Skip to main content Sitemap
Prowess support for women in business
Prowess
The UK association of organisations and individuals
who support women to start and grow businesses

Prowess People

Current Board of Directors

Sylvia Philips (Chair) - Operations Executive, Bolton Business Ventures Ltd

Tracy Hegarty (Vice-Chair) - Regional Coordinator, Women in Enterprise Northern Ireland

Sally Arkley - Director, Women's Business Development Agency, Coventry

Antony Davies - Director, BETA Technology, Doncaster

Janette Faherty - Chief Executive, Avanta (TNG and InBiz), Middlesex

Gill Fennings - Project Manager, BusinessWorks - Women in Business, London

Polly Gibb - Research Manager, WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise), Shropshire

Julie Hall - President, Association of Scottish Businesswomen

Bev Hurley - Chief Executive Officer, YTKO, Cambs

Eileen Lennon - Chief Executive, incredit, Hertfordshire

Lynn Martin - Professor of Innovation, Birmingham City University

Erika Watson - Executive Director, Prowess, Norwich

Jon Yon - Director, East Sussex Enterprise Gateway

The following are Advisers to the Board who attend Board meetings:

Mumtaz Bashir - London Development Agency

Sara Harvey - Director - Hines, Harvey Woods Ltd

Julie Kapsalis - Director of Business Support and Enterprise - South East England Development Agency

Sarah McGeehan - Deputy Chief Executive - Community Development Finance Association

 

Staff roles and responsibilities:

Executive Director (Erika Watson)

Responsible for:

Erika Watson is the founding Executive Director of Prowess, the independent association of organisations committed to the development of women’s entrepreneurial potential in the UK. Prowess has 250 members who support over 100,000 women business owners and 16,000 new women-owned business start-ups each year.

Erika was previously Chief Executive of the award winning Women’s Employment, Enterprise & Training Unit where she introduced a highly regarded range of enterprise support programmes including Full Circle, the UK’s first micro credit programme.

As well as her experience of starting and developing successful social enterprises, Erika has launched several commercial businesses.  Her entrepreneurial career started as a young mother in her early twenties.  She found working for herself incredibly liberating and an ideal way of combining work and parenthood. It is now Erika’s professional mission to ensure that all women have the opportunity to start a business if they want to and the support to grow and succeed in their own terms.

Erika left school at 17 and spent her early career in broadcast journalism and PR. She has subsequently gained a first class degree in Development Studies and she is working towards an MBA.  Erika was a founder Board member of the CDFA (Community Development Finance Association) and is a member of the Government’s Women’s Enterprise Task Force, launched in 2007, whose role is to increase the quantity and quality of women’s enterprise in the UK. Contact Erika by email: e.watson@prowess.org.uk

 

Director of Policy and Advocacy (Jackie Brierton) Jackie Brierton

Responsible for:

Jackie was a founder member of Prowess and assisted it to develop policies and projects between 2001 and 2003. She was also contracted to the DTI’s Small Business Service to develop the national Strategic Framework for Women’s Enterprise in 2002, and continued to work with the SBS Women’s Enterprise policy team until early 2005. During this time Jackie was also involved in running her own businesses in Scotland, and she was previously Chief Executive of Wellpark Enterprise Centre in Glasgow, a workspace and incubator which provided advice, training and microcredit to women entrepreneurs.

Co-author of Unequal Entrepreneurs (Work Foundation) in 2001, she is a frequent contributer to national and international conferences, and a number of business publications. She is the voluntary Chair of Community Enterprise Ltd, a social enterprise development agency in Scotland. Contact Jackie by email: j.brierton@prowess.org.uk

 

Membership and Events Manager (Ann Nicholls)

Responsible for:

 

Ann has over 15 years experience in the non-profit sector and has previously worked in senior administrative roles within the Community Development Foundation and Voluntary Organisations Network for European Funding (VONEF). She is an experienced conference and event organiser having for several years been a key member of the British and European Juggling Convention and a member of the CDFA conference committee. She also has first hand experience of managing a women-owned business, being for a period touring manager of an international all-woman trapeze troupe. Contact Ann by email: a.nicholls@prowess.org.uk

 

Communications Manager (Alice Kent)

Responsible for:

Before joining Prowess Alice worked as a reporter for a European Partnership supporting the development of social enterprises in several EU countries. She assisted in the running of a pioneering course entitled The European Certificate in Community Enterprise. Alice has an MA in European Journalism and a bachelors degree in Political Science and Philosophy. Contact Alice by email: a.kent@prowess.org.uk

Events Coordinator (Julia O'Rourke) Julia O'Rouke


Responsible for:

Julia has experience of events co-ordination and marketing in both the public and private sector. Prior to joining Prowess, Julia worked for six years in the Communication Team of the East of England Development Agency.   Contact Julia by email: j.orourke@prowess.org.uk

Finance & Admin Manager (Toni Lett)

Toni has a wealth of experience in managing budgets & schedules, having worked as a Production Manager for several private sector companies, prior to a brief career break to raise a family. Whilst her daughter was at pre-school Toni kept busy working part-time in the Insurance & Finance industry and as Treasurer to her daughter’s playgroup in a voluntary capacity. As well as a Management Diploma, Toni has a Bachelor’s degree from Warwick University. Contact Toni by email at: t.lett@prowess.org.uk

 

Flagship Manager (Marla Nelson)

Responsible for:

Marla has over 17 years experience developing strategic marketing campaigns ranging from Blue Chip companies to the third Sector.  She was the Deputy Director for the Women’s Business Development Agency (2001-08).  Her specialist areas of expertise lie in developing strategic WE programmes aimed at encouraging enterprising skills and capabilities amongst young girls, economic empowerment initiatives for women from BAME and refugee communities, and detailed impact assessment and measurement of women’s enterprise interventions.

Author and co-author of WE research papers, she has regularly consulted and shared best practice on female entrepreneurship issues in the UK, raising awareness and increasing knowledge about this sector on an international basis.  Marla joined Prowess in March 2008 and her primary focus is to build upon and further develop the Flagship Standards. Contact Marla by email at: m.nelson@prowess.org.uk

Policy Advisor (part-time) (Rebecca Aziz-Granberg)

Responsible for:

Following a traineeship at the European Commission, Rebecca began her career at a Training and Enterprise Council in London and worked on European funding issues. She returned to Brussels to work for an MEP and developed her career in European public affairs at the British Retail Consortium and Toyota Motor Europe. On return to the UK, Rebecca joined the Cabinet Office's Women's Unit and worked on women's enterprise, the gender pay gap, women returners and public appointments. She moved to the DTI and worked on consumer and competition policy and energy issues. Rebecca has a BA in History and Politics and an MA in Applied European Studies. Contact Rebecca by email  at: rebecca.azizgranberg@googlemail.com

 

 

Last updated June 2008

Accessibility | Site map