Tanya Joseph Appointed Chair

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Tanya Joseph as Chair of our Board of Trustees. Having served as a trustee on our Board for over three and a half years, and with an impressive track record in communications and activism, Tanya will build on our 15 years of success as we scale our reach and impact.

Tanya assumed the role of Chair on 1 January 2024, taking over from Dr. Mathias Terheggen, whose impactful four-year term as Chair has ended and who remains on our Board as a valued trustee. Her role will encompass ensuring effective governance for the Foundation, implementing our strategy, and convening our Board and committees. Tanya brings a wealth of experience, having worked for the private, public, and NGO sectors across disciplines including public and corporate affairs, issues and crisis management, and behaviour change campaigning.

Tanya said: “I am honoured to have accepted the role of Chair of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. I am stepping into the shoes of Dr Mathias Terheggen who has steered the organisation over the past years. Under his leadership the Foundation has persisted as an important anchor of support for women entrepreneurs through the COVID- 19 pandemic, successfully closed its visionary 100,000 Women Campaign and launched on the basis of its achievements an ambitious new strategy – which I am now committed to driving to success. I am delighted Mathias will remain on the Board and part of the team.  As I work with the Foundation to achieve the goals set out in the new strategy through my tenure,  I know well the important and impactful role that the Foundation occupies as a supporter of women entrepreneurs, a sector convenor, a hub of knowledge and expertise, and a catalyst for women’s economic justice. It is my firm belief that the Foundation will only continue on its fantastic upward trajectory, supporting many thousands more women around the world. I look forward to guiding its vital work.”

Tanya Joseph’s appointment comes at an exciting time, following the 2023 launch of our pioneering new organisational strategy, ‘Ready for Business’, and the appointment of accomplished charity leader Dhivya O’Connor as our new CEO. This leadership and strategy will see the Foundation significantly scale up our work to revolutionise business opportunities for one million more women entrepreneurs in low and middle income countries by 2030—the end point of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—and rapidly accelerate progress for women across the world.

About Tanya Joseph

Tanya Joseph is a communications expert who has worked at the highest levels of the public, private and NGO sectors supporting them across communications disciplines including public and corporate affairs, reputation management, and behaviour change campaigning. She was the architect of the award-winning This Girl Can campaign which in its first years inspired 2.8 million women and girls to get active.

The daughter of South African political activists who played a key role in the fight against Apartheid, she has from an early age been committed to tackling social injustice. Tanya is a graduate of the London School of Economics and has an MA from the University of London. A South African by birth and a Londoner in her soul, she has lived and worked in Paris, Pakistan and Hong Kong.

Tanya also sits on the board of the Thompson Foundation which supports journalists and journalistic integrity across the world; the London Philharmonic Orchestra; and London Sport which is working to make London the most active city in the world.