Your new Staff Governor Emily Walker

The new Professional Services representative on the Board of Governors is Impact Officer Emily Walker.

Following a fortnight-long election period, with a record number of voters taking part, Emily received the majority of votes out of the five self-nominated candidates and will now serve on the Board for the next three years.

She will attend the next Board of Governors meeting, which will take place on Monday 24 April 2023.

Michael Thompson, Clerk to the Board of Governors, said: “This has been an absolutely fantastic opportunity for members of our Professional Services staff to get involved in the democratic process and nominate candidates for such an important position on the Board of Governors.

“The winning candidate, Emily Walker, having secured the majority of votes, will be able to work strategically with the Board with collective responsibility by making a difference in keeping with the institution’s committed vision and values.”

Emily said: “I was really delighted to be nominated and elected as Professional Services Staff Governor by my peers. It was an honour to be selected from a pool of such exceptional candidates and I hope that I can provide some useful perspectives from my experience of working at LJMU for the last 19 years.

"I am pleased to provide additional diversity to the Board and am committed to LJMU’s vision and values. I am looking forward to getting to know the other Board members, understanding the work of the Board in more detail and assisting the Board in overseeing the activities of the institution and helping to drive the future direction of LJMU.”

About Emily

Emily works as an Impact Officer in Research and Innovation Services. She has worked at LJMU for 19 years, beginning her career as a PA in the School of Biological and Earth Sciences and later the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. She then moved on to become Executive Support Officer to the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise and the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Student Experience in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office. She has been involved in developing aspects of LJMU’s Strategy, particularly the Research Strategy.

She is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and is an active member of LJMU’s Ethnically Diverse Staff Network. In addition, recommendations from her co-authored report on Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (presented to the World Administrators Summit in 2021) are now being utilised by the World Administrators Alliance to create a fund to amplify minority voices within the global administrator community. She has also presented to the Professional Services Conference and externally in PA networks on several occasions speaking around D&I issues.

She has experience of charitable governance having previously been Secretary and trustee for the Port Sunlight Orchestral Society for three years.

Find out more about how we govern our university on our governance webpages.