Dr Ruth Gilligan is Assistant Director for UK Equality Charters at Advance HE. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of the Athena Swan Charter for gender equality and the Race Equality Charter which operate in the UK and internationally.
These impactful equality frameworks help organisations to identify and address their equality issues, with progress recognised with highly-esteemed Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. During her time working with the Equality Charters, she has been responsible for introducing the Athena Swan Charter to the Republic of Ireland, which was the first international expansion of the Charter, for the expansion of the Charter to all academic disciplines and professional areas, and for the recent reviews and development of both UK Charters.
Ruth’s academic background is in organic chemistry, and after completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she worked at Science Foundation Ireland, the largest funder of competitive research in Ireland in the Policy and Pre-Award Divisions. Drawing on her background in research and professional expertise, Ruth acts as an equality, diversity and inclusion adviser nationally and internationally, and as a trustee for a number of charities.