WIN is delighted to announce the election of our newest Trustee, Elizabeth Gardiner, the Chief Executive of the UK's whistleblowing charity Protect.
Liz Gardiner is an employment solicitor who joined the charity in 2018 to supervise Protect’s free legal advice service, which has advised around 50,000 whistleblowers in its 30-year history. She was made CEO in 2020.
She has trained and provided consultancy to employers in the UK and to trade unions in the EU on whistleblowing and appears regularly as an expert in the media. Liz has a background in public policy and has worked in both Houses of Parliament in the UK and for a trade union. She set up a Parliamentary and Policy function for the charity Working Families and provided legal advice on parental rights at work.
Her first degree is in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, and she has a Postgraduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course from BPP University.
In welcoming Liz as a Trustee, WIN’s Executive Director, Anna Myers said:
“It is great to have the expertise of Liz Gardiner on the Board. Liz is committed to helping ensure WIN is a sustainable network that meets the needs of its global membership and is looking forward to continuing to share the expertise of her organisation and to continue learning from you all. We are delighted to welcome her on Board."
Liz was elected on Thursday 12 January 2023 at WIN’s Annual General Meeting where we gather our Membership for an update on WIN’s progress, to consult on key issues affecting the network, and to participate in elections to WIN’s Board of Trustees.
Commenting on her appointment, Liz said:
“Protect is a founding member of WIN and we work very closely with Anna and with Ida whether it's on training through Eurocadres, or whether it's on the support network that Anna, brilliantly steered for the British whistleblower, Jonathan Taylor, we very much know and value WIN's work.
I would like Protect to be better engaged internationally than we have been both to share our 30 years of experience as a whistleblowing organisation, but very much to learn from, others. I fully support WIN’s fantastic new slogan to educate, empower, and mobilize whistleblowers, and I would love to do whatever I can to support this valuable organisation."
Our committed Board of Trustees also include:
Vladimir Radomirović, editor-in-chief of Pištaljka,
Tom Devine, the Legal Director for the Government Accountability Project
David Hutton, Senior Fellow of the Centre for Free Expression Whistleblowing Initiatives, Canada
Giorgio Fraschini, Legal Director of Transparency International Italy
Annegret Falter, Chair of German organization Whistleblowers-Netzwerk
John Devitt, CEO of Transparency International Ireland.