Meet the Board
Our Board brings together leading voices from across the sector, united in shaping strategy, driving delivery, and ensuring meaningful, measurable change for women in financial services.
Chartered Financial Planner with 40+ years’ experience and founder of Hannay Wealth, an all-female financial planning firm. Vanessa brings established practitioner credibility and decades of lived industry experience to the WWA’s agenda of building greater female representation and female financial resilience. Exit Partner at Melo and a former financial advice firm owner. Having grown and sold a firm that her father founded 25 years ago, she now specialises in succession planning and acquisitions for financial advice businesses. She brings extensive experience across firm leadership, business coaching, recruitment, M&A, marketing and sales, strengthening the Women in Wealth Alliance’s focus on practical firm support and accelerating female career progression within the profession Head of Engagement at the Consumer Duty Alliance with 25+ years in financial services PR and communications. Emma coordinates WWA delivery, partnerships and external relations. FTSE100 leader with 20+ years driving business transformation, commercial growth and digital innovation across financial services and the nonprofit sector. Ranila brings extensive digital, strategic and change leadership experience to the WWA. CEO of the Consumer Duty Alliance and a recognised architect of professional standards in UK financial services. Keith provides senior stakeholder engagement and policy alignment for the WWA. Award winning Chartered Financial Planner and Director of Women’s Wealth, focused on making financial planning more appealing and accessible to women through tailored advice, education and community initiatives. Sam brings valuable female‑focused advice expertise and lived practitioner insight. Alison has led and developed compliance and risk functions across the UK’s largest institutions over the last 25 plus years. An ex-regulator, her deep experience in risk, compliance and governance strengthens the WWA’s focus on Consumer Duty professional standards and practical, businessled change. Financial planner and founding director of Real Wealth; former President of the Personal Finance Society (2018–2019) with 35+ years sector experience. Having held senior roles across partnerships, private companies and PLCs, he brings long-standing insight on financial planning, investment management and strategic leadership
Vanessa Barnes - Chair
Cherie-Anne Baxter-Blyth — Board Member
Emma Bull — Secretariat
Ranila Ravi-Burslem - Board Member
Keith Richards — Board Member
Samantha Secomb — Board Member
Alison Verlander — Board Member
John White — Board Member