The Northern PoWEr Women Awards is the largest celebration of gender equality in Europe, holding its 10th annual ceremony this March in Manchester. The awards spotlight and celebrate the achievements of change-makers, advocates and role models who create change in the North.
It endeavours to celebrate these individuals and organisations, as well as amplify their work to continue driving action. Liz is one of seven women nominated for the Agent of Change award.
Liz shared on a LinkedIn post that it is an honour to be shortlisted, and that it is important to both work hard towards change, but also make time to celebrate positives since pessimism is harmful for progress. “We can never cease promoting a kinder, fairer, more diverse and equal world”, she wrote, “[b]ut... Let’s stop for just a minute and celebrate”.
Liz has spent her career helping children and young people through her work, research and volunteering in education initiatives.
Liz has spent her career helping children and young people through her work, research and volunteering in education and initiatives.
She started working as a maths teacher and then as an educational psychologist before completing a PhD in education, in which her research focused primarily on helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in education.
This research went on to support her involvement in the Poverty Proofing scheme with Children North East, which has been adopted by schools across the country. More recently, Liz has helped to carry out the SCIREALY project, a European initiative which supports schools, researchers and policymakers work towards preventing school drop-outs.
Liz’s achievements have already been recognised on both a local and national scale. In 2022, she was given the Academic Distinction Award by the Vice Chancellor, for her work addressing inequalities to children in education regionally and internationally, as well as her outstanding contribution to the Institute for Social Science at Newcastle University.
Last year, Liz was awarded an OBE by Princess Ann for her services to children and young people, alongside university Chancellor Imtiaz Dharke, who was honoured for her services to the Arts.