Elizabeth Donnelly

Elizabeth is a Fellowship Councillor for the South East of England.

Elizabeth Donnelly MSc FRSA MRAeS MIfSE is a senior charity chief executive and systems-level leader with a career spanning governance, policy, STEM, and social mobility. She has led national organisations through periods of growth, reform and external scrutiny, combining strategy with operational discipline and a strong ethical core.

Elizabeth’s work focuses on widening access, strengthening institutions, and translating evidence into impact. As Chief Executive of the Women’s Engineering Society, she rebuilt the organisation’s financial position, modernised governance, and expanded reach and influence across industry, academia and government. During her tenure, turnover more than trebled, corporate partnerships grew substantially, and flagship campaigns achieved global scale. Her leadership is characterised by rigorous thinking and an insistence on systems that work for people rather than against them.

Coming from a working-class background, Elizabeth brings lived insight into the invisible rules, networks and barriers that shape opportunity. This informs her commitment to social mobility, institutional fairness and long-term cultural change, rather than surface-level interventions. She has been an RSA Fellow for over five years, is a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a Member of the Institute for Systems Engineers.