20 Mar 2026
To mark International Women’s Day, on 4 March 2026 Agenda Alliance headed to No.10 Downing Street, bringing together 19 of the most inspiring and innovative leaders from organisations in our membership with the Public Appointments team and the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), Jess Phillips MP.
The day marked a culmination of weeks of planning, with one mission in mind: to increase the number of women - particularly those who are champions of women and girls with unmet needs - in public roles.
What are public appointments?
Public appointments are roles that help oversee the delivery of vital public services. The exact nature of these roles can vary widely, from those that monitor the operations of local services - such as monitoring the operation of local prisons, to others that help provide independent advice and scrutiny for government departments - such as a non-Executive Director. More information about public appointments can be found here.
Despite their importance, public appointments do not currently reflect the diversity of talented individuals that make up our membership and that we partner with. At Agenda Alliance, we want public services to be shaped by those who are champions of women and girls with multiple unmet needs, and who bring both lived and learned expertise to decision-making.
The attendees
We were thrilled to bring 19 of our members and allies from across the country to the No.10 Downing Street event. Attendees, whose work focuses on issues including health and wellbeing, criminal justice, and domestic abuse, came from all corners of the country - from as close to No.10 Downing Street as South London, to as far away as Sunderland, and we were so glad to be able to represent the diversity of our membership in their location, area of focus, and breadth of experience.
‘Being in the corridors of power as a group of Northern women felt special and empowering for all of us – we would like to build on that. Moving into publicly appointed roles, it would be great to have support for this through a network – strengthening our confidence as we move through this process together.’
The discussions
In discussions with both the Minister and the Public Appointments team, attendees discussed the role of the government’s departmental boards, and how to improve access to public-facing roles. In particular, members discussed the importance of having impact over achieving status, both the challenges and benefits of taking on a public role when you have lived experience of being let down by the systems and services you’re trying to shape, and the particular need to drive forward greater representation of racially minoritised women within public appointments.
‘I’ve sat on lots of meaningless boards and I get increasingly frustrated when we’re talking about the same issues three years later. To go to something, you have to feel it’s worth it – how do you convince people it has a point, relevance, purpose...? And how can you ensure there is influence, and impact?’
‘I have lived experience, but I also have professional competency – that has to be part of it – and that’s a protective factor for women in those roles.’
‘I support women and I advocate for them, but I will still be asked if I’m a professional, just because people know I have lived experience... Women need support and confidence-building to reassure them that they are the right person to be in the room.’
In particular, the lack of accessibility to public appointments was addressed, with a call to mandate change to increase diversity amongst board members.
‘Public appointments have been gatekept for some time, so it is encouraging people are aware there is a problem. Is there some form of mandate to measure what has been done and to diversify outreach? We know that reform and cultural change takes time – how do we push on the existing structures?’
Yasmeen Sebbana, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister and key to the organisation of the event, said:
'It was fantastic to welcome Agenda Alliance to Downing Street in the lead up to International Women’s Day with Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.
Our conversation focused on the barriers that women can face when considering these roles and how we can work together to overcome them. Hearing honest reflections from the women in the room was invaluable in helping us understand what more needs to be done to ensure public appointments are accessible and representative.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and shared their insights.'
Next steps
Now that the connection between our members and the No.10 Public Appointments team has been made, we want to see impact: greater representation of women who champion the cause of uplifting marginalised women and girls in public-facing roles, resulting in sustainable systems change from within.
We are looking forward to continuing to open up these kinds of opportunities to our membership, and hope to see more familiar faces overseeing national and local institutions across the country soon.