My passion and purpose
My passion and purpose for working on ‘all things economic abuse’ came from conversations with victim-survivors. I heard how economic control took away their freedom and stopped them from achieving their full potential.
I discovered that there were no practice responses to economic abuse - it wasn't even named in policy. So, in 2008, I undertook the first piece of research on economic abuse in the UK to understand the issue better.
I've continued to undertake research on economic abuse both nationally and internationally. Since 2016 I have been analysing successful prosecutions of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence and in 2022 I published my first book: Understanding and Responding to Economic Abuse.
In 2016 I was appointed a Churchill Fellow, travelling to Australia and the US to learn about best practice approaches to economic abuse. Having seen what could be done, I was determined that women in the UK should have access to the same.
Inspired by this international learning, I founded the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) in the UK which I led as CEO between January 2017 and May 2024. During this time, I pioneered innovative practice, policy, regulatory and legislative approaches to economic abuse. A summary of my achievements can be found here and I feature as a 'Portrait of a Social Entrepreneur' in the award-winning book How To Change The World by Jo Owen.
Taking my mission global
In June 2024 I scaled up my mission to stop economic abuse through building a global movement.
I am co-founder of the International Alliance Against Economic Abuse (ICAEA) and act as an Expert Advisor to the Empower Finance Initiative led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is housed at the World Bank.
Recognition
I was awarded an OBE for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours.
I won the Third Sector Award for Rising Chief Executive in 2020, and was named Charity Times Awards ‘Rising Leader of the Year‘ in 2021.
I was named winner of the 'Financial Safety' category of the 2025 Refuge Tech Safety Awards.
The Haven Wolverhampton recognised me as a Trailblazer for Gender Equality on International Women's Day 2025.
In 2025 I was appointed to the Domestic Homicide Review Quality Assurance Board by the Home Office.