Suzy Walton

Boards face decisions where the formal training rarely matches the actual room. Members arrive with technical pedigree but limited preparation for ambiguity, contested values, and the pressure of governing across regulated, public and charitable mandates at once. Organisations need a working model of director conduct that holds up when the agenda is uncomfortable.

Suzy Walton is a chartered director, chartered occupational psychologist and former senior civil servant who helps boards and senior leaders raise the standard of governance, judgement and resilience under pressure.

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Why organisations work with Suzy Walton

Triple-chartered credentials (Chartered Director, Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Chartered Scientist) that few governance speakers in the UK can match, paired with active board service across more than fifteen organisations.
Direct Whitehall experience, including the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and a 2025 Cabinet Office policy appointment by the Prime Minister.
Operational military psychology background, including PhD research on suicide within the Armed Forces and lecturing at NATO events on terrorist profiling and behaviour under extreme stress.
Nearly a decade as the longest-serving board member of the Institute of Directors, now a strategic advisor and chair of the IoD Accreditation and Standards Committee, giving boards a benchmark voice on director standards.
A perspective on resilience grounded in real biographical fact: long-term widowhood, raising seven children, and a career rebuilt from the West End stage through to the Cabinet Office.

Biography highlights

Chartered Director, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Chartered Scientist.
PhD, Cranfield University, on suicide within the Armed Forces.
Former senior civil servant: Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.
Vice-President, Combat Stress; former Vice-President, Royal Society of Medicine (2019 to 2021).
Longest-serving member on the Institute of Directors main board, 2013 to 2022; current strategic advisor.
Honorary Doctorate, University of Hertfordshire, 2026; BSc and MSc in Psychology from the same institution.
Former West End actress (Children of a Lesser God), BBC Television presenter and Sky News reporter.

Biography

The standard governance speaker tends to come from one track: City, Big Four, executive search. Suzy Walton arrives at four. She is a Chartered Director, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Chartered Scientist, qualifications usually distributed across three different professions, and she has used all three in active board service.

Her doctorate, awarded by Cranfield University, was on suicide within the Armed Forces and was initially classified. As a serving military psychologist, she designed Resistance to Interrogation training, built recruitment systems for classified roles, and lectured at NATO events on terrorist profiling and human behaviour under extreme stress. Senior civil service postings in the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit followed, and in 2025, the Prime Minister appointed her to a fresh policy role in the Cabinet Office.

The board record is long and substantive. She was the longest-serving member of the main board of the Institute of Directors, from 2013 to 2022, and now sits as strategic advisor and chair of its Accreditation and Standards Committee. She has held positions at ACCA, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Society of Medicine, the Internet Watch Foundation, the University of Westminster, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, the Social Security Advisory Committee and the State Honours Committee. She is Vice-President of Combat Stress.

What she draws on in front of a senior audience is the unusual width of that record set against an unusual personal one: a former West End actress in Children of a Lesser God, BBC and Sky News broadcaster, mother of seven, widowed for many years. Boards interested in honest governance and serious resilience tend to be the ones that book her.

Key speaking topics

Corporate governance and board effectiveness
Director of Standards and Chartered Practice
Resilience and behaviour under extreme stress
Women on boards and inclusive governance
Public service leadership and civil service strategy
Veterans’ mental health and Combat Stress
Multi-role careers and reinvention

Ideal for

Boards, NEDs and chairs raising the standard of director practice
Senior civil service, regulatory and public-sector leadership audiences
CHROs, talent and inclusion leads working on women into board roles
Healthcare, professional body and charity leadership audiences

Audience outcomes

A clearer benchmark for what good director conduct looks like, drawn from a chartered framework.
A direct view of how Whitehall actually makes policy decisions, from someone who has been in the room.
A grounded model of resilience that is not motivational but operational, built from military psychology and personal biography.
Practical reference points for boards trying to take women, diversity and governance standards seriously at the same time.

Available for

Speaking Themes

Languages

English

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Testimonials

Suzy was a keynote speaker at the HEFMA conference which brings together hundreds of NHS managers. She shared her story of persistence and adaptability, leading to a variety of board appointments that she has successfully juggled alongside bringing up a family. Chatting with other delegates, all commented on what a breath of fresh air her talk had been – uplifting and without a hint of arrogance.

