Women in Leadership Spotlight: Laurie Boult
We’re continuing our Women in Leadership Q&A series ahead of Women in Leadership: Championing the Next Generation, our upcoming panel event.
This time, we’re speaking with Laurie Boult, Interim CEO at the Migration Museum. Laurie has led engagement and fundraising teams at some of the UK’s most recognisable charities, from Age UK to Whizz-Kidz, and now steps into a CEO role, bringing fresh perspectives on leadership, resilience, and championing the next generation.
1. You’ve led engagement and fundraising teams at some of the UK’s best-known charities, from Age UK to Whizz-Kidz. What first drew you to this side of the sector?
I’d like to say something inspirational about altruistic values, but that would be a load of wallop, as I honestly fell into it by accident. I was 25, bored with a dull marketing job in the North East, working in a sexist environment and keen to be rebellious. I secretly applied for a job as a Corporate Fundraiser with Breakthrough Breast Cancer. I had a ridiculous romantic dream of announcing to my family (and my then boyfriend) that ‘I’m going to London and you can’t stop me! I was somewhere between bemused and gobsmacked when I was offered an interview. I had no idea what to prepare or what to expect, but I just sensed, ‘I think I’d be alright at this job’. I had to pitch a new partnership idea, and, assuming that everyone else would go in with ‘M&S’, I took a ‘be memorable’ approach. I arrived with my little presentation on a bunch of acetates (the year was 2001) and pitched an idea of pink sparkly condoms and feminist power to an all-male interview panel. I breezed home thinking, well, that was a fun day-trip!
Four weeks later, I was living in London, working with the most exceptional people and was thrown a ball to do things my way. I actually did end up taking on and transforming Breakthrough Partnership with M&S - turning it from £100K into £2m+. The partnership is still going twenty years later as a result of many amazing women who have followed in that role.
2. Over your career, what’s changed most in how charities connect with supporters and what’s stayed the same?
Gosh, over 25 years, I could say so much about evolving innovation in the sector, the vital nature of digital and data-driven approaches, the need for seamless personalised experiences, so much has evolved. Yet we continue to shape ourselves and our teams around the products or ‘things we do’ - events, legacies, corporate, major donors, IM, when we should be focusing our skills and engagement plans around audiences. Many are - but I’d say the more traditional structures reign.
Something I’ve loved in the last decade is not radical or innovative, but simply human - and that’s the shift in approach towards honesty and transparency in how we connect with supporters through more meaningful storytelling.
3. You’ve just stepped into a CEO role at the Migration Museum. How do you anticipate that stepping into this role will shift how you approach leadership?
It’s wildly different coming into an organisation straight into a CEO role, versus evolving into an Executive Leadership role, knowing your organisation and its people inside and out. It’s especially challenging being an interim CEO, where the role and expectations are so strictly defined and time-bound. I can’t ease into the role. I don’t have the luxury of gently building relationships or slowly shifting culture. I have to make decisions quickly whilst engaging the trust of the team.
There is something glorious about stepping into a smaller organisation with a really clear, powerful goal that is both urgent and unifying. That clarity makes it easier to rally people behind the vision, but it also means every decision carries weight. Leadership here is about keeping us laser-focused on that mission, while creating the conditions for a small but brilliant team to flourish.
*Galleries, Libraries and Museums. And yes, I will continue to use the term GLAM as frequently as possible because it’s the first time I’ve ever loved an acronym!
4. The event is about championing the next generation of women in leadership. What advice do you wish you’d been given earlier in your career?
I was very lucky in my first role in the sector to work for a female CEO who gave people opportunities, assumed the best of them, and lifted other women up. It gave me a glorious start and filled me with so much confidence and energy to take on more and more. It also didn’t prepare me for the reality that not all leadership would mirror this, and not all organisational cultures would be like this, and the culture shift in my next role made it really hard for me to maintain that drive for a while.
So, advice - Looking back, I wish I’d known that I didn’t need to spend so much energy trying to prove my worth when I was already giving my all. That constant striving can be exhausting. The advice I’d pass on is: your contribution has value, you don’t need to over-justify your place at the table.
5. When thinking about supporting future female leaders in the charity space, where do you think organisations still fall short and what would you like to see more of?
Crikey - how long have you got for this answer? I’m genuinely terrified about the rise in misogyny in the UK and worldwide. I worry (deeply - like, lying awake at night deeply) that we will rest on our laurels and kid ourselves that women have equitable opportunities as men. Yes, there are welcomed changes in the law and employment practice, and we are held to account over gender pay gaps, but that’s just reporting; it’s not real change. I worry that the so-called ‘best practice’ gives the impression that the playing field is level. It’s not. I would like to see more organisations offering distinct spaces and forums for women to openly and unapologetically discuss their needs, hopes, and visions. I’ve seen organisations offer opportunities to discuss ‘women's stuff’ and they invite men along to be inclusive! What do i think? Sod off - get your own space, we need ours to rise up!
6. Fundraising is often a pressure-cooker environment. How do you build cultures of care and resilience, especially in high-performing teams
In a move to lift up other women’s voices, I will defer to my fellow panel member
Esther, on this. Read her blog - she speaks so brilliantly about psychological safety and finding joy at work. She’s also worked with so many teams. I could tell you about my experience, but I think you’ll find her blog more energising and reflective of having worked with multiple teams and organisations
7. Finally, what’s one career lesson you’ve learned that you’d want others to carry forward?
Pick your battles. Don’t lose sleep. Don’t over-explain - if you feel it and mean it, people will hear it.
Laurie’s story is a brilliant reminder that leadership journeys aren’t always linear, but every experience adds to the resilience and perspective you bring to the table.
We’re excited to have Laurie join our panel at Women in Leadership: Championing the Next Generation on 17 September. If you’re joining us at the event, we can’t wait to continue these conversations in person. If you’d like to join the waiting list or hear about future events, please send an email to: jael@thetalentset.co.uk
