Stonewall appoints Iain Anderson as Chair of Trustees

Stonewall is pleased to announce that Iain Anderson has been appointed Chair of Trustees.

Iain is Executive Chairman of H/Advisors Cicero and former Government LGBTQ+ Business Champion, with a thirty-year career as a political strategy and communications adviser and former journalist. Iain is appointed alongside two new trustees, Sadiq Gillani and Tabz O’Brien.

This comes as Sheldon Mills prepares to stand down as Chair of Trustees after serving the maximum of three successive three-year terms as a trustee at Stonewall.

Tabz brings more than two decades of experience in charity governance and local government, and Sadiq brings more than two decades experience of corporate governance and leadership, largely in the aviation industry.

You can read the full profiles of all Stonewall trustees here.

Iain Anderson (he/him) said: “I am honoured to be joining Stonewall as Chair of Trustees. Stonewall is the leading LGBTQ+ charity in the UK, and has had a huge positive impact on the lives millions of people across the world. Next year will see the 20th anniversary of the scrapping of Section 28 in England and Wales, a moment which Stonewall played a decisive role in bringing about.

I am proud to see a country where LGBTQ+ people are now celebrated and supported across our communities, and Stonewall can be proud of its enormous contribution to achieving and sustaining that transformation. But we cannot take this progress for granted. We see rising hatred and intolerance against LGBTQ+ people worldwide and too many LGBTQ+ people struggle to get the services they need and the opportunities to thrive.

I look forward to working with the Stonewall team to build alliances and extend conversations with those who care about universal human rights and progressive values, and to inspire and mobilise leaders from all parts of society to unleash opportunity for LGBTQ+ people everywhere.”

Sheldon Mills (he/him) said: “Huge congratulations to Iain on his appointment as Chair of Stonewall, a vital role in supporting Stonewall to achieve its strategy.

Whether it’s same-sex marriage passing, getting LGBTQ+ inclusion on the national curriculum, inclusive workplaces, developing our global work, or becoming a trans-inclusive organisation, I’m so proud of the impact Stonewall has had on LGBTQ+ people’s lives during my nine years as a trustee.

I want to thank Stonewall staff and trustees, past and present, for their tireless commitment to the freedom, equity and potential of LGBTQ+ people.”

Nancy Kelley (she/her), Chief Executive of Stonewall said:  “Stonewall benefits enormously from the skill, passion and commitment of all our trustees, and we are delighted to have Iain, Tabz and Sadiq join the board.

Sheldon has generously given nine years of vision, wit, challenge and love to the Stonewall family, for which we are all enormously grateful. The whole team is looking forward to welcoming Iain as our new Chair and delivering our ambitious strategy with his support.

Our vision is of a world where all lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people are free to live our lives to the full, and the work of inspirational Chairs like Sheldon and Iain is at the heart of moving us all closer to that goal.”