Wendy Becker appointed Chair of Barnardo’s children’s charity

Wendy Becker is to be the new Chair of Barnardo’s Board of Trustees, the UK’s oldest and largest national children’s charity announced today.

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Wendy has had a long and distinguished career in international business and the charity sector.  She has served as Deputy Chair of Cancer Research UK, as a trustee of The Prince’s Trust and she is a Non-Executive Director of NHS England.

Her business leadership roles include Chief Executive of fashion house Jack Wills, Group Chief Marketing Officer on Vodafone’s Global Executive Committee and Managing Director of TalkTalk Residential.

She was a Partner at international management consulting firm McKinsey & Co for 15 years, based in San Francisco and London.

Wendy has an international reputation as a transformational leader. She has featured in the Financial Times list of the Top 50 Women to Watch in International Business, and was this year a finalist in the 2018  Sunday Times Non-Executive Director of the Year (Not for Profit\Public Sector).  

She will take over in May as Chair of the Barnardo’s Board of Trustees from Tony Cohen, who is retiring after over six years on the Board, more than four of them as Chair.  

Following a rigorous recruitment process, Deputy Chair John Bartlett said today that Barnardo’s trustees were very excited by Wendy Becker’s appointment.

He said:

Wendy is passionate about helping vulnerable children and this combined with her great business experience, professional track record and powerful network made Wendy the outstanding candidate from an extremely strong field.

Trustees are very grateful to our outgoing Chair Tony Cohen for the impact he has made during his time at Barnardo’s. He is a tough act to follow, but Wendy is perfectly equipped to pick up that baton and take Barnardo’s forward, building on Tony’s legacy.

Commenting on her appointment today, Wendy Becker said:

Barnardo’s does amazing work to restore hope and give expert support to vulnerable children, young people and their families often facing the most appalling challenges.

It is a huge privilege and responsibility to lead Barnardo’s Board of Trustees at such a critical time, when the challenges children face are becoming tougher and more complex, and charities need to work much harder and smarter to raise funds and increase their impact.

I am looking forward to visiting Barnardo’s services and meeting staff and volunteers to see first-hand some of the excellent work being done.

Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan today welcomed Wendy Becker’s appointment. He said:

We are really looking forward to working closely with Wendy, and drawing on her immense wealth of experience and advice. Wendy shares the huge ambitions set out in our Corporate Strategy to help even more vulnerable children and young people in coming years, and to transform the way we work where it can improve our impact.

Tony Cohen has been a superb Chair and has helped the charity go from strength to strength under his watch. Wendy’s business acumen, strategic approach and focus on delivering impact will be invaluable in continuing this work and supporting me and my leadership team

Links

http://www.barnardos.org.uk/

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