Our Movers and Shakers articles highlight who’s moving up, out or across in the rapidly evolving world of workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing. Here’s a selection of just a few of the many “movers and shakers” that grabbed my attention in May 2026…
Emma Williams
First up is Emma Williams, who has taken on the role of Chair of, LawCare – the mental health charity for the legal sector.
The appointment comes as Emma steps down from her role as Director of Risk & Compliance at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Announcing her departure on LinkedIn, she reflected: “How do you say goodbye to something that changed your life? After four years, today is my last day at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. The Simpson way is now part of me, like a microchip permanently embedded somewhere in my system… The relentless pursuit of excellence. But kind, always kind – and wholly collegiate”.
In her new role, Emma hopes to bring conversations about wellbeing and mental health in the legal profession to an even wider audience through the power of connection. “As Chair, I am thrilled to be able to leverage my network and my voice for the ultimate benefit of the profession as a whole and am excited to see what we can achieve,” she said.
You can get a sense of the crucial work that LawCare does in this podcast featuring “Health and wellbeing lessons from Law with Sam Jardine, Partner, Fieldfisher LLP & Elizabeth Rimmer, who was then CEO, LawCare”.
Elise Gallagher
Next is Elise Gallagher, who has moved from a contractor position into a permanent role with the Scottish Ambulance Service as Director of People and Culture.
With a diverse HR career spanning insurance, international development and higher education, Elise brings extensive experience in stakeholder management and organisational development. Her ability to deliver transformational change and high-quality HR services will be a valuable asset in this new role.
You can find out about another ambulance service’s award-winning joined-up approach to supporting colleague health and wellbeing in their high-pressure roles here.
Hannah Pearsall
Our next Make a Difference Mover & Shaker in the spotlight is the inimitable Hannah Pearsall.
After 24 years and nine months at Hays, where she worked her way up through the organisation to become Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing – a role she held for more than four years – Hannah has announced that she is moving on.
Writing on LinkedIn, she said: “Today is my last day at Hays after almost 25 years. It has been quite the unexpected career! Not the planned kind; the accidental, messy kind that you look back on and think, ‘Yeah, that was brilliant.’
“There were hard years too – the hardest of my life. But they didn’t derail my career; they ended up defining it.”
Alongside her role at Hays, Hannah completed Nottingham University’s MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing with distinction. She has now taken on a new role as a Non-Executive Director at Mental Health First Aid England.
We’ve been fortunate enough to interview Hannah many times and you can read more about her perspective in this profile interview, in this article about the launch of the government’s new men’s health strategy and BS 30480 Suicide and the Workplace standard, and in this feature focused on the future of employee networks: next generation ERGs and Champions.
Laura Jackson
May’s next Mover & Shaker is Laura Jackson, who has started a new role as EMEA Benefits Strategy Leader with global mobility solutions provider Vialto.
Laura brings a wealth of experience, having held employee benefits, reward, health and wellbeing roles with organisations including Pearson, Centrica, BAE Systems and Adobe.
In her new position, she’ll be responsible for strategic benefits and wellbeing execution, leading the design, implementation and optimisation of benefits and wellbeing programmes to ensure continuity, scalability and effective risk mitigation.
That’s quite a remit, Laura.
You can find out about the realities of delivering personalised health and wellbeing benefits in this feature, about making rewards and benefits transform culture in this podcast with BA’s Josephina Smith and about
Jennie Doyle
Last but certainly not least is industry stalwart Jennie Doyle. After nine years as Head of Marketing at Health Shield Friendly Society, she went on to become Head of Marketing, Health Insurance at Vitality. In January 2026, she moved to PAM Group as Marketing Director.
It proved to be a timely move. Following PAM Group’s acquisition by Optima Health, Jennie has now been appointed Group Marketing Director for Optima Health (Occupational Health & Wellbeing).
Announcing the role change on LinkedIn, Jennie wrote: “I’m delighted to be stepping into the role of Group Marketing Director at Optima Health (OH&W) as part of the ongoing integration of PAM Group. As we continue this transition, I’m looking forward to working with colleagues across the group and contributing to what comes next.”
You can read more about Optima Health’s acquisition of PAM Group in April’s Inside the Market feature.
We wish all of our May Movers and Shakers the best of luck as this new chapter of their lives begins.
