Sally Penni
Inclusion programmes lose credibility when they are run by people who have never had to argue a case, build an institution, or sit on a board where the trade-offs are real. Senior teams are looking for leaders who can hold the line on values without retreating into compliance language. The harder question is how to translate fairness into an operating standard a board will defend under pressure.
Sally Penni MBE is a practising barrister, founder of Women in the Law UK, and chair-level board member who helps organisations make inclusion a credible leadership standard rather than a compliance exercise.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Sally Penni
- She founded and chairs Women in the Law UK, the largest professional development network for women in the legal profession in the country, giving her firsthand evidence of what inclusion looks like when it is built as an institution rather than announced as a policy.
- Her authority on diversity is grounded in active legal practice at Kenworthy’s Chambers, a Bencher position at Gray’s Inn, and appointment to the International Criminal Court list of counsel. The argument carries weight because the practitioner is real.
- Through the Talking Law podcast she has interviewed Lord Pannick KC, Jolyon Maugham KC, the Treasury Solicitor and other figures at the top of the UK legal system, building a body of recorded conversation about leadership, culture and reform inside one of the most conservative professions.
- Her board portfolio spans the Royal Exchange Theatre, Arawak Walton Housing Association, the Access to Justice Foundation and a part-time judicial role at the Valuation Tribunal, so the perspective on inclusion is informed by governance experience across cultural, housing, legal and judicial settings.
- She was awarded an MBE specifically for diversity, social mobility and law, a recognition of practical contribution rather than profile, and one that signals to senior buyers that the work has stood up to external scrutiny.
Biography highlights
- Practising barrister at Kenworthy’s Chambers, Manchester, specialising in criminal, employment, public and data protection law.
- Founder and chair of Women in the Law UK, the professional development organisation she established in 2012.
- MBE for services to diversity, social mobility and law, Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020.
- Honorary Doctorate, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2022. Bencher of Gray’s Inn. Appointed to the list of counsel for the International Criminal Court.
- Host of the Talking Law podcast, featuring senior UK legal figures including Lord Pannick KC and the Treasury Solicitor.
- Non-Executive Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre and Arawak Walton Housing Association; Trustee, Access to Justice Foundation; part-time judge, Valuation Tribunal for England.
Biography
The legal profession is one of the most credentialled and slowest-moving institutions in British public life. It is also one of the places where the gap between stated values and lived experience is most visible. Sally Penni MBE has spent her career working that gap from the inside, as a practising barrister, an institution-builder and a public voice on what inclusion actually requires.
She practises at Kenworthy’s Chambers in Manchester across criminal, employment, public and data protection law, and sits as a part-time judge on the Valuation Tribunal for England. She is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and on the International Criminal Court list of counsel. The institutional standing matters because it is the basis on which the rest of the work is taken seriously inside the profession.
In 2012 she founded Women in the Law UK, now the country’s largest professional network for women in legal practice. Her Talking Law podcast has built a record of conversation with senior figures of the bar, including Lord Pannick KC and the Treasury Solicitor. Outside the law she sits on boards across theatre, housing and access to justice, including the Royal Exchange Theatre, Arawak Walton Housing Association and the Access to Justice Foundation.
The MBE in 2020 and the honorary doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2022 recognise something specific: a body of work that has changed institutions, not commented on them. For an organisation thinking seriously about inclusion as a leadership standard, that distinction is the point.
Key speaking topics
- Inclusive and values-based leadership
- Women in leadership and the legal profession
- Diversity, equity and social mobility
- Mentorship and talent development
- Governance and board-level standards
- Wellbeing and resilience in professional careers
- Law, regulation and the future of the legal profession
Ideal for
- General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers and senior in-house legal teams setting standards on inclusion and culture
- Chief People Officers, CHROs and DEI leads designing inclusion strategy for professional and regulated workforces
- Boards, NEDs and chairs reviewing governance standards on diversity, social mobility and access
- Senior partners and managing partners at law firms, chambers and professional services firms
Audience outcomes
- A clearer view of what inclusive leadership requires when the organisation is regulated, conservative and resistant to change
- Direct reference points from inside the legal profession on building durable institutions for under-represented talent
- A sharper standard for distinguishing inclusion as governance from inclusion as communication
- Practical perspective on mentoring, sponsorship and progression at senior levels