Circle Ambassadors

Portrait of Rahela Sadiqi

Rahela Sadiqi

Rahela Sidiqi is the Founding Director of Rahela Trust, one of our incredible partners. She is the former Senior Advisor of Afghanistan’s Civil Service Commission and Senior Social Development Advisor of UN-Habitat Afghanistan. Since 1993, she has worked as a women’s rights activist at the grassroots and policy levels in Afghanistan.

Portrait of Annie Lennox 

Annie Lennox 

Award winning singer-songwriter and Circle Founder, Annie Lennox is a tireless activist and campaigner for human rights and social justice. She founded The Circle to give women and allies opportunities to come together to fight for a fairer world for women & girls.

Portrait of Kalpona Akter

Kalpona Akter

Labour activist from Bangladesh Kalpona is a powerful union organiser for garment workers. She experienced poverty pay and abuse as a garment worker from the age of 12. This experience compelled her to fight for the rights of her fellow workers.

Portrait of Livia Firth

Livia Firth

Livia Firth is co-founder and Creative Director of Eco-Age, a leading consulting and creative agency which specialises in sustainability, and she is the founder of the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC). She is leading The Circle’s Living Wage campaign.

Portrait of Melanie Hall

Melanie Hall

Founding member of The Circle and Chair of The Lawyers Circle. Melanie Hall is a highly respected QC and advocate for women’s rights. Melanie has been an acknowledged leader in the field of VAT for many years. She is a tenacious and well-respected advocate, who is respected for her ability to communicate complex points of law to both clients and courts with simplicity and clarity.

Portrait of Lucy Siegle 

Lucy Siegle 

Lucy Siegle is a writer, broadcaster and public speaker on environmental issues and sustainability. Lucy has been pivotal in driving The Circle’s Living Wage campaign and supporting our communications.

Portrait of Gwendoline Christie 

Gwendoline Christie 

Gwendoline Christie, British actress, supports The Circle through private philanthropy, auction prizes and events. She is described by Stylist Magazine as one of “the most amazing, progressive, female character[s] on television”.

Portrait of Antonella Antonelli 

Antonella Antonelli 

Former Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire and Elle in Italy, Antonella founded The Circle Italia. “In The Circle we are moved, we are outraged and we strive to be a part of change, following the example of a fantastic woman: Annie Lennox”.

global feminist leaders

Inspiring women from around the world leading our partner project organisations and driving change.

Portrait of Padmini Weerasuriy

Padmini Weerasuriy

Padmini Weerasuriya is the Director of the Women’s Centre Sri Lanka. She galvanises and empowers hundreds of women worker activists and girls to fight for their rights. She holds the position of Member Feminist Law and Practice (FLP) programme (APWLD) Coordinator of Mothers and Daughters of lanka (which is a 30 women Organization), Director Women’s Political academy, Coordinator Gampaha district civil society platform.

Portrait of Mukyala Zaituna

Mukyala Zaituna

“Empowering one woman means that you have empowered the rest of her girl children, hence empowering the world.”

Mukyala runs Women in Leadership, a grassroots women’s education and empowerment organisations which brings justice to women in Uganda facing violence and abuse. She works to improve women’s and girls’ health & access to gender based violence support and mental health services.

Portrait of Nozuko Conjwa

Nozuko Conjwa

“We live in a world where people have normalised violence against women. Neighbours will hear screaming, and they don’t do anything. But violence against women should not be normal. We need to change our mindset and continue to raise awareness; we must do it for the next generation.”

Nozuko runs the life-changing centre for women fleeing abuse, Nonceba in South Africa. She ensures all the women receive advice, counselling, peer to peer support, and a safe place to stay with their children.

Portrait of Sahdaish Pall

Sahdaish Pall

Sahdaish Pall set up Sikh Women’s Aid to support women from the Sikh and South Asian communities in the UK who are experiencing gender based violence. She volunteers her time as the Executive Director and she is a powerful campaigner advocating for the rights of those experiencing domestic violence and abuse. In a recent report from Sikh Women’s Aid that surveyed 674 women, they found that as many as 7 in 10 experienced abuse by a partner or relative. Only a third of victims had disclosed incidents to family and friends.