Ruth Winden
Ruth loves nothing more than helping professionals fulfill their career aspirations. She has spent three decades at the forefront of innovation in the careers industry in the UK, working with individuals and organizations, from start-ups and multinationals to charities and large public sector employers. But after 20+ exciting and rewarding years of leading her own career management firm, Ruth was ready for change. In 2020, she made the radical decision to become an employee again, so she could design and facilitate career development programmes across one organisation and its staff. She joined the Organisational Development & Professional Learning unit at the University of Leeds. Her role is to lead impactful career development initiatives for research and professional services staff. Her motto “Older yet Bolder” has certainly paid off. She enjoys being part of a team of 12 to find novel solutions to organisational challenges, every single day. Ruth was the Career Thought Leaders’ first European Advisory Board member, from 2015 to 2022. As a Fellow of the Career Development Institute, she has been a long-standing contributor to the UK’s careers profession through leading new initiatives, as well as training and mentoring colleagues. Together with her line manager Dr Emma Spary, Ruth is currently the co-chair of Researchers14, an advocacy group for researcher development in Britain’s Higher Education sector.
