2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the UK’s Sex Discrimination Act, as well as the coming into force of the Equal Pay Act 1970. Fifty years later, how much progress has been made?
Penny East, CEO of the Fawcett Society, joins us to examine key milestones, persistent challenges, and the path forward for creating truly equitable work environments. Drawing on insights from Fawcett’s flagship campaign, Equal Pay Day, she explores the structural barriers still in place, the impact of policy shifts, and what it will take to achieve lasting equality in the workplace.
Speaker biography: Penny East is the Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, the member-led organisation fighting misogyny and advocating for women’s rights since 1866. She has worked in the charity sector for the last fifteen years, including overseeing communications and campaigns for the national domestic abuse charity SafeLives, shaping the Domestic Abuse Bill 2021 and establishing an internal survivor network at the charity. She launched the first national domestic abuse perpetrator programme in the UK (in partnership with the Home Office and the Lottery) and was on the Board of Directors for the programme until January 2025. Until April 2025, she was a director of policy and communications at a mental health charity that advocates for a social approach to mental health provision throughout the NHS. She has previously worked on communications and digital projects at UN Refugee Council, Comic Relief and for the legacy of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. She is a Clore Social Fellow (specialism in gender equality) and has an MA in Investigative Journalism.
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