Peter Hancock

Chair, HEFMA Conference 2023

Suzy spoke at GNDI’s global conference, chairing a panel on governance trends. Our conference was unique – it ran for 24 hours in all time zones around the world. Suzy was a great host and very professionally juggled speakers, a production team and a studio – all on different continents!

Rahul Bhardwaj

Canada, Chair, GNDI 2022

Suzy was Chair for the inaugural event in London of the KPMG forum Women in Aerospace, Defence and Intelligence. We had an international audience across government, the military and industry including guests from the U.S.Air Force and the Pentagon. Suzy chaired the event skilfully including sharing her own reflections on key issues in relation to women in leadership.

Jonathon Gill

Partner, KPMG 2016

Suzy gave a keynote address at a London event of the 30% Club. She spoke about how “you don’t always have to have a plan to succeed.” She shared how she came to prominence in a number of professions, not through setting a strategy but rather through a series of ‘lucky escapes’. Where one door closed another opened and Suzy exploited it. Our audience very much enjoyed Suzy’s keynote and took away a lot of learning. Suzy was engaging, humorous and brutally honest. I can honestly say I’ve never before introduced someone where my opening line is “between us we have 15 children…..!

Helena Morrissey

CEO Newton Investment Management, Founder of the 30% Club 2015

Many thanks for last night. Everyone was impressed by your positive attitude and your determination to succeed: this kind of role-modelling is so important to give people the courage to make the most of their lives and to overcome things that can get in the way. Female role models such as yourself are very important to help us become more equal and more inclusive – particularly at senior levels.

A J Walker CPFA FCIPD

Director General HR & Change, House of Commons 2013

Suzy spoke at our Annual Convention at the Royal Albert Hall as well as chairing a panel of global business leaders. With an audience of two thousand it’s challenging for any speaker. Suzy handled her session with flair and panache. Suzy also spoke at our Women in Business conference in Pall Mall. She gave a compelling outline of her career and the “lucky escapes” which led to her extraordinary success as a director. I know many of those attending found Suzy’s talk to be exceptionally motivating. On both occasions she was terrific.

Simon Walker

Director General, Institute of Directors (IoD) 2014

Suzy talked to our women’s network about the barriers she’d overcome in her various careers and on body language techniques that anybody can use anywhere. We found the talk ‘Climbing the Glass Cliff’ inspirational and at the end she had everyone in the room using the techniques in a simulated briefing to 400 bagpipe players – a memorable day!

Sarah Bryant

Senior Executive, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham 2008

Suzy delivered a powerful and thought-provoking speech showing that anything is possible if you have courage – an excellent addition to any event programme.

R. Leach

North West Ambulance Service 2018

Suzy spoke for a second time at our Annual Convention at the Royal Albert Hall. As before she was a phenomenal success!

Simon Walker

Director General, Institute of Directors (IoD) 2015

Suzy hosted an inspiring session entitled ‘Overcoming Challenges and Building Resilience’ drawing extensively on her own remarkable experiences and insight. We found her incredibly open and approachable. A very enjoyable and unique session.

Sue Wilson

Chair, Diversity and Inclusion, Bank of England, 2014

Thank you very much for coming to the University of Hertfordshire to talk to us. I genuinely felt moved and absolutely inspired by your life and work. You have made my experience on the programme so much more valuable and I hope to have an ounce of the strength you have going forward.

Marketing Undergraduate, University of Hertfordshire 2017

Suzy was an inspirational voice at a major conference we ran. Her openness and experience make her an articulate role model for women in leadership and those aspiring to be leaders. She was also very approachable, spending time with our delegates, speakers and staff, and being a guest blogger on our website. This is a valuable combination: a member of the boardroom who remembers what it takes to build your career.

Ruth Wilson

Director, GetSet Women Conference, QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, London 2010

Many thanks for the session. You were truly a hit. The impact you had was one of awe – for what you had achieved, the amount you had crammed into your life and that you were still human!

Janet Waters and Pauline Dixon

National School of Government 2004

Thank you so much for coming. The sensitive and analytical way in which you presented gave the girls an extremely clear view of the ways they could improve. Your coverage of technique, public speaking, the cut and thrust of debate etc were all excellent in providing the girls with feedback. To have someone who has achieved so much provides an awe-inspiring role model to have someone who has managed to combine a variety of roles with being a mother of three gives the girls an excellent example of what they too can achieve.

Dr Yvonne Burne

Headmistress, City of London School for Girls 2004