Opening speaker
Julie Bentley
Chief Executive Officer, Samaritans
In Conversation with Julie
Biography
Julie Bentley has been Chief Executive Officer of Samaritans since November 2020. She has led charities for more than 20 years, including Action for Children, Girlguiding, the Family Planning Association and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
She has held trustee and vice-chair roles with Shelter and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). Across her career, she has championed the involvement of people with lived experience in charity leadership and has worked to advance equity and inclusion.
At Girlguiding, Julie became known for leading change. Third Sector named her Most Admired Charity CEO in 2014, the year she appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. In 2019, she received the Charity Times award for Outstanding Individual Achievement and was voted one of the sector’s Most Influential Leaders by Charity Times readers.
Julie has long supported Samaritans and believes that one person listening to another can save lives. She lives near the Essex–Suffolk border with her partner and enjoys walking, reading and trips to the cinema.