Dame Barbara Stocking | |
|---|---|
 Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Davos, 2012 | |
| Born | Barbara Mary Stocking 28 July 1951 Rugby, Warwickshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | New Hall, Cambridge |
| Occupation | College president |
| Known for | Former chief executive of Oxfam, Britain |
Dame Barbara Mary Stocking, DBE (born 28 July 1951) is a British public servant, former chief executive of Oxfam GB, [1] and former president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.
Stocking was born in Rugby, Warwickshire to Methodist parents, her mother a homemaker and her father a postman. [2] She attended Rugby High School for Girls, [3] where she was Head Girl and New Hall, Cambridge, in 1969, graduating with a degree in Pharmacology. She was the first in her family to go to university. [2]
On graduating from Cambridge, Stocking briefly contemplated a career in science [2] before taking a job as secretary to a committee at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, where she familiarized herself with the Veterans Health Administration hospital system. [4]
After starting work in 1979 for the World Health Organization in West Africa, Stocking, in 1987, was appointed director of the King's Fund Centre for Health Services Development.
In the 1990s, she was posted in the NHS administrative system, taking up the position of chief executive of the Regional Health Authority of Oxford. In 1994, she was promoted to the position of NHS regional director for Anglia and Oxfordshire. [5] There were eight NHS regional directors in total after a re-organization that, by April 1996, abolished six management outposts and fourteen regional health-authorities. [5]
In 2000, she was appointed a CBE for "services to health." [6]
In late 2000, Stocking applied for the NHS top position. [7] In October 2000, Nigel Crisp was nominated Chief Executive of the NHS, and Stocking director of the NHS Modernisation Agency, the body tasked with rolling out the NHS reforms. [8] In December 2000, she announced she would leave the public sector to join non-governmental, charity organization Oxfam.
In May 2001, Stocking was appointed Oxfam's chief executive [9] on a £75,000-a-year contract. [8]
Stocking, during her tenure, built Oxfam's relationships with major, international, private corporations such as Unilever, Monsoon, Sysco, and others, on "many diverse projects," [10] while also Oxfam grew to become one of Britain's biggest retailers with more than 700 shops and, through its secondhand book outlets, the charity stood among Europe's biggest book retailers. In 2009, Oxfam's shops made a profit of about £20m on £80m of revenue, with the charity posting a record total revenue of £318m.
In a 2010 interview, she stated: "Times have changed, and Oxfam is moving with the times. It took a while for many in the organisation to understand what is happening but since the late 1990s we have seen quite different relationships develop with private business." [10]
In 2011, Oxfam launched a campaign for "food justice in a resource-constrained world." Stocking stated that the organization's focus would be also on helping small land-holders and nomadic tribes to establish their land rights against richer nations "such as China and the Gulf States gobbling up land in Africa." [10]
During Stocking's tenure there, Oxfam faced many humanitarian crises, such as those caused by the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as by natural disasters such as the South-Asian tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake. [1] [11]
In February 2018, an investigation by the Times reported that, during Stocking's tenure, Oxfam allowed three men to resign and sacked four others for "gross misconduct" after an inquiry concerning sexual exploitation, the downloading of pornography, bullying, and intimidation by Oxfam's staff in Haiti. [12] The Times stated that an internal, confidential report was produced by Oxfam in 2011. It found that there had been “a culture of impunity” among some staff in Haiti and concluded that "it cannot be ruled out that any of the prostitutes were under-aged." [12]
Among the staff who were permitted by Oxfam's leadership to resign without further actions taken against them was the charity's country director, Roland van Hauwermeiren. According to Oxfam's internal report, van Hauwermeiren admitted using prostitutes at a villa whose rent was paid with Oxfam funds meant for charity. Stocking, Oxfam's CEO at the time, offered Hauwermeiren “a phased and dignified exit” invoking her concern that sacking him risked “potentially serious implications for the charity’s work and reputation." [13]
When the allegations became public in 2018, Stocking stated that her biggest work mistake had been “Not getting rid of people soon enough." [14] Murray Edwards College issued a statement disputing the allegation that Stocking was involved in a "cover up" and affirming that she has the "College’s full support". [15] Stocking postponed a planned February 2018 visit to the Cambridge Union in light of the 'considerable media attention' surrounding her involvement with Oxfam. [16]
Following the resignation of Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's deputy chief executive, Robert Halfon, Conservative MP and Chairman of the Education Select Committee, accused Stocking of trying to “escape responsibility for the Haiti prostitution scandal." Halfon criticized the former Oxfam head who, he stated, had behaved “outrageously” in allowing senior aid workers to "resign quietly from the charity." [17]
In 2010, Stocking's alma mater, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, formerly known as New Hall, a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, named her an Honorary Fellow. [18] In March 2013, Stocking was elected president of the college, assuming her duties in July 2013. [18]
In October 2017, Stocking announced that Murray Edwards would be changing its admissions policy to allow it to accept transgender students who identify as female. Stocking stated that the college is "open to all outstanding young women" and "so it is absolutely right, both legally and within [the college's] set of values, for anyone who identifies as female to be able to apply to study [in it]." [19]
In 2008, Barbara Stocking was promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). [20]
In March 2015, Stocking was appointed Chair of an Independent Panel to assess the World Health Organization's response in the Ebola outbreak. [21] In 2016, she was appointed Chair of Trustees of the independent charity organization, A Blueprint for Better Business. [22]
Stocking is married to Dr John MacInnes, who is a prison doctor. [10] They have two sons, Andrew and Stephen. [19]
Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall and renamed in 2008. The name honours a gift of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, and the first President and woman Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Rosemary Murray.
The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events.
Dame Christine Joan Beasley, is a British nurse and NHS healthcare administrator.
Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally is a British Anglican bishop, Lord Spiritual and former nurse. She has been Bishop of London since 2018, and is the first woman to hold the position. From 1999 to 2004, she was Chief Nursing Officer for England and the National Health Service's director of patient experience for England; from 2015 to 2018, she was Bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Exeter.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
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Dame Jacqueline Docherty is a British nursing administrator and medical professional, who was Chief Executive of West Middlesex University Hospital in February 2009 until its merger with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, having previously served as Director of Nursing, Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive at King's College Hospital, London.
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Dame Josephine Williams, is a British administrator and social worker who was the chief executive of Mencap until 1 November 2008. She was chairman of the Care Quality Commission between 2010 and 2012.
Prostitution in Haiti, although illegal, continues to be a widespread problem for the country, particularly in the form of street prostitution, as well as in bars, hotels and brothels. UNAIDS estimate there to be 70,000 prostitutes in the country. Law enforcement is generally lax.
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
Dame Alice Rosemary Murray, was an English chemist and educator. She was instrumental in establishing New Hall, Cambridge, now Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and was the first woman to hold the office of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Dame Sally Claire Davies is a British physician. She was the Chief Medical Officer from 2010 to 2019 and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health from 2004 to 2016. She worked as a clinician specialising in the treatment of diseases of the blood and bone marrow. She is now Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, appointed on 8 February 2019, with effect from 8 October 2019. She is one of the founders of the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Dame Susan Lesley Hill has been the Chief Scientific Officer for England since October 2002.
Dame Clare Mary Louise Francis Gerada, Lady Wessely, is a London-based general practitioner who is President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and a former chairperson of the RCGP Council (2010–2013). She has professional interests in mental health and substance misuse.
Prostitution in Chad is illegal but common, especially in the urban centres and the south of the country. UNAIDS estimates there are 1,200 prostitutes in the country. Many are from Cameroon.
Dame Barbara Ann Hakin DBE is a former Deputy Chief Executive of NHS England. She was formerly the Chief Executive of the East Midlands Strategic Health Authority. She was formerly a General Practitioner in Bradford.
Dame Madeleine Julia Atkins, is a British academic administrator, scholar of education, and former teacher. Since 2018, she has served as the 9th President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She was formerly vice-chancellor of Coventry University, and the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (2014–2018).
Dame Ruth Carnall DBE was the last Chief Executive of NHS London before it was abolished in 2013. Ruth has worked at all levels of the NHS for over 30 years and worked as an independent consultant with various public and private sector clients. These included the Department of Health, Monitor, Health Authorities, NHS Trusts, pharmaceutical companies as well as the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. Ruth also has experience as a non-executive Partner of a public company, chair of a private company and trustee of a charity. She was described by the Health Service Journal as one of the NHS's most senior and respected leaders.
Dame Barbara Mary Frost, is a British retired charity executive. From 2005 to 2017, she was the chief executive officer (CEO) of WaterAid. She had previously been CEO of Action on Disability and Development, and had worked for ActionAid, Save the Children and Oxfam.
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