At the age of 34, Ruth Hunt became one of the youngest CEOs in the country. At 39, she became the youngest crossbench peer. Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green is now one of the directors of Deeds and Words, along with her partner Caroline Ellis, working with individuals, organisations, businesses, social movements and communities to help create a shared sense of purpose.
Ruth is also a member of the Steering Group for Change in the House of Lords, a Vice-Chair of the APPG for Global LGBT+ Equality, a Trustee of Engage Britain, and a member of the PCC at St Matthew’s Church in Bethnal Green. Ruth was introduced into the House of Lords in October 2019.
As CEO of Stonewall until 2019, Europe’s largest LGBT equality charity, Ruth purposefully reached deeper into communities, taking campaigns to more people while extending the organisation’s campaigning remit to include trans communities. This change was long over-due. In her 14 years at Stonewall, Ruth worked her way up through the policy and campaigning team, during which time the UK took huge steps towards equality for LGBT people.
Having come out at just 13 in her small community in Cardiff, Ruth would be the first to say that these are not achievements made in spite of being a woman and a lesbian. On the contrary, Ruth’s natural ability to deconstruct and grapple with complex situations and perspectives has been honed by her own identity, and the need to articulate it to others and in defence of persecuted LGBT people around the world. It’s what led her to understand the fundamental link between workplace performance, employment satisfaction, and the space for staff to work and lead in their own way.
Ruth is also a graduate of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, former President of the University of Oxford Student Union and holds an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University, as well as honorary degrees from Keele and Exeter.
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