Sue Rimmer OBE (chair)

Sue Rimmer is Chair of The Girls’ Network and Vice Chair of Council at St George’s University of London. She is also a fellow of the RSA. Until July 2017, Sue was Principal and CEO of South Thames College for over 16 years and has over 30 years experience in the further education and skills sector. Sue has advised on and shaped a wide range of educational and skills strategies and policy developments at local, regional and national levels. Throughout her career, Sue has demonstrated a passion for and strong commitment to pursuing equality, diversity and inclusion.

In addition to being CEO & Principal, Sue held a number of external positions including: Chair of the Association of Colleges (London Region), a Board member on the London Development Agency, Chair of London Capital Colleges; Chair of the Principal’s Professional Council; a trustee of the Helena Kennedy Foundation and a Commissioner for the All Parliamentary Group for Skills. Sue has a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Psychology and a postgraduate Certificate in Education. She was awarded the OBE in the 2011 New Year’s Honours list for services to Further Education.

Hannah Essex

Hannah Essex is Vice-Chair and Founding Trustee of The Girls' Network. She met Co-Founders Becca Dean and Charly Young while she was Director of Communications at Teach First. They told her about their idea for what became The Girls' Network - she was immediately hooked and has been involved ever since. A life-long feminist, Hannah is passionate about improving the life chances of the least advantaged young people and creating a more equal and inclusive society. 

Hannah is employed as Co-Chief Executive at the Society of London Theatre, a role she shares with her long term job share Claire Walker. Hannah and Claire joined the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre in September 2022. This is their third role together as a partnership. They are considered trailblazers in the concept of co-leadership, proving it can have significant benefits in terms of innovation, influence and relationships. Hannah and Claire were previously Co-Executive Directors of the British Chambers of Commerce between 2018-2022 working on behalf of their members on critical issues such as Brexit, Covid and workforce. They are regarded as two of the most effective, credible and tenacious influencers in Westminster and were both recently recognised as two of the Top 100 Women in Westminster by House Magazine in 2022.

Michelle Rodrigues

Michelle joined the Board of Trustees of The Girls’ Network in 2018. Having studied law at Cambridge University, she spent 11 years as a Corporate lawyer at City practice Taylor Wessing before moving to financial services firm Instinet Europe Limited, a Nomura company, where she currently serves as General Counsel. Her area of specialism is Corporate Governance and in 2020 she received an award for Excellence in Governance at the European Women in Finance Awards.

Michelle is passionate about The Girls’ Network’s mission to connect girls from the least advantaged communities to professional female mentors, having had personal experience of the positive impact of mentoring during her teenage years.

Lauren Mcllroy

Lauren joined the Board of Trustees in 2023 and is the Chair of our Finance & Risk Committee.