Overview
Birthrights is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to protecting human rights in pregnancy and childbirth. As the organisation entered a pivotal moment in its evolution, the Board sought a Chief Executive who could provide authentic, values-led leadership while strengthening Birthrights’ influence, partnerships, and long-term sustainability. The priority was to secure a leader able to champion justice, compassion and systemic change within maternity care.
Charity People were retained to design and deliver an inclusive, values-driven search process that would reach a broad and diverse pool of candidates with both professional and lived experience aligned with Birthrights’ mission.
Our Approach
1. An EDI centred search framework
We worked closely with Birthrights to understand organisational culture, leadership needs and the systemic inequities present within maternity care. This informed a competency and values framework emphasising:
- Human rights expertise
- Authentic leadership and psychological safety
- Equity, diversity and inclusion
- Experience working with marginalised communities
- Strategic clarity and partnership development
Our outreach strategy was intentionally designed to widen representation, mitigate barriers to entry and reduce bias throughout the assessment process.
2. Targeted, values-informed candidate attraction
Over a four week campaign, we promoted the opportunity across a broad range of platforms and networks including ACEVO, Guardian Jobs, CharityJob, Pride in Leadership and the Charity People website. This advertising campaign resulted in 129 expressions of interest.
Alongside this, we conducted extensive proactive search using LinkedIn Recruiter, identifying and approaching a further 98 potential candidates across the charity, healthcare, legal, campaigning and advocacy sectors. Our targeted outreach drew on Birthrights’ commitment to equity and representation and included senior leaders with lived experience of racial inequity, disability and maternity trauma.
Through applications, referrals and proactive engagement, the campaign generated 63 formal applications, each of whom was invited to discuss their experience with Charity People.
3. Rigorous and equitable longlisting
Using the agreed brief and values-based selection criteria, we undertook a careful and equitable review of all 63 applications received for this role. This high level of interest demonstrated that the Birthrights CEO position was a well sought after and highly respected leadership opportunity, attracting senior candidates from across the charity, healthcare, legal and advocacy sectors.
Each application was assessed against the leadership behaviours, human rights focus and equity commitments central to Birthrights’ mission. This process ensured that only candidates with strong values alignment and the ability to lead authentically within a human rights context progressed to the final stages.
Following interviews and a robust assessment process, Birthrights appointed Hazel Williams as their new Chief Executive — a leader who reflects the organisation’s commitment to justice, compassion and systemic change in maternity care.
Results
The search succeeded in attracting a strong, diverse and mission-aligned pool of senior leaders. The final shortlist ensured that Birthrights progressed to interview with confidence, drawing from a rich pool of candidates capable of stewarding the organisation’s next phase.
Conclusion
This recruitment process demonstrated the impact of a purpose-driven, equity-led executive search. By prioritising representation, lived experience and human rights values from the outset, we were able to curate a candidate pool that not only met Birthrights’ technical requirements but also reflected the systemic change the organisation seeks to champion.
Charity People are proud to support Birthrights in securing leadership that truly embodies justice, compassion and the protection of rights in childbirth.
