Dame Gillian Guy DBE is a British administrator who is currently the Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service. She was previously

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

Citizens Advice Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this nation ...

, a network of charitable organisations employing 7,000. She joined in 2010 from the charity

Victim Support Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime. Activities ;Support for victims of crime: Trained volunteers and employees offer free and ...

. She is also a non-practitioner member of the

Banking Standards Board The Banking Standards Board (BSB) is a body established in April 2015 in the United Kingdom, to promote good practice among banks and building societies. The original idea for the body came from the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking S ...

Career

Guy has been Chief Executive Officer of three organisations, as well as a board member of four.

London Borough of Ealing

In 1994, she became CEO of

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population ...

, where she spent her early life. She continued working there for 12 years before moving to

, her first executive role in a charity.

Victim Support

Victim Support, a charity that supports victims of various crimes, hired Guy in 2006, where she worked for four years. In an interview, Guy characterized the move from public sector to charitable organization sector: "In the public sector, there was never enough money to do what you wanted; in the charity sector it's the same. It's always about getting more for less." Significantly, She consolidated Victim Support into one charity from a network of seventy-seven, according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Citizens Advice

Guy was hired as the Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Advice in 2010. The charity, a network of independent charities across multiple countries, employs over 21,000 volunteers. In an interview with ''The Guardian'', she noted that her experience at Victim Support prepared her for working cooperatively with the government. Already

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE), Guy was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to the public and voluntary sectors. In August 2019, Guy admitted that Citizens Advice had been too slow to make progress on inclusivity and diversity under her leadership. This followed the publication of Citizens Advice training materials which the charity's own Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff group said "propagated racist stereotypes". In August 2020, Citizen Advice announced that Gillian Guy would step down from the organization in October, after ten years of service. She would be followed by the Chief Operating Officer Alistair Cromwell until a permanent successor is elected.

Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Guy is currently the Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

References

Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Citizens Advice Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ealing Local government officers in England Spouses of life peers Bichard {{Business-bio-stub