Circle Ambassadors
Annie Lennox
Award winning singer-songwriter and Circle Founder, Annie Lennox is a tireless activist and campaigner for human rights and social justice. She founded The Circle to give women and allies opportunities to come together to fight for a fairer world for women & girls.
Kalpona Akter
Labour activist from Bangladesh Kalpona is a powerful union organiser for garment workers. She experienced poverty pay and abuse as a garment worker from the age of 12. This experience compelled her to fight for the rights of her fellow workers.
Livia Firth
Livia Firth is co-founder and Creative Director of Eco-Age, a leading consulting and creative agency which specialises in sustainability, and she is the founder of the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC). She is leading The Circle’s Living Wage campaign.
Melanie Hall
Founding member of The Circle and Chair of The Lawyers Circle. Melanie Hall is a highly respected QC and advocate for women’s rights. Melanie has been an acknowledged leader in the field of VAT for many years. She is a tenacious and well-respected advocate, who is respected for her ability to communicate complex points of law to both clients and courts with simplicity and clarity.
Lucy Siegle
Lucy Siegle is a writer, broadcaster and public speaker on environmental issues and sustainability. Lucy has been pivotal in driving The Circle’s Living Wage campaign and supporting our communications.
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Christie, British actress, supports The Circle through private philanthropy, auction prizes and events. She is described by Stylist Magazine as one of “the most amazing, progressive, female character[s] on television”.
Antonella Antonelli
Former Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire and Elle in Italy, Antonella founded The Circle Italia. “In The Circle we are moved, we are outraged and we strive to be a part of change, following the example of a fantastic woman: Annie Lennox”.
global feminist leaders
Inspiring women from around the world leading our partner project organisations and driving change.
Padmini Weerasuriya
Padmini Weerasuriya is the Director of the Women’s Centre Sri Lanka. She galvanises and empowers hundreds of women worker activists and girls to fight for their rights. She holds the position of Member Feminist Law and Practice (FLP) programme (APWLD) Coordinator of Mothers and Daughters of lanka (which is a 30 women Organization), Director Women’s Political academy, Coordinator Gampaha district civil society platform.
Mukyala Zaituna
Mukyala runs Women in Leadership, a grassroots women’s education and empowerment organisations which brings justice to women in Uganda facing violence and abuse. She works to improve women’s and girls’ health & access to gender based violence support and mental health services.
Nozuko Conjwa
Nozuko runs the life-changing centre for women fleeing abuse, Nonceba in South Africa. She ensures all the women receive advice, counselling, peer to peer support, and a safe place to stay with their children.
Sahdaish Pall
Sahdaish Pall set up Sikh Women’s Aid to support women from the Sikh and South Asian communities in the UK who are experiencing gender based violence. She volunteers her time as the Executive Director and she is a powerful campaigner advocating for the rights of those experiencing domestic violence and abuse. In a recent report from Sikh Women’s Aid that surveyed 674 women, they found that as many as 7 in 10 experienced abuse by a partner or relative. Only a third of victims had disclosed incidents to family and friends.
Rahela Sadiqi
Rahela Sidiqi is the Founding Director of Rahela Trust, one of our incredible partners. She is the former Senior Advisor of Afghanistan’s Civil Service Commission and Senior Social Development Advisor of UN-Habitat Afghanistan. Since 1993, she has worked as a women’s rights activist at the grassroots and policy levels in Afghanistan.
