a better democracy in the UK. She is Irish, living in the UK since 2011, and passionate about seeing more women involved in politics in both countries and beyond.

Lee founded Elect Her in 2014 and has worked on gender equality for 20 years. She has started a women's network, made a film about the future for women and has been on the boards of The Fawcett Society and Engender Scotland. She has an MSc in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics.

Lee has been active in politics herself, having stood for election to the Scottish Parliament in 2016. She now spends her time focused on leadership through London Business School, Center for Creative Leadership and her programmes for midlife women - Midlife Revolution. She lives in Edinburgh with her whippet Stella.

Vicky is the CEO of Inspiring Girls International, a charity which raises the aspirations of young girls around the world by connecting them with female role models. Prior to this role, she spent over a decade working within political parties and organisations, with particular focus on supporting women candidates. Vicky has a Masters in Gender Studies, and has recently completed a coaching qualification in order to expand her work with individual women and girls. She has been involved with Elect Her from the very beginning of the organisation, and has loved seeing it develop and grow over the years! Vicky lives in Sussex with her husband and three children.

Giulia has led teams in prestigious philanthropic enterprises, playing a pivotal role in the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women growing it from a small start-up into a global brand. She has developed diversity and inclusion programmes, training and mentoring of women entrepreneurs in developing countries. Since 2016, she has been the Chair of the Board of Value for Women and is also on the Board of Inspiring Girls. Throughout, Giulia has worked to develop strategy and overall growth plans and forge strong partnerships with diverse stakeholders. She has built global, high profile and cross-sector partnerships focused on women’s empowerment and leadership, entrepreneurship and ESG.

Patricia is a facilitator and coach with her own consultancy and has been a facilitator at Elect Her for a number of years. She has worked with a broad range of clients including global corporations, SMEs and start-ups. She coaches individuals on influencing and public speaking. She advocates for gender balance in politics and the workplace, having worked and volunteered extensively to support women on their political journey. Her book, She Said!, explores the challenges women face to be fully heard, and the approaches and skills to overcome this. She has been a political candidate and understands the processes and the pressures involved.