Frances Longley, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)

Frances has over 25 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, starting in arts and culture and moving into international development in 2010. She was ActionAid UK’s first female CEO in its 50-year history. Prior to that she worked with CARE International UK as Executive Director for Programmes & Policy, following four years as Chief Executive of Amref Health Africa UK, senior roles with Unicef UK and Chief Executive of Midlands Arts Centre (mac) in Birmingham. She has worked in the UK, Eswatini and Afghanistan.

Frances was appointed as chair of the UK NGO sector working group for Leadership and Culture for Safeguarding in 2018, leading the development of internationally accepted safeguarding standards and tools. She regularly writes and speaks on the role of leadership and culture, and has provided consultancy and mentorship to organisations and individual leaders. 

Frances is a board member at the Joffe Charitable Trust, a member of the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee and sits on the University of Oxford Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Committee. She has a Masters degree in Development Studies from SOAS